1903–04 collegiate men's basketball season in the United States

1903–04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	Columbia (retroactive selection in 1943)

The 1903–04 collegiate men's basketball season in the United States began in December 1903, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1904.

Season headlines

• In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Columbia as its national champion for the 1903–04 season.
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Columbia as its national champion for the 1903–04 season.

Conference membership changes

School	Former Conference	New Conference
Chicago Maroons	No major basketball program	Western Conference
Penn Quakers	Independent	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League

Regular season

Conference winners

Conference	Regular Season Winner	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Columbia	None selected	No Tournament
Western Conference	None (see note)	None selected	No Tournament

NOTE: The Western Conference (the future Big Ten Conference) did not sponsor an official conference season or recognize a regular-season champion until the 1905–06 season. In 1903–04, Chicago (7–0) finished with the best winning percentage (1.000) and Purdue (11–2) and Wisconsin (11–4) with the most wins.

1903–04 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Columbia 10 – 0   1.000 17 – 1   .944 Penn 6 – 4   .600 10 – 4   .714 Princeton 5 – 5   .500 10 – 5   .667 Yale 5 – 5   .500 10 – 12   .455 Cornell 3 – 7   .300 6 – 13   .316 Harvard 1 – 9   .100 1 – 9   .100

1903–04 Western Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Chicago† 0 – 0   – 7 – 0   1.000 Purdue 2 – 1   .667 11 – 2   .846 Minnesota 1 – 0   1.000 10 – 2   .833 Iowa 0 – 0   – 6 – 2   .750 Wisconsin 0 – 0   – 11 – 4   .733 Indiana 0 – 2   .000 5 – 4   .556 † Intramural play only; the conference did not have an official champion winner

Independents

A total of 56 college teams played as independents. Among teams that played at least 10 games, North Dakota Agriultural (11–1) had the best winning percentage (.917), and Fordham (19–5) won the most games.

1903–04 collegiate men's basketball independents standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Cumberland (Tenn.) –   – 4 – 0   1.000 Wisconsin–Stevens Point –   – 6 – 0   1.000 North Dakota Agricultural –   – 11 – 1   .917 Illinois State –   – 7 – 1   .875 Allegheny –   – 13 – 2   .867 Bloomsburg –   – 6 – 1   .857 Vanderbilt –   – 6 – 1   .857 Dayton –   – 5 – 1   .833 Holy Cross –   – 10 – 2   .833 Canisius –   – 9 – 2   .818 Maine –   – 8 – 2   .800 Fordham –   – 19 – 5   .792 Hiram –   – 10 – 3   .769 Denver –   – 3 – 1   .750 Lehigh –   – 5 – 2   .714 Ohio State –   – 10 – 4   .714 Colgate –   – 12 – 5   .706 Oregon Agricultural –   – 7 – 3   .700 Williams –   – 15 – 7   .682 Army –   – 2 – 1   .667 Connecticut –   – 6 – 3   .667 Montana State –   – 4 – 2   .667 Washington –   – 6 – 3   .667 Washington State –   – 2 – 1   .667 Grove City –   – 9 – 5   .643 Nebraska –   – 9 – 5   .643 Grinnell –   – 7 – 4   .636 Michigan State –   – 5 – 3   .625 Baker –   – 6 – 4   .600 Bucknell –   – 7 – 5   .583 Syracuse –   – 11 – 8   .579 Cincinnati –   – 8 – 6   .571 Colorado –   – 4 – 3   .571 Dartmouth –   – 8 – 6   .571 West Virginia –   – 4 – 3   .571 Penn State –   – 5 – 4   .556 Wheaton (Ill.) –   – 10 – 9   .526 Augustana (Ill.) –   – 1 – 1   .500 Brigham Young –   – 3 – 3   .500 Butler –   – 2 – 2   .500 Gettysburg –   – 4 – 4   .500 Temple –   – 4 – 4   .500 Utah State –   – 2 – 2   .500 Mount Union –   – 4 – 5   .444 Brown –   – 8 – 11   .421 Kansas –   – 5 – 8   .385 Wabash –   – 4 – 7   .364 Wesleyan (Conn.) –   – 5 – 9   .357 Westminster (Pa.) –   – 2 – 4   .333 Wooster –   – 2 – 4   .333 Akron –   – 3 – 7   .300 Rhode Island A&M –   – 1 – 3   .250 Kentucky –   – 1 – 4   .200 Indiana State –   – 2 – 11   .154 Bradley –   – 0 – 4   .000 Oregon –   – 0 – 4   .000