1931–32 NCAA men's basketball season

1931–32 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
1931–32 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	Purdue (retroactive selection in 1943)
Player of the Year; (Helms)	John Wooden, Purdue (retroactive selection in 1944)
	← 1930–31 1932–33 →

The 1931–32 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1931, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1932.

Season headlines

The Border Conference began play, with five original members.
Purdue senior guard John Wooden became the first three-time All-American.^[1]
In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Purdue as its national champion for the 1931–32 season.^[2]
In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Purdue as its national champion for the 1931–32 season.^[3]

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Ada Teachers College Tigers	Independent	Non-major basketball program
Arizona Wildcats	Independent	Border Conference
Arizona State–Flagstaff Lumberjacks	Independent	Border Conference
Arizona State–Tempe Bulldogs	Independent	Border Conference
New Mexico Lobos	Independent	Border Conference
New Mexico A&M Aggies	Independent	Border Conference

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular season winner^[4]	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Big Six Conference	Kansas	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Purdue	None selected	No Tournament
Border Conference	Arizona	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Princeton	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Creighton	None selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Washington (North); USC (South)		No Tournament; USC defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Wyoming (Eastern); BYU & Utah (Western)		No Tournament
Southern Conference	Kentucky & Maryland	None selected	1932 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta, Georgia)	Georgia^[5]
Southwest Conference	Baylor	None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1931–32 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Kansas	7	–	3	.700	13	–	5	.722
Oklahoma	6	–	4	.600	9	–	5	.643
Missouri	6	–	4	.600	9	–	9	.500
Kansas State	5	–	5	.500	7	–	8	.467
Iowa State	4	–	6	.400	9	–	6	.600
Nebraska	2	–	8	.200	3	–	17	.150

1931–32 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Purdue	11	–	1	.917	17	–	1	.944
Minnesota	9	–	3	.750	15	–	3	.833
Northwestern	9	–	3	.750	13	–	5	.722
Michigan	8	–	4	.667	11	–	6	.647
Illinois	7	–	5	.583	11	–	6	.647
Ohio State	5	–	7	.417	9	–	9	.500
Indiana	4	–	8	.333	8	–	10	.444
Wisconsin	3	–	9	.250	8	–	10	.444
Iowa	3	–	9	.250	5	–	12	.294
Chicago	1	–	11	.083	2	–	15	.118

1931–32 Border Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Arizona	8	–	2	.800	18	–	2	.900
Arizona State–Flagstaff	8	–	4	.667	9	–	8	.529
New Mexico	5	–	5	.500	10	–	6	.625
Arizona State–Tempe	4	–	8	.333	7	–	12	.368
New Mexico A&M	1	–	7	.125	9	–	10	.474

1931–32 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Princeton	8	–	2	.800	18	–	4	.818
Columbia	8	–	2	.800	16	–	6	.727
Cornell	6	–	4	.600	10	–	10	.500
Dartmouth	5	–	5	.500	15	–	6	.714
Penn	2	–	8	.200	10	–	11	.476
Yale	1	–	9	.100	10	–	12	.455

1931–32 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Creighton	8	–	0	1.000	17	–	4	.810
Grinnell	5	–	3	.625	8	–	8	.500
Washington University	3	–	5	.375	10	–	9	.526
Oklahoma A&M	2	–	6	.250	4	–	15	.211
Drake	2	–	6	.250	2	–	17	.105

1931–32 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
North
Washington	12	–	4	.750	19	–	6	.760
Washington State	11	–	5	.688	22	–	5	.815
Oregon State	7	–	9	.438	13	–	11	.542
Oregon	7	–	9	.438	13	–	11	.542
Idaho	2	–	14	.125	8	–	16	.333
South
California †	8	–	3	.727	16	–	8	.667
USC	8	–	3	.727	10	–	12	.455
UCLA	4	–	7	.364	9	–	10	.474
Stanford	2	–	9	.182	6	–	13	.316

† Conference playoff series winner

1931–32 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Eastern
Wyoming	12	–	0	1.000	18	–	2	.900
Northern Colorado	10	–	4	.714	10	–	4	.714
Colorado College	10	–	4	.714	14	–	6	.700
Colorado	9	–	5	.643	10	–	7	.588
Colorado Agricultural	4	–	8	.333	4	–	8	.333
Western State	2	–	8	.200	3	–	8	.273
Denver	2	–	12	.143	3	–	15	.167
Colorado Mines	1	–	9	.100	1	–	9	.100
Western
BYU	8	–	4	.667	20	–	12	.625
Utah	8	–	4	.667	14	–	9	.609
Montana State	6	–	6	.500	14	–	15	.483
Utah State	2	–	10	.167	7	–	15	.318

1931–32 Southern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Kentucky	9	–	1	.900	15	–	2	.882
Maryland	9	–	1	.900	16	–	4	.800
Auburn	9	–	2	.818	12	–	3	.800
Alabama	11	–	3	.786	16	–	4	.800
North Carolina	6	–	3	.667	16	–	5	.762
Virginia	6	–	3	.667	13	–	8	.619
Georgia †	7	–	4	.636	19	–	7	.731
Ole Miss	8	–	5	.615	9	–	6	.600
Georgia Tech	5	–	3	.625	7	–	6	.538
North Carolina State	6	–	4	.600	10	–	6	.625
Duke	6	–	5	.545	14	–	11	.560
LSU	8	–	8	.500	11	–	9	.550
Tennessee	5	–	5	.500	8	–	7	.533
South Carolina	2	–	2	.500	9	–	7	.563
Vanderbilt	5	–	7	.417	8	–	11	.421
Mississippi A&M	4	–	7	.364	5	–	10	.333
Tulane	5	–	9	.357	6	–	10	.375
Florida	4	–	10	.286	8	–	12	.400
Washington and Lee	3	–	8	.273	9	–	10	.474
Virginia Tech	2	–	8	.200	8	–	9	.471
Clemson	2	–	9	.182	8	–	12	.400
Sewanee	1	–	7	.125	3	–	9	.250
VMI	0	–	9	.000	0	–	14	.000

† Southern Conference Tournament winner

1931–32 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Baylor	10	–	2	.833	14	–	4	.778
TCU	9	–	3	.750	18	–	4	.818
Arkansas	8	–	4	.667	18	–	6	.750
Texas	5	–	7	.417	13	–	9	.591
Texas A&M	4	–	8	.333	10	–	9	.526
Rice	4	–	8	.333	5	–	9	.357
SMU	2	–	10	.167	9	–	13	.409

Statistical leaders

Awards

Consensus All-American team

**Consensus Team**
Player	Class	Team
Lou Bender	Senior	Columbia
Boze Berger	Senior	Maryland
Moose Krause	Sophomore	Notre Dame
Forest Sale	Junior	Kentucky
Les Witte	Sophomore	Wyoming
John Wooden	Senior	Purdue

Major player of the year awards

Helms Player of the Year: John Wooden, Purdue (retroactive selection in 1944)

Coaching changes

References

^ "Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 13. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
^ Scott, Jon (November 9, 2010). "The truth behind the Helms Committee". Retrieved December 14, 2015.
^ ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 526, 529–587. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "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
^ "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved February 16, 2018.

[1] "Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 13. Retrieved June 25, 2024.

[2] Scott, Jon (November 9, 2010). "The truth behind the Helms Committee". Retrieved December 14, 2015.

[ESPN_526-3] ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 526, 529–587. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[4] "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.

[5] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

[6] "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved February 16, 2018.

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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
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