1949–50 NCAA men's basketball season

1949–50 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
1949–50 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1	None
NCAA Tournament	1950
Tournament dates	March 23 – 28, 1950
National Championship	Madison Square Garden; New York, New York
NCAA Champions	CCNY
Helms National Champions	CCNY
Other champions	CCNY (NIT)
Player of the Year; (Helms)	Paul Arizin, Villanova
	← 1948–49 1950–51 →

The 1949–50 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1949, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1950 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 28, 1950, at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The City College of New York Beavers won their first NCAA national championship with a 71–68 victory over the Bradley Braves.

Season headlines

CCNY became the only team ever to win both the NCAA tournament and the National Invitation Tournament in the same season. CCNY defeated Bradley in the championship game of both tournaments.

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Brooklyn Bulldogs	Metropolitan New York Conference	Non-major basketball program
Bucknell Bison	Middle Atlantic States Conference North	Independent
Detroit Titans	Independent	Missouri Valley Conference
Gettysburg Bullets	Middle Atlantic States Conference North	Independent
Lafayette Leopards	Middle Atlantic States Conference North	Independent
Lehigh Engineers	Middle Atlantic States Conference North	Independent
Louisville Cardinals	Ohio Valley Conference	Independent
Muhlenberg Mules	Middle Atlantic States Conference North	Independent

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular season winner^[1]	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Big Seven Conference	Kansas, Kansas State, & Nebraska	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Ohio State	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Princeton	None selected	No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference	CCNY		No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Cincinnati	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Bradley	None selected	No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference	Western Kentucky State	None selected	1950 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament	Jefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky)	Eastern Kentucky State
Pacific Coast Conference	Washington State (North); UCLA (South)		No Tournament; UCLA defeated Washington State in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Skyline Conference	BYU		No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky	None selected	1950 SEC men's basketball tournament	Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky)	Kentucky
Southern Conference	NC State	None selected	1950 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Duke Indoor Stadium (Durham, North Carolina)	NC State^[2]
Southwest Conference	Arkansas & Baylor	None selected	No Tournament
Western New York Little Three Conference	Canisius, Niagara, & St. Bonaventure		No Tournament
Yankee Conference	Rhode Island State	None selected	No Tournament

Informal championships

Conference	Regular season winner^[3]	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Middle Three Conference	Lafayatte & Rutgers	None selected	No Tournament

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Semifinals & finals

National semifinals		National Finals

CCNY	78

NC State	73
		CCNY	71

		Bradley	68
Baylor	66

Bradley	68

Third Place – NC State 53, Baylor 41

National Invitation tournament

Semifinals & finals

Semifinals			Finals

	St. John's	72

	Bradley	82
				Bradley	61

				CCNY	69
	Duquesne	52

	CCNY	62

Third Place – St. John's 69, Duquesne 67

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

**Consensus First Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Paul Arizin	F	Senior	Villanova
Bob Cousy	G	Senior	Holy Cross
Dick Schnittker	F	Senior	Ohio State
Bill Sharman	G	Senior	Southern California
Paul Unruh	F	Senior	Bradley

**Consensus Second Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Chuck Cooper	F	Senior	Duquesne
Don Lofgran	F/C	Senior	San Francisco
Kevin O'Shea	G	Senior	Notre Dame
Don Rehfeldt	F	Senior	Wisconsin
Sherman White	C	Junior	Long Island

Major player of the year awards

Helms Player of the Year: Paul Arizin, Villanova
Sporting News Player of the Year: Paul Arizin, Villanova

Other major awards

NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Sherman White, Long Island

Coaching changes

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

Team	Former Coach	New Coach
Dartmouth	Elmer A. Lampe	Doggie Julian
Northwestern	Dutch Lonborg	Harold Olsen
USC	Sam Barry	Forrest Twogood
Washington & Lee	Conn Davis	Scotty Hamilton

References

^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.

[1] "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.

[2] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

[3] "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.

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v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball seasons
Pre-regulation	1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898-99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06
IAAUS / NCAA pre-Tournament era	1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38
NCAA Tournament era	1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25