The 1974–75 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1974, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1975 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 31, 1975, at the

San Diego Sports Arena Pechanga Arena is an indoor arena in San Diego, California. Opened in 1966, it is an example of New Formalism architecture and has been designated by the City of San Diego as a historic resource. The arena has been home to numerous athletic team ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

won their tenth NCAA national championship with a 92–85 victory over the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

Season headlines

* The

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

expanded from 25 to 32 teams. * For the first time, teams other than the conference champion could be chosen at large from the same conference for the NCAA tournament. No more than two teams from any one conference could be chosen for the tournament until

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, but the NCAA's decision to allow even as many as two teams per conference into the annual tournament threatened to greatly reduce or even eliminate the access of Division I independents — most of which were located in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

— to the tournament. This resulted in a steady decline in the number of independents in ensuing seasons as former independents formed conferences to ensure their access to an automatic tournament bid each year. * In a 1975 ''

Cleveland Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...

'' article, sportswriter Ed Chay used the term "final four" to refer to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament, giving rise to a myth that this was the first such use of the term. In fact, the term "final four" already was in use in the 1960s. * In the Pacific 8 Conference,

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

won its ninth of what would ultimately be 13 consecutive conference titles. * The

National Commissioners Invitational Tournament The National Commissioners Invitational Tournament was an eight-team postseason men's college basketball tournament run by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It was introduced in 1974 as the Collegiate Commissioners Association T ...

(NCIT), a new postseason tournament created by the NCAA in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

as the Collegiate Commissioners Association Tournament to compete with the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

, was played for the second and final time in 1975.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.

Conference membership changes

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

NOTE: From 1975 to

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

, the

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from ...

(ECAC), a loosely organized sports federation of colleges and universities in the

, organized Division I ECAC regional tournaments for those of its members that were independents in basketball. Each 1975 tournament winner received an automatic bid to the 1975 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in the same way that the tournament champions of conventional

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller Division (sport), divisions, with the best teams competing at successively ...

s did.Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
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Conference standings

Division I independents

A total of 83 college teams played as Division I independents. Among them, (22–2) 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 ...

(.917) and

Centenary A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

(25–4) finished with the most wins.

Informal championships

La Salle 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

National Commissioners Invitational Tournament

The Collegiate Commissioners Association Tournament debuted the previous season as a new postseason tournament created by the NCAA to compete with the NIT. Renamed the

, it was played for the second and last time in 1975.

Semifinals & final

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

* Naismith Award: David Thompson,

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

* Helms Player of the Year: David Thompson,

* Associated Press Player of the Year: David Thompson,

* UPI Player of the Year: David Thompson,

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

: David Thompson,

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 The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 with the urging of National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The U ...

): David Thompson,

Adolph Rupp Trophy The Adolph F. Rupp Trophy was an annual college basketball award given to the top player in men's NCAA Division I competition. It was awarded between 1972 and 2015. The recipient of the award was selected by an independent panel consisting of nat ...

: David Thompson,

* ''Sporting News'' Player of the Year: David Thompson,

Major coach of the year awards

* Associated Press Coach of the Year:

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retire ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

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 ...

(

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. ...

* UPI Coach of the Year:

* ''Sporting News'' Coach of the Year:

Other major awards

Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award was an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor players who excelled on the court in spite of their height. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-law, was establi ...

(Best player under 6'0):

Monte Towe Monte Corwin Towe (born September 27, 1953) is an American basketball coach and retired basketball player. He was a starting point guard on the 1973-74 North Carolina State Wolfpack men's basketball team, 1973–74 North Carolina State Wolfpack ...

* 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’ ...

): Ron Haigler, Penn * 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): Phil Sellers,

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

Coaching changes

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1974-75 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Season