The 1960–61 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1960, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1961 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 25, 1961, at Municipal Auditorium in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. The

Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the college sports, athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. The teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision as members of the Big 12 Conference. The Bearcats were pr ...

won their first NCAA national championship with a 70–65 victory in

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

over the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

Season headlines

* A gambling scandal rocked the

NCAA University Division The NCAA University Division was a historic subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) consisting of member schools competing at the highest level of college sports. The University Division was first established as a basis ...

and resulted in the arrests of 37 students from 22 different colleges and universities. *In the 1961 NCAA University Division basketball tournament national third-place game, Saint Joseph's defeated 127–120 in four overtimes, tying the record for the longest game in NCAA tournament history, set in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

in a first-round game between Canisius and North Carolina State. The Saint Joseph's victory later was vacated because of the gambling scandal. * On March 25, 1961, two teams from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

, met in the 1961 NCAA University Division basketball championship game, the first time two teams from the same

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

had played one another for the NCAA championship. Cincinnati defeated Ohio State 70–65 in overtime. * Ed Jucker of Cincinnati became the first head coach to win the NCAA championship his first year at a school.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The Top 20 from the AP Poll and the

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

Coaches Poll In the United States, the Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has ...

during the pre-season.

Conference membership changes

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference standings

University Division independents

A total of 46 college teams played as University Division independents. Among them, (20–3) had the best

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

(.870), while (24–4) and (24–5) finished with the most wins.

Informal championships

Saint Joseph's finished with a 4–0 record in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Final Four

National Invitation tournament

Semifinals & finals

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year:

Jerry Lucas Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) is an American former basketball player. He was a nationally awarded high school player, national college star at Ohio State University, and 1960 Olympic medal, gold medal Olympian and international player be ...

* Associated Press Player of the Year:Jerry Lucas, Ohio State * UPI Player of the Year: Jerry Lucas, Ohio State *

Oscar Robertson Trophy The Oscar Robertson Trophy is given out annually to the most outstanding NCAA Division I men's basketball player by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), first presented in 1958–59 NCAA University Division men's basketball season, 19 ...

( USBWA): Jerry Lucas, Ohio State * ''Sporting News'' Player of the Year: Jerry Lucas, Ohio State

Major coach of the year awards

Henry Iba Award The Henry Iba Award was established in 1959 to recognize the best college basketball coach of the year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Five nominees are presented and the individual with the most votes receives the ...

: Fred Taylor,

NABC Coach of the Year The NABC Coach of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to recognize the top head coach in men's college basketball across the four largest college athletic associations in the United States. ...

: Fred Taylor, Ohio State * UPI Coach of the Year: Fred Taylor, Ohio State

Other major awards

* Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in

Philadelphia Big 5 The Philadelphia Big 5, known simply as the "Big 5", is an association of six college athletic programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is not a conference, but rather a group of NCAA Division I basketball schools who compete for the city’ ...

): Bruce Drysdale,

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

* NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

metro area): Tony Jackson, St. John's

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.

References

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