🏀 The 1955-56 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 · 19 conferences · 25-team tournament

← 1955 1957 →All seasons

Jump to any season1896–2027

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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

1956season

← 1955 1957 →

1955-56 national champion

The NCAA tournament winner.

National champion

San Francisco

29-0Final AP #1

Title gameIowa 71, San Francisco 83 (Mar 23)

Final FourSan FranciscoIowaSMUTemple

The 1956 NCAA tournament

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

25-team field · 4 regions

First Round

Marshall92

Morehead State107

DePaul63

Wayne State72

Second Round

Iowa97

Morehead State83

Kentucky84

Wayne State64

Regional Finals

Iowa89

Kentucky77

Midwest region

First Round

Marshall92

Morehead State107

DePaul63

Wayne State72

Second Round

Iowa97

Morehead State83

Kentucky84

Wayne State64

Regional Finals

Iowa89

Kentucky77

East region

First Round

Canisius79

North Carolina State78

Temple74

Second Round

Canisius66

Dartmouth58

Connecticut59

Temple65

Regional Finals

Canisius58

Temple90

West region

First Round

SMU68

Second Round

Houston74

SMU89

Regional Finals

Oklahoma City63

SMU84

Far West region

First Round

Idaho State66

Seattle68

Second Round

San Francisco72

UCLA61

Seattle72

Utah81

Regional Finals

San Francisco92

Utah77

Final Four and the title game

Final Four

Iowa83

Temple76

Midwest vs East · Mar 22

SMU68

San Francisco86

West vs Far West · Mar 22

Championship game: San Francisco

Iowa71

San Francisco83

Midwest vs Far West · Mar 23

Third-place games

Houston70

Kansas State89

Regional Third Place · West · Mar 17

Morehead State95

Wayne State84

Regional Third Place · Midwest · Mar 17

Seattle70

UCLA94

Regional Third Place · Far West · Mar 17

Connecticut64

Dartmouth85

Regional Third Place · East · Mar 17

SMU81

Temple90

Third Place Game · West vs East · Mar 23

Conference tournaments

The champion and the other finalist of each of the 2 conference tournaments held in 1955-56.

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Final
Atlantic Coast	North Carolina State 76-64, Mar 3	Wake Forest	76-64, Mar 3
Southern	West Virginia 58-56, Mar 3	Richmond	58-56, Mar 3

The 1955-56 AP poll, week by week

Each team's rank in every poll. Tap a rank to read it.

Team	Dec6	13	20	27	Jan3	10	17	24	31	Feb7	14	21	28	Mar6
San Francisco	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
North Carolina State	3	2	2	3	2	3	3	4	4	4	5	6	5	2
Dayton	7	7	4	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	3	3
Alabama	6	5	16	19	17	19	13	12	12	10	8	7	4	4
Iowa	4	4	10	6			20	13	19	17	15	13	10	5
Louisville				11		13	10	9	5	5	4	3	6	6
Illinois	8		17	9	9	8	6	5	6	6	3	2	2	7
SMU							19	18	17	15	12	12	9	8
Kentucky	2	12	9	13	6	5	4	3	8	7	7	8	12	9
UCLA	16						18		20	18	20	15	13	10
Vanderbilt		9	8	5	4	4	5	7	3	3	6	5	7	11
Holy Cross	11	10	7	14	14	11	12	11	14	13	16	17	15	12
Temple		11	12	17	16	10	8	6	7	9	9	10	14	13
West Virginia	14	15			19									14
North Carolina		16	6	4	5	9	9	8	9	12	10	9	8	15
Oklahoma City	12	20	15	10		16	14	16	15	14	14	18	16	16
Houston											18	14	18	17
Wake Forest						18							20	18
Duke			14	8	11	6	7	10	10	8	11	11	11	19
Utah	5	3	3	7		20	16							20
Kansas State													17
Saint Louis		17					17	17	11	11	17		19
St. Francis (NY)								15	13	16	13	16
George Washington	13	13	11	12	7	14				19		19
Iowa State					8	15						20
Memphis State			18		12	17	15	19	16		19
Cincinnati		14			20			14		20
Marshall									18
Oklahoma A&M						20		20
Ohio State	16			15	10	7	11
Indiana		19	18		13	12
Tulsa					15
Rice				17	18
Michigan State				16	20
BYU	10	8	5	20
Marquette	14		13
Duquesne	9	6	20
Kansas		18
La Salle	18
Stanford	19
Minnesota	20

Tap a rank to read it.

1956 final AP Top 20

The last Associated Press ranking of the season, with each team's record.

1956 final AP Top 20AP

1San Francisco29-0
2North Carolina State24-4
3Dayton25-4
4Alabama21-3
5Iowa20-6
6Louisville26-3
7Illinois18-4
8SMU25-4
9Kentucky20-6
10UCLA22-6

11Vanderbilt19-4
12Holy Cross22-5
13Temple27-4
14West Virginia21-9
15North Carolina18-5
16Oklahoma City20-7
17Houston19-7
18Wake Forest19-9
19Duke19-7
20Utah22-6

1956 standings by conference

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

1956 standings by conference19 conferences

Atlantic Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
North Carolina State	24-4	11-3	★ 🏆 NCAA AP 2
North Carolina	18-5	11-3	★ AP 15
Duke	19-7	10-4	AP 19
Wake Forest	19-9	10-4	AP 18
Maryland	14-10	7-7
South Carolina	9-14	3-11
Virginia	10-17	3-11
Clemson	9-17	1-13

Big Seven7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kansas State	17-8	9-3	★ NCAA
Iowa State	18-5	8-4
Missouri	15-7	8-4
Colorado	11-10	7-5
Kansas	14-9	6-6
Nebraska	7-16	3-9
Oklahoma	4-19	1-11

Big Ten10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Iowa	20-6	13-1	★ NCAA AP 5
Illinois	18-4	11-3	AP 7
Ohio State	16-6	9-5
Purdue	16-6	9-5
Michigan State	13-9	7-7
Indiana	13-9	6-8
Minnesota	11-11	6-8
Michigan	9-13	4-10
Wisconsin	6-16	4-10
Northwestern	2-20	1-13

Border7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Texas Tech	13-12	8-4	★ NCAA
New Mexico A&M	16-7	7-5
Texas Western	12-10	7-5
West Texas State	12-10	6-6
Arizona	11-15	6-6
Arizona State	11-15	5-7
Hardin-Simmons	7-18	3-9

Ivy8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Dartmouth	18-11	10-4	★ NCAA
Columbia	15-9	9-5
Pennsylvania	12-13	9-5
Cornell	11-13	8-6
Yale	15-11	7-7
Princeton	11-13	7-7
Harvard	8-16	3-11
Brown	7-18	3-11

Metropolitan New York5 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
St. Francis (NY)	21-4	4-0
Manhattan	16-8	4-1	NCAA
NYU	10-8	2-2
St. John's	12-12	3-3
Fordham	11-14	2-2

Mid-American7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Marshall	18-5	10-2	NCAA
Miami (OH)	12-8	8-4
Western Michigan	11-9	7-5
Toledo	9-13	6-6
Ohio	13-11	5-7
Kent State	10-11	5-7
Bowling Green	4-19	1-11

Missouri Valley7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Houston	19-7	9-3	★ NCAA AP 17
Saint Louis	18-7	8-4
Oklahoma A&M	18-9	8-4
Wichita	14-12	7-5
Tulsa	16-10	4-8
Detroit	13-12	3-9
Bradley	13-13	3-9

Mountain States8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Utah	22-6	12-2	★ NCAA AP 20
BYU	18-8	10-4
Utah State	13-13	7-7
Colorado A&M	12-13	7-7
Denver	13-12	6-8
New Mexico	6-16	5-9
Wyoming	7-19	5-9
Montana	14-12	4-10

Ohio Valley6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Tennessee Tech	14-7	7-3	★
Morehead State	19-10	7-3	★ NCAA
Western Kentucky State	16-12	7-3	★
Murray State	15-10	6-4
Eastern Kentucky	9-16	3-7
Middle Tennessee State	6-15	0-10

Pacific Coast9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
UCLA	22-6	16-0	★ NCAA AP 10
Washington	15-11	11-5
Stanford	18-6	10-6
California	17-8	10-6
USC	14-12	9-7
Oregon	11-15	5-11
Oregon State	8-18	5-11
Idaho	6-19	4-12
Washington State	4-22	2-14

Rocky Mountain5 teams

School	W-L	Note
Idaho State	18-8	★ NCAA
Colorado State College	10-8
Montana State	15-14
Colorado Mines	10-14
Colorado College	2-16

Southeastern12 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Alabama	21-3	14-0	★ AP 4
Kentucky	20-6	12-2	NCAA AP 9
Vanderbilt	19-4	11-3	AP 11
Auburn	11-10	8-6
Tulane	12-12	7-7
Georgia Tech	12-11	6-8
Mississippi State	12-12	6-8
Tennessee	10-14	6-8
LSU	7-17	5-9
Florida	11-12	4-10
Mississippi	10-13	4-10
Georgia	3-21	1-13

Southern10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
George Washington	19-7	10-2	★
West Virginia	21-9	10-2	★ 🏆 NCAA AP 14
Virginia Tech	14-11	10-7
Richmond	16-13	8-6
William & Mary	12-14	9-7
Furman	12-16	7-7
Davidson	10-15	5-7
Washington & Lee	12-16	5-8
VMI	4-19	3-11
Citadel	2-19	0-10

Southwest7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
SMU	25-4	12-0	★ NCAA AP 8
Arkansas	11-12	9-3
Rice	19-5	8-4
Texas	12-10	5-7
Baylor	6-17	3-9
Texas A&M	6-18	3-9
TCU	4-20	2-10

West Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
San Francisco	29-0	14-0	★ NCAA AP 1
Pacific	15-11	9-5
Loyola Marymount	13-12	9-5
St. Mary's	16-10	8-6
San Jose State	15-10	8-6
Santa Clara	8-16	6-8
Fresno State	9-17	2-12
Pepperdine	2-23	0-14

Western N.Y. Little 33 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Canisius	19-7	4-0	★ NCAA
Niagara	20-7	2-2
St. Bonaventure	11-12	0-4

Yankee6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Connecticut	17-11	6-1	★ NCAA
Rhode Island	11-14	6-2
Massachusetts	17-6
Maine	6-12
Vermont	6-12
New Hampshire	2-15

Independent44 teams

School	W-L	Note
Wayne State	17-1	NCAA
Louisville	26-3	AP 6
Temple	27-4	NCAA AP 13
Dayton	25-4	AP 3
Holy Cross	22-5	NCAA AP 12
Seton Hall	20-5
St. Joseph's	23-6
Washington University	17-5
Lafayette	20-7
Memphis State	20-7	NCAA
Oklahoma City	20-7	NCAA AP 16
Portland	20-8
Cincinnati	17-7
DePaul	16-8	NCAA
Colgate	17-9
Syracuse	14-8
Duquesne	17-10
Seattle	18-11	NCAA
Butler	14-9
Xavier	17-11
La Salle	15-10
Muhlenberg	15-10
Pittsburgh	15-10
Georgetown	13-11
Marquette	13-11
Miami (FL)	14-12
Villanova	14-12
Navy	10-9
Creighton	11-12
Gonzaga	13-15
Penn State	12-14
Valparaiso	12-14
Army	10-13
Bucknell	10-14
Drake	10-14
Loyola-Chicago	10-14
St. Francis (PA)	10-14
Loyola (LA)	10-15
Lehigh	7-11
Notre Dame	9-15
Iona	8-14
Siena	7-13
Boston College	6-17
Rutgers	3-15

Elo ratings and upsets use the games in our record for this season, which is incomplete before 1995-96; team records come from the season standings.

1956 Elo and upsets

The ten highest-rated teams when the season ended, and the results the ratings gave the winner the least chance of.

1956 Elo and upsetsElo

Elo, top 10

1San Francisco2034
2Iowa1943
3Illinois1916
4UCLA1883
5Alabama1881
6North Carolina State1852
7Temple1822
8Kentucky1819
9Wake Forest1808
10Duke1806

Biggest upsets

Northwestern 83, Illinois 82
Mar 5 · regular season · 5.6% win chance
SMU 82, Minnesota 81
Dec 10 · regular season · 7.4% win chance
Saint Louis 86, Indiana 75
Dec 12 · regular season · 8.3% win chance
Eastern Kentucky 93, Auburn 71
Dec 17 · regular season · 8.5% win chance
Western Michigan 72, Northwestern 67
Dec 3 · regular season · 8.8% win chance
Temple 73, Kentucky 61
Dec 10 · regular season · 8.9% win chance
Drake 70, Oklahoma City 66
Feb 13 · regular season · 9.2% win chance
Georgetown 67, La Salle 63
Feb 4 · regular season · 11.5% win chance
Santa Clara 40, St. Mary's 39
Mar 2 · regular season · 11.8% win chance
Washington & Lee 63, George Washington 60
Mar 1 · conference tournament · 12.4% win chance

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.