🏀 The 1938-39 men’s college basketball season

What the record holds for this season: the champion, the tournament bracket, the AP poll week by week, the conference tables, and the Elo ratings with the biggest upsets.

Source: Citizen of Nowhere college basketball database · 16 conferences · 8-team tournament

← 1938 1940 →All seasons

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2010s

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2000s

2009North Carolina 2008Kansas 2007Florida 2006Florida 2005North Carolina 2004Connecticut 2003Syracuse 2002Maryland 2001Duke 2000Michigan State

1990s

1999Connecticut 1998Kentucky 1997Arizona 1996Kentucky 1995UCLA 1994Arkansas 1993North Carolina 1992Duke 1991Duke 1990UNLV

1980s

1989Michigan 1988Kansas 1987Indiana 1986Louisville 1985Villanova 1984Georgetown 1983North Carolina State 1982North Carolina 1981Indiana 1980Louisville

1970s

1979Michigan State 1978Kentucky 1977Marquette 1976Indiana 1975UCLA 1974North Carolina State 1973UCLA 1972UCLA 1971UCLA 1970UCLA

1960s

1969UCLA 1968UCLA 1967UCLA 1966Texas Western 1965UCLA 1964UCLA 1963Loyola-Chicago 1962Cincinnati 1961Cincinnati 1960Ohio State

1950s

1959California 1958Kentucky 1957North Carolina 1956San Francisco 1955San Francisco 1954La Salle 1953Indiana 1952Kansas 1951Kentucky 1950CCNY

1940s

1949Kentucky 1948Kentucky 1947Holy Cross 1946Oklahoma A&M 1945Oklahoma A&M 1944Utah 1943Wyoming 1942Stanford 1941Wisconsin 1940Indiana

1930s

1939Oregon 1938Temple 1937Stanford 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932Purdue 1931Northwestern 1930

1920s

1929Montana State 1928Pittsburgh 1927 1926Syracuse 1925Princeton 1924North Carolina 1923 1922 1921 1920Pennsylvania

1910s

1919 1918Syracuse 1917Washington State 1916Wisconsin 1915Illinois 1914Wisconsin 1913Navy 1912Wisconsin 1911St. John's 1910

1900s

1909Chicago 1908 1907 1906 1905Columbia 1904Columbia 1903 1902Minnesota 1901 1900

1890s

1899 1898 1897 1896

1939season

← 1938 1940 →

1938-39 national champion

The NCAA tournament winner.

National champion

Oregon

29-5

Title gameOhio State 33, Oregon 46 (Mar 27)

Final FourOregonOhio StateOklahomaVillanova

The 1939 NCAA tournament

8 teams. Winners in bold, seeds before each team.

8-team field · 2 regions

First Round

Brown30

Villanova42

Ohio State64

Wake Forest52

East region

First Round

Brown30

Villanova42

Ohio State64

Wake Forest52

West region

First Round

Oklahoma50

Utah State39

Oregon56

Texas41

Final Four and the title game

Final Four

Ohio State53

Villanova36

East · Mar 18

Oklahoma37

Oregon55

West · Mar 21

Championship game: Oregon

Ohio State33

Oregon46

East vs West · Mar 27

Third-place games

Texas49

Utah State51

Regional Third Place · West · Mar 21

Conference tournaments

The champion and the other finalist of each of the 2 conference tournaments held in 1938-39.

Conference	Champion	Runner-up
Southeastern	Kentucky	Tennessee
Southern	Clemson	Maryland

1939 standings by conference

Overall and conference record. A star marks the regular-season champion, a trophy the conference-tournament champion.

1939 standings by conference16 conferences

Big Six6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Missouri	12-6	7-3	★
Oklahoma	12-9	7-3	★ NCAA
Kansas	13-7	6-4
Iowa State	8-9	5-5
Nebraska	7-13	3-7
Kansas State	5-13	2-8

Big Ten10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Ohio State	16-7	10-2	★ NCAA
Indiana	17-3	9-3
Illinois	14-5	8-4
Minnesota	14-6	7-5
Purdue	12-7	6-6
Northwestern	7-13	5-7
Michigan	11-9	4-8
Wisconsin	10-10	4-8
Chicago	9-11	4-8
Iowa	8-11	3-9

Border7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
New Mexico A&M	20-4	14-2	★
Texas Tech	13-6	13-5
Northern Arizona	13-11	12-6
Arizona State	13-13	11-11
Arizona	12-11	8-10
Texas Western	6-13	6-12
New Mexico	4-21	4-16

Eastern Intercollegiate7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Dartmouth	18-5	10-2	★
Columbia	11-5	9-3
Cornell	12-12	7-5
Princeton	10-9	6-6
Pennsylvania	7-11	6-6
Yale	4-16	3-9
Harvard	5-14	1-11

EIC6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Carnegie Tech	12-7	6-4	★
Georgetown	13-9	6-4	★
Penn State	13-10	5-5
Pittsburgh	10-8	5-5
West Virginia	10-9	4-6
Temple	10-12	4-6

Metropolitan New York8 teams

School	W-L	Conf
Long Island	24-0	21-0
St. John's	18-4	17-2
Manhattan	12-5	12-5
St. Francis (NY)	15-7	15-7
CCNY	11-6	11-6
Fordham	10-8	10-8
Brooklyn	9-8	9-8
NYU	11-11	11-11

Missouri Valley8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Oklahoma A&M	19-8	11-3	★
Drake	14-7	11-3	★
Grinnell	14-7	8-6
Tulsa	15-8	8-6
Creighton	11-12	7-7
Washington University	11-10	6-8
Saint Louis	5-16	3-11
Washburn	4-18	2-12

Mountain States7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Colorado	14-4	10-2	★
Utah State	17-7	8-4	NCAA
Utah	13-7	7-5
Wyoming	10-11	7-5
BYU	12-12	4-8
Denver	5-13	4-8
Colorado A&M	2-14	2-10

Northern California5 teams

School	W-L	Conf
Santa Clara	15-5	7-1
San Jose State	11-7	5-3
San Francisco	7-10	4-4
St. Mary's	11-10	3-5
Pacific	5-14	1-7

Pacific Coast9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Oregon	29-5	14-2	★ NCAA
USC	20-5	9-3
California	24-8	9-3
Washington	20-5	11-5
Washington State	23-10	8-8
Stanford	16-9	6-6
Oregon State	13-11	6-10
Idaho	12-19	1-15
UCLA	7-20	0-12

Rocky Mountain4 teams

School	W-L	Note
Colorado College	14-5
Colorado State College	11-6	★
Montana State	18-11
Colorado Mines	7-6

Southeastern13 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Alabama	16-5	13-4
Georgia	11-6	8-3
Kentucky	16-4	5-2	★ 🏆
Auburn	16-6	8-4
LSU	13-7	10-5
Vanderbilt	14-7	7-5
Florida	9-6	5-4
Tennessee	14-7	6-5
Georgia Tech	6-9	4-7
Mississippi State	8-12	5-10
Tulane	5-13	3-6
Mississippi	10-16	4-10
Sewanee	1-16	0-13

Southern15 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Wake Forest	18-6	15-3	★ NCAA
Maryland	15-9	8-3
Washington & Lee	13-9	8-3
Citadel	14-5	7-3
Davidson	19-10	9-7
North Carolina State	10-7	7-6
North Carolina	10-11	8-7
Clemson	16-8	6-6	🏆
Richmond	10-10	5-5
Duke	10-12	8-8
VMI	7-10	6-6
William & Mary	8-13	4-9
South Carolina	5-18	2-8
Virginia Tech	3-14	2-10
Furman	6-16	0-10

Southwest7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Texas	19-6	10-2	★ NCAA
Arkansas	18-5	9-3
SMU	14-8	8-4
Baylor	14-7	7-5
Rice	10-11	6-6
Texas A&M	7-16	2-10
TCU	2-17	0-12

Yankee5 teams

School	W-L	Conf
Rhode Island	17-4	7-1
Connecticut	12-6	6-2
Maine	8-4	4-4
Northeastern	6-12	3-5
New Hampshire	3-14	0-8

Independent48 teams

School	W-L	Note
Loyola-Chicago	21-1
Western Kentucky State	22-3
Roanoke	21-3
Army	13-2
Bradley	19-3
Marshall	22-5
Brown	16-4	NCAA
Siena	8-2
Villanova	20-5	NCAA
Syracuse	15-4
Duquesne	14-4
Detroit	15-5
Virginia	15-5
Boston University	10-4
Notre Dame	15-6
Cincinnati	12-5
Marquette	12-5
Butler	14-6
La Salle	13-6
DePaul	15-7
Seton Hall	15-7
Lehigh	10-5
Xavier	13-7
Bowling Green	12-7
Toledo	17-10
George Washington	13-8
Muhlenberg	13-8
Ohio	12-8
St. Bonaventure	10-7
Niagara	11-8
Navy	8-6
Rutgers	8-6
Montana	17-13
Michigan State	9-8
Indiana State	10-9
Kent State	12-11
Bucknell	8-8
Loyola (MD)	10-13
St. Joseph's	9-12
Wichita State	9-12
Western Michigan	7-10
Lafayette	6-11
Valparaiso	5-10
Colgate	6-13
Miami (OH)	5-13
Dayton	2-12
Louisville	1-15
Canisius	0-13

Where these numbers come from

Enough to disbelieve this page on purpose rather than by accident.

Champions, brackets, polls and standings are read from the Citizen of Nowhere college basketball database, one season at a time. A section appears only where the database holds its data: the NCAA tournament began in 1939 (earlier champions are retroactive selections), the AP poll in 1949, and game-by-game results, and so the Elo ratings and upsets, in 1950.

Elo ratings and upsets come from the site’s own men’s college basketball Elo, built from every game since 1950. An upset’s win chance is the winner’s pre-game probability from those ratings.