1973–74 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

1973–74 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
1973–74 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1	UCLA
NCAA Tournament	1974
Tournament dates	March 9 – 25, 1974
National Championship	Greensboro Coliseum; Greensboro, North Carolina
NCAA Champions	NC State
Helms National Champions	NC State
Other champions	Purdue (NIT)
Player of the Year; (Naismith, Wooden)	Bill Walton, UCLA (Naismith)
Player of the Year; (Helms)	David Thompson, NC State
NCAA Division I basketball seasons
«1972–73	1974–75»

The 1973–74 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1973, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1974 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 25, 1974, at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The North Carolina State Wolfpack won its first NCAA national championship with a 76–64 victory over the Marquette Warriors.

Rule changes[]

Holding or grabbing an opposing player away from the ball became fouls, as did illegal screens.^[3]

Season headlines[]

Prior to the beginning of the season, NCAA Division I replaced the NCAA University Division as the subdivision of the NCAA made up of colleges and universities competing at the highest level of college sports. In addition, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III replaced the NCAA College Division for colleges and universities competing at a lower level, with Division II consisting of schools awarding limited athletic scholarships and Division III consisting of schools offering no athletic scholarships.^[4]
In the Pacific 8 Conference, UCLA won its eighth of what would ultimately be 13 consecutive conference titles.

Season outlook[]

Pre-season polls[]

The top 20 from the AP Poll and UPI Coaches Poll during the pre-season.^[5]^[6]

Associated Press
Ranking	Team
1	UCLA
2	NC State
3	Indiana
4	Maryland
5	North Carolina
6	Providence
7	Marquette
8	Notre Dame
9	Louisville
10	Kentucky
11	San Francisco
12	Long Beach State
13	Kansas
14	Houston
15	Arizona
16	Penn
17	Jacksonville
18	Alabama
19	UNLV
20	Memphis State

UPI Coaches
Ranking	Team
1	UCLA
2	NC State
3	Indiana
4	North Carolina
5	Maryland
6	Marquette
7	Notre Dame
8	Providence
9	Memphis State
10	Louisville
11	Alabama
12	Long Beach State
13	South Carolina
14	Kansas State
15	Cincinnati
16	New Mexico
17 (tie)	Penn
17 (tie)	Arizona
19	USC
20	Vanderbilt

Conference membership changes[]

School	Former Conference	New Conference
Abilene Christian Wildcats	Southland Conference	Lone Star Conference (Division II)
Trinity Tigers	University Division independent	non-Division I

Regular season[]

Conference winners and tournaments[]

Conference	Regular Season Winner^[7]	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
Atlantic Coast Conference	NC State	David Thompson, NC State^[8]	1974 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament	Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina)	NC State
Big Eight Conference	Kansas	Lon Kruger, Kansas State^[9]	No Tournament
Big Sky Conference	Idaho State & Montana	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Indiana & Michigan	None selected	No Tournament
Ivy League	Penn	None selected	No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Ohio	Walter Luckett, Ohio^[10]	No Tournament
Middle Atlantic Conference	La Salle & Saint Joseph's (East); Rider (West)	, La Salle, & Earl Brown, Lafayette	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Louisville	Junior Bridgeman, Louisville	No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference	Austin Peay & Morehead State	Fly Williams, Austin Peay	No Tournament
Pacific 8 Conference	UCLA	None selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Athletic Association	Long Beach State	Leonard Gray, Long Beach State	No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Alabama & Vanderbilt	Jan van Breda Kolff, Vanderbilt^[11]	No Tournament
Southern Conference	Furman	Clyde Mayes, Furman^[12]	1974 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Richmond Coliseum (Richmond, Virginia) (Semifinals and Finals)	Furman^[13]
Southland Conference	Arkansas State	Steve Brooks, Arkansas State^[14]	No Tournament
Southwest Conference	Texas	Larry Robinson, Texas	No Tournament
West Coast Athletic Conference	San Francisco	Frank Oleynick, Seattle	No Tournament
Western Athletic Conference	New Mexico	None selected	No Tournament
Yankee Conference	Massachusetts	None selected	No Tournament

Informal championships[]

Conference	Regular Season Winner	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
Philadelphia Big 5	Penn	None selected	No Tournament

Statistical leaders[]

Post-Season Tournaments[]

NCAA Tournament[]

Final Four[]

National Semifinals			National Finals

E	NC State	80

W	UCLA	77
			E	NC State	76

			ME	Marquette	64
ME	Marquette	64

MW	Kansas	51

Third Place – UCLA 78, Kansas 61

National Invitation Tournament[]

Semifinals & Finals[]

Semifinals			Finals

	Jacksonville	64

	Purdue	78
				Purdue	87

				Utah	81
	Utah	117

	Boston College	93

Third Place – Boston College 87, Jacksonville 77

Awards[]

Consensus All-American teams[]

**Consensus First Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Marvin Barnes	C	Senior	Providence
John Shumate	F	Junior	Notre Dame
David Thompson	G/F	Junior	North Carolina State
Bill Walton	C	Senior	UCLA
Keith Wilkes	G/F	Senior	UCLA

**Consensus Second Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Len Elmore	C	Junior	Maryland
Larry Fogle	G	Sophomore	Canisius
Bobby Jones	F	Senior	North Carolina
Billy Knight	G/F	Senior	Pittsburgh
Campy Russell	F	Junior	Michigan

Major player of the year awards[]

Naismith Award: Bill Walton, UCLA
Helms Player of the Year: David Thompson, NC State
Associated Press Player of the Year: David Thompson, NC State
UPI Player of the Year: Bill Walton, UCLA
Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Bill Walton, UCLA
Adolph Rupp Trophy: Bill Walton, UCLA
Sporting News Player of the Year: Bill Walton, UCLA

Major coach of the year awards[]

Associated Press Coach of the Year: Norm Sloan, NC State
Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Norm Sloan, NC State
NABC Coach of the Year: Al McGuire, Marquette
UPI Coach of the Year: Digger Phelps, Notre Dame
Sporting News Coach of the Year: Digger Phelps, Notre Dame

Other major awards[]

Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): , Michigan State
Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Ron Haigler, Penn
NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Bill Campion, Manhattan

Coaching changes[]

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

Team	Former Coach	New Coach
Arkansas		Eddie Sutton
Creighton	Eddie Sutton	Tom Apke
Davidson	Terry Holland
Duke	Neill McGeachy	Bill Foster
Iowa	Dick Schultz	Lute Olson
Long Beach State	Lute Olson
Utah	Bill Foster	Jerry Pimm
Virginia	Bill Gibson	Terry Holland

References[]

^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 846. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1978 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
^ orangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes
^ Burnsed, Brian, "A Brief History of Men's College Basketball," Champion, Fall 2018 Accessed April 6, 2021
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 836. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
^ 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section, retrieved 2009-02-14
^ 2008–09 Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Guide – Awards section, Big 12 Conference, retrieved 2009-02-04
^ 2008–09 MAC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Records Section, Mid-American Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14
^ 2008–09 SEC Men's Basketball Record Book, Southeastern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06
^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
^ 2008–09 Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Media Guide, Southland Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07

[preseason-1] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 846. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[2] "1978 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.

[3] rangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes

[4] Burnsed, Brian, "A Brief History of Men's College Basketball," Champion, Fall 2018 Accessed April 6, 2021

[ESPN-5] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 836. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[6] "1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.

[7] "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-14.

[8] 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section, retrieved 2009-02-14

[9] 2008–09 Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Guide – Awards section, Big 12 Conference, retrieved 2009-02-04

[10] 2008–09 MAC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Records Section, Mid-American Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14

[11] 2008–09 SEC Men's Basketball Record Book, Southeastern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06

[12] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

[13] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

[14] 2008–09 Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Media Guide, Southland Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07

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v t NCAA Division I men's basketball seasons
Pre-regulation	1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06
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