🏀 The 1956-57 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 · 23-team tournament

← 1956 1958 →All seasons

Jump to any season1896–2027

2020s

2027livein progress 2026Michigan 2025Florida 2024Connecticut 2023Connecticut 2022Kansas 2021Baylor 2020cancelled

2010s

2019Virginia 2018Villanova 2017North Carolina 2016Villanova 2015Duke 2014Connecticut 2013Louisville 2012Kentucky 2011Connecticut 2010Duke

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

1957season

← 1956 1958 →

1956-57 national champion

The NCAA tournament winner.

National champion

North Carolina

32-0Final AP #1

Title gameKansas 53, North Carolina 54 (Mar 23)

Final FourNorth CarolinaKansasMichigan StateSan Francisco

The 1957 NCAA tournament

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

23-team field · 4 regions

First Round

Loyola (LA)55

Oklahoma City76

Second Round

Kansas73

SMU65

Oklahoma City75

Saint Louis66

Regional Finals

Kansas81

Oklahoma City61

Midwest region

First Round

Loyola (LA)55

Oklahoma City76

Second Round

Kansas73

SMU65

Oklahoma City75

Saint Louis66

Regional Finals

Kansas81

Oklahoma City61

West region

First Round

Hardin-Simmons57

Idaho State68

Second Round

BYU59

Regional Finals

Mideast region

First Round

Second Round

Regional Finals

East region

First Round

Yale74

Second Round

Regional Finals

Final Four and the title game

Final Four

Kansas80

San Francisco56

Midwest vs West · Mar 22

Michigan State70

North Carolina74

Mideast vs East · Mar 22

Championship game: North Carolina

Kansas53

North Carolina54

Midwest vs East · Mar 23

Third-place games

SMU78

Saint Louis68

Regional Third Place · Midwest · Mar 16

Canisius82

Lafayette76

Regional Third Place · East · Mar 16

Notre Dame86

Pittsburgh85

Regional Third Place · Mideast · Mar 16

BYU65

Idaho State54

Regional Third Place · West · Mar 16

Michigan State60

San Francisco67

Third Place Game · Mideast vs West · Mar 23

Conference tournaments

The champion and the other finalist of each of the 2 conference tournaments held in 1956-57.

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Final
Atlantic Coast	North Carolina 95-75, Mar 9	South Carolina	95-75, Mar 9
Southern	West Virginia 67-52, Mar 9	Washington & Lee	67-52, Mar 9

The 1956-57 AP poll, week by week

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

Team	Dec11	18	26	Jan2	8	15	22	29	Feb5	12	19	26	Mar5	12
North Carolina	6	3	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Kansas	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Kentucky	3	7	3	3	3	4	5	4	3	3	3	3	3	3
SMU	5	4	7	4	4	3	6	6	4	6	6	4	4	4
Seattle	20		18	10	9	7	8	9	7	4	4	5	5	5
Louisville	4	6	8	6	5	5	4	3	6	8	7	8	6	6
West Virginia	13	8	4	19	18	15	17	18	11	10	14	11	11	7
Vanderbilt			12	9	6	10	13		18	18	10	9	9	8
Oklahoma City	18	15	11	17	11	13	16	16	13	13	13	18	10	9
Saint Louis		9	5	16	17					20		14	12	10
Michigan State													8	11
Memphis State				20					16		20	19	19	12
California						19	19	15	19	12	15		14	13
UCLA				8	8	6	7	5	5	7	8	6	7	14
Mississippi State											19	20	18	15
Idaho State			20					17	20			15	15	16
Notre Dame														17
Wake Forest				18	13	11	11	13	10	11	12	13	20	18
Bradley						12	10	10	8	5	5	7	13	19
Canisius	10	18	17	15	14	14	14	12	14	14				20
Oklahoma A&M	19	12	10	11	12	19		20				17	16	20
Iowa State	17	14	14	7	7	9	3	8	9	9	9	16	17
Indiana										18	11	10
Kansas State	14	10									17	12
Duke		13	9		15	16	15	19		17	16
West Virginia Tech										15	18
Illinois	7	5	6	5	10	8	9	7	15	16
Ohio State	11	11				17	12	11	12
Purdue									17
Tulane			16				18	14
Western Kentucky State	12	20	15	14	20	18	20
Tennessee			12	12	16
Minnesota					19
Manhattan				13
San Francisco	2	2	19
St. John's		15
Alabama	9	17
North Carolina State	8	19
Dayton	15
Niagara	16

Tap a rank to read it.

1957 final AP Top 25

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

1957 final AP Top 25AP

12Memphis State24-6
13California21-5
14UCLA22-4
15Mississippi State17-8
16Idaho State25-4
17Notre Dame20-8
18Wake Forest19-9
19Bradley22-7
20Canisius22-6
20Oklahoma A&M17-9

1957 standings by conference

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

1957 standings by conference19 conferences

Atlantic Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
North Carolina	32-0	14-0	★ 🏆 NCAA AP 1
Maryland	16-10	9-5
Duke	13-11	8-6
Wake Forest	19-9	7-7	AP 18
North Carolina State	15-11	7-7
South Carolina	17-12	5-9
Clemson	7-17	3-11
Virginia	6-19	3-11

Big Seven7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kansas	24-3	11-1	★ NCAA AP 2
Kansas State	15-8	8-4
Iowa State	16-7	6-6
Colorado	14-9	5-7
Nebraska	11-12	5-7
Missouri	10-13	4-8
Oklahoma	8-15	3-9

Big Ten10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Indiana	14-8	10-4	★
Michigan State	16-10	10-4	★ NCAA AP 11
Minnesota	14-8	9-5
Ohio State	14-8	9-5
Purdue	15-7	8-6
Michigan	13-9	8-6
Illinois	14-8	7-7
Iowa	8-14	4-10
Wisconsin	5-17	3-11
Northwestern	6-16	2-12

Border6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Texas Western	14-8	8-2	★
Hardin-Simmons	17-9	7-3	NCAA
Arizona	13-13	5-5
Arizona State	10-15	4-6
West Texas State	6-14	3-7
New Mexico A&M	6-18	3-7

Ivy8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Yale	18-8	12-2	★ NCAA
Dartmouth	18-7	10-4
Columbia	18-6	9-5
Princeton	14-9	9-5
Harvard	12-9	7-7
Brown	8-16	4-10
Pennsylvania	7-19	3-11
Cornell	4-19	2-12

Metropolitan New York5 teams

School	W-L	Conf
NYU	8-13	3-1
St. John's	14-9	4-2
Fordham	16-10	2-2
Manhattan	5-9	2-2
St. Francis (NY)	12-14	1-2

Mid-American7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Miami (OH)	17-8	11-1	★ NCAA
Marshall	15-9	8-4
Ohio	15-8	7-5
Bowling Green	14-9	7-5
Western Michigan	8-13	4-8
Toledo	5-19	3-9
Kent State	5-18	2-10

Missouri Valley8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Saint Louis	19-9	12-2	★ NCAA AP 10
Bradley	22-7	9-5	AP 19
Oklahoma A&M	17-9	8-6	AP 20
Wichita	15-11	8-6
Detroit	11-15	5-9
Houston	10-16	5-9
Tulsa	8-17	5-9
Drake	8-16	4-10

Mountain States8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
BYU	19-9	11-3	★ NCAA
Utah	19-8	10-4
Montana	13-9	9-5
Denver	11-12	8-6
Utah State	11-13	7-7
Colorado A&M	9-16	6-8
Wyoming	6-19	4-10
New Mexico	5-21	1-13

Ohio Valley6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Morehead State	19-8	9-1	★ NCAA
Western Kentucky State	17-9	9-1	★
Murray State	11-13	5-5
Eastern Kentucky	6-15	4-6
Middle Tennessee State	12-13	2-8
Tennessee Tech	9-11	1-9

Pacific Coast9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
California	21-5	14-2	★ NCAA AP 13
UCLA	22-4	13-3	AP 14
Washington	17-9	13-3
USC	16-12	9-7
Stanford	11-15	7-9
Oregon State	11-15	6-10
Idaho	10-16	4-12
Washington State	8-18	4-12
Oregon	4-21	2-14

Rocky Mountain5 teams

School	W-L	Note
Idaho State	25-4	★ NCAA AP 16
Colorado State College	11-10
Montana State	12-13
Colorado Mines	7-13
Colorado College	4-12

Southeastern12 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kentucky	23-5	12-2	★ NCAA AP 3
Vanderbilt	17-5	10-4	AP 8
Georgia Tech	18-8	9-5
Mississippi State	17-8	9-5	AP 15
Tulane	15-9	9-5
Auburn	13-8	8-6
Alabama	15-11	7-7
Florida	14-10	6-8
Tennessee	13-9	5-9
Mississippi	9-12	4-10
Georgia	8-16	4-10
LSU	6-19	1-13

Southern10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
West Virginia	25-5	12-0	★ 🏆 NCAA AP 7
Washington & Lee	20-7	10-3
Virginia Tech	14-8	12-5
Furman	10-17	7-5
Richmond	15-11	9-7
William & Mary	9-18	7-11
Citadel	11-14	5-9
Davidson	7-20	4-8
George Washington	3-21	3-9
VMI	4-22	1-13

Southwest7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
SMU	22-4	11-1	★ NCAA AP 4
Rice	16-8	8-4
TCU	14-10	6-6
Baylor	9-15	6-6
Arkansas	11-12	5-7
Texas	11-13	3-9
Texas A&M	7-17	3-9

West Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
San Francisco	21-7	12-2	★ NCAA
Santa Clara	15-7	10-4
St. Mary's	17-9	10-4
Fresno State	16-10	7-7
San Jose State	13-12	7-7
Loyola Marymount	11-16	5-9
Pacific	9-17	3-11
Pepperdine	7-18	2-12

Western N.Y. Little 33 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Canisius	22-6	3-1	★ NCAA AP 20
St. Bonaventure	17-7	3-1	★
Niagara	12-13	0-4

Yankee6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Connecticut	17-8	8-0	★ NCAA
Rhode Island	11-11	6-3
Vermont	15-5
Massachusetts	13-11
Maine	6-14
New Hampshire	3-16

Independent45 teams

School	W-L	Note
Seattle	22-3	AP 5
St. Peter's	18-4
Lafayette	22-5	NCAA
Louisville	21-5	AP 6
Memphis State	24-6	AP 12
Syracuse	18-7	NCAA
Notre Dame	20-8	NCAA AP 17
Xavier	20-8
St. Joseph's	17-7
Duquesne	16-7
Temple	20-9
Dayton	19-9
Oklahoma City	19-9	NCAA AP 9
Bucknell	16-8
La Salle	17-9
Muhlenberg	17-9
Navy	15-8
Iona	12-7
Seton Hall	17-10
Cincinnati	15-9
Penn State	15-10
Portland	18-12
Pittsburgh	16-11	NCAA
Colgate	14-10
Loyola-Chicago	14-10
Kentucky Wesleyan	16-12
Washington University	12-9
Loyola (LA)	14-12	NCAA
Boston College	12-11
Texas Tech	12-11
Georgetown	11-11
Miami (FL)	13-13
St. Francis (PA)	12-12
Holy Cross	11-12
Lehigh	8-10
Butler	11-14
Valparaiso	11-14
Gonzaga	11-16
Marquette	10-15
Villanova	10-15
DePaul	8-14
Army	7-13
Rutgers	8-15
Florida State	9-17
Siena	5-15

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.

1957 Elo and upsets

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

1957 Elo and upsetsElo

Elo, top 10

Biggest upsets

BYU 59, UCLA 58
Dec 15 · regular season · 9.4% win chance
Davidson 86, William & Mary 77
Feb 2 · regular season · 9.9% win chance
Bradley 66, Canisius 64
Dec 15 · regular season · 10.0% win chance
Florida State 86, Georgia 63
Jan 21 · regular season · 11.7% win chance
Fresno State 79, San Jose State 75
Jan 15 · regular season · 12.1% win chance
Ohio 89, Miami (OH) 81
Feb 12 · regular season · 12.9% win chance
Loyola Marymount 58, Santa Clara 57
Feb 22 · regular season · 13.1% win chance
Georgia 69, Florida 62
Dec 31 · regular season · 13.1% win chance
Bowling Green 87, DePaul 81
Dec 15 · regular season · 13.3% win chance
Tulane 75, Ohio State 71
Dec 22 · regular season · 13.5% 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.