🏀 The 1958-59 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

← 1958 1960 →All seasons

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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

1959season

← 1958 1960 →

1958-59 national champion

The NCAA tournament winner.

National champion

California

25-4Final AP #11

Title gameCalifornia 71, West Virginia 70 (Mar 22)

Final FourCaliforniaWest VirginiaCincinnatiLouisville

The 1959 NCAA tournament

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

23-team field · 4 regions

First Round

Second Round

Regional Finals

Mideast region

First Round

Second Round

Regional Finals

East region

First Round

Navy76

Second Round

Navy55

Regional Finals

West region

First Round

Second Round

Utah53

Regional Finals

Midwest region

First Round

DePaul57

Portland56

Second Round

Cincinnati77

TCU73

DePaul70

Kansas State102

Regional Finals

Cincinnati85

Kansas State75

Final Four and the title game

Final Four

Louisville79

West Virginia94

Mideast vs East · Mar 20

California64

Cincinnati58

West vs Midwest · Mar 21

Championship game: California

California71

West Virginia70

West vs East · Mar 22

Third-place games

Idaho State71

Utah65

Regional Third Place · West · Mar 14

Navy70

St. Joseph's56

Regional Third Place · East · Mar 14

Kentucky98

Marquette69

Regional Third Place · Mideast · Mar 14

DePaul65

TCU71

Regional Third Place · Midwest · Mar 14

Cincinnati98

Louisville85

Third Place Game · Midwest vs Mideast · Mar 22

Conference tournaments

The champion and the other finalist of each of the 3 conference tournaments held in 1958-59.

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Final
Atlantic Coast	North Carolina State 80-56, Mar 7	North Carolina	80-56, Mar 7
Ivy	Dartmouth 69-68, Mar 7	Princeton	69-68, Mar 7
Southern	West Virginia 85-66, Feb 28	Citadel	85-66, Feb 28

The 1958-59 AP poll, week by week

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

Team	Dec9	16	23	30	Jan6	13	20	27	Feb3	10	17	24	Mar2	9
Kansas State	3	3	4	3	4	4	3	3	3	3	4	2	2	1
Kentucky	2	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	3	1	1	2
Mississippi State	8	8	7	8	12	12	11	11	11	10	5	5	4	3
Bradley		11	13	10	9	7	9	9	8	7	10	9	9	4
Cincinnati	1	1	2	2	7	6	6	5	5	5	6	4	3	5
North Carolina State	5	4	6	5	2	1	4	6	6	6	6	7	10	6
Michigan State	15	11	9	7	5	8	8	8	7	12	9	8	6	7
Auburn	12	13	8	9	6	5	5	4	4	4	2	6	7	8
North Carolina	13	10	3	4	3	3	2	2	2	2	1	3	5	9
West Virginia	4	7	5	11	11	10	10	10	10	9	11	10	8	10
California		15	14	20		20		20	19	18	15	12	11	11
Saint Louis	9	17	16	16	14	15	14	15	9	8	8	11	12	12
Seattle		16			16	16	16	13	14	13	12	16		13
St. Joseph's		14		12					20				20	14
St. Mary's	14											20	17	15
TCU				19				19	17	16	16	14	15	16
Oklahoma City				17	13	17	15	14	13	14	18	15	14	17
Utah							20		16	17	17		16	18
St. Bonaventure						14	13	16	18		14	18	19	19
Marquette	17		17	15	15	13	12	12	12	11	13	13	13	20
St. John's	20			13	10	9	7	7	15	19		17	18
Portland						18	17					19
Indiana	19					19				15	19
Purdue				18						20	20
Louisville								17
Illinois					20			18
Northwestern	10	6	12	6	8	11	18
Villanova			15		18		19
Tennessee	6	5	11	14	17
Texas A&M					19
Xavier	16	9	10
Memphis State			18
Washington			19
Dayton			20
Pittsburgh		18
UCLA		19
SMU	18	20
Kansas	7
Notre Dame	11
Oklahoma State	20

Tap a rank to read it.

1959 final AP Top 20

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

1959 final AP Top 20AP

11California25-4
12Saint Louis20-6
13Seattle21-6
14St. Joseph's22-5
15St. Mary's19-6
16TCU20-6
17Oklahoma City20-7
18Utah21-7
19St. Bonaventure20-3
20Marquette23-6

1959 standings by conference

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

1959 standings by conference19 conferences

Atlantic Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
North Carolina State	22-4	12-2	★ 🏆 AP 6
North Carolina	20-5	12-2	★ NCAA AP 9
Duke	13-12	7-7
Maryland	10-13	7-7
Virginia	11-14	6-8
Wake Forest	10-14	5-9
Clemson	8-16	5-9
South Carolina	4-20	2-12

Big Eight8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kansas State	25-2	14-0	★ NCAA AP 1
Oklahoma	15-10	9-5
Colorado	14-10	8-6
Kansas	11-14	8-6
Nebraska	12-13	5-9
Oklahoma State	11-14	5-9
Iowa State	9-16	4-10
Missouri	6-19	3-11

Big Ten10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Michigan State	19-4	12-2	★ NCAA AP 7
Michigan	15-7	8-6
Northwestern	15-7	8-6
Purdue	15-7	8-6
Illinois	12-10	7-7
Indiana	11-11	7-7
Ohio State	11-11	7-7
Iowa	10-12	7-7
Minnesota	8-14	5-9
Wisconsin	3-19	1-13

Border6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Arizona State	17-9	7-3	★
Texas Western	14-9	7-3	★
New Mexico A&M	17-11	7-3	★ NCAA
West Texas State	6-16	5-5
Hardin-Simmons	14-12	3-7
Arizona	4-22	1-9

Ivy8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Princeton	19-5	13-1	★
Dartmouth	22-6	13-1	★ 🏆 NCAA
Yale	10-13	9-5
Brown	11-13	6-8
Pennsylvania	12-14	5-9
Harvard	10-15	4-10
Cornell	8-15	4-10
Columbia	3-21	2-12

Metropolitan New York5 teams

School	W-L	Conf
Manhattan	15-6	4-0
St. John's	20-6	4-2
Fordham	17-8	2-2
NYU	15-8	2-2
St. Francis (NY)	5-18	0-3

Mid-American7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Bowling Green	18-8	9-3	★ NCAA
Miami (OH)	14-11	9-3
Ohio	14-10	6-6
Marshall	12-12	6-6
Kent State	11-13	6-6
Toledo	11-13	5-7
Western Michigan	2-20	1-11

Middle Atlantic10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
St. Joseph's	22-5	7-0	★ NCAA AP 14
La Salle	16-7	5-2
Muhlenberg	13-9	8-6
Bucknell	16-7	6-5
Lafayette	13-8	7-6
Gettysburg	13-13	4-5
Delaware	9-13	4-6
Rutgers	9-15	3-5
Temple	6-19	4-7
Lehigh	6-16	4-10

Missouri Valley8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Cincinnati	26-4	13-1	★ NCAA AP 5
Bradley	25-4	12-2	AP 4
Saint Louis	20-6	10-4	AP 12
Wichita	14-12	7-7
Houston	12-14	6-8
Drake	9-15	4-10
Tulsa	10-15	2-12
North Texas	6-18	2-12

Mountain States8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Utah	21-7	13-1	★ NCAA AP 18
Utah State	19-7	10-4
Denver	14-10	10-4
BYU	15-11	8-6
Montana	10-14	7-7
Colorado State	8-14	6-8
Wyoming	4-22	1-13
New Mexico	3-19	1-13

Ohio Valley7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Eastern Kentucky	16-6	10-2	★ NCAA
Western Kentucky State	16-10	8-4
Tennessee Tech	16-9	7-5
East Tennessee State	13-10	5-7
Morehead State	11-12	5-7
Middle Tennessee State	9-17	4-8
Murray State	10-15	3-9

Pacific Coast9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
California	25-4	14-2	★ NCAA AP 11
Washington	18-8	11-5
UCLA	16-9	10-6
Stanford	15-9	10-6
USC	15-11	8-8
Oregon State	13-13	7-9
Idaho	11-15	6-10
Washington State	10-16	3-13
Oregon	9-16	3-13

Rocky Mountain5 teams

School	W-L	Note
Idaho State	21-7	★ NCAA
Colorado College	15-9
Colorado State College	14-10
Montana State	12-13
Colorado Mines	7-18

Southeastern12 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Mississippi State	24-1	13-1	★ AP 3
Auburn	20-2	12-2	AP 8
Kentucky	24-3	12-2	NCAA AP 2
Georgia Tech	17-9	9-5
Tennessee	14-8	8-6
Vanderbilt	14-10	8-6
Tulane	13-11	6-8
Alabama	10-12	6-8
Georgia	11-15	5-9
LSU	10-15	2-12
Florida	8-15	2-12
Mississippi	7-17	1-13

Southern9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
West Virginia	29-5	11-0	★ 🏆 NCAA AP 10
Virginia Tech	16-5	10-2
Citadel	15-5	7-4
William & Mary	13-11	7-7
Richmond	11-11	6-8
Furman	14-12	5-7
George Washington	14-11	4-7
Davidson	9-15	2-8
VMI	5-13	2-11

Southwest8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
TCU	20-6	12-2	★ NCAA AP 16
SMU	16-8	10-4
Texas Tech	15-9	8-6
Baylor	11-13	7-7
Texas A&M	15-9	6-8
Arkansas	9-14	6-8
Rice	11-13	5-9
Texas	4-20	2-12

West Coast7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
St. Mary's	19-6	11-1	★ NCAA AP 15
Santa Clara	16-9	9-3
Pepperdine	16-8	8-4
Pacific	11-15	6-6
Loyola Marymount	8-15	4-8
San Francisco	6-20	3-9
San Jose State	5-19	1-11

Yankee6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Connecticut	17-7	8-2	★ NCAA
Rhode Island	8-12	5-5
Maine	15-7
Vermont	12-10
Massachusetts	11-13
New Hampshire	9-14

Independent40 teams

School	W-L	Note
St. Bonaventure	20-3	AP 19
St. Francis (PA)	20-5
Marquette	23-6	NCAA AP 20
Seattle	21-6	AP 13
Navy	18-6	NCAA
Boston University	20-7	NCAA
Oklahoma City	20-7	AP 17
Providence	20-7
Memphis State	17-6
Miami (FL)	18-7
Villanova	18-7
Portland	19-8	NCAA
Niagara	15-7
Butler	19-9
Iona	14-7
Boston College	17-9
Louisville	19-12	NCAA
Air Force	14-9
Syracuse	14-9
Army	14-10
Seton Hall	13-10
Holy Cross	14-11
Penn State	11-9
DePaul	13-11	NCAA
Duquesne	13-11
Dayton	14-12
Notre Dame	12-13
Xavier	12-13
Loyola-Chicago	11-13
Detroit	11-14
Gonzaga	11-15
Pittsburgh	10-14
Washington University	9-13
Loyola (LA)	10-16
Colgate	7-12
Florida State	8-15
Georgetown	8-15
Canisius	7-16
Siena	3-16
Washington & Lee	1-15

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.

1959 Elo and upsets

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

1959 Elo and upsetsElo

Elo, top 10

Biggest upsets

Denver 73, Kansas 60
Dec 8 · regular season · 3.3% win chance
Eastern Kentucky 71, North Carolina State 69
Feb 28 · regular season · 6.1% win chance
Loyola Marymount 47, Santa Clara 45
Feb 6 · regular season · 8.2% win chance
Navy 53, Maryland 50
Dec 17 · regular season · 8.4% win chance
Lehigh 79, Muhlenberg 66
Feb 28 · regular season · 8.8% win chance
Missouri 85, Colorado 80
Feb 14 · regular season · 10.2% win chance
Portland 70, Seattle 67
Jan 9 · regular season · 10.4% win chance
Gettysburg 75, Muhlenberg 66
Feb 14 · regular season · 11.1% win chance
Baylor 70, SMU 53
Jan 13 · regular season · 11.4% win chance
Eastern Kentucky 78, Miami (OH) 73
Dec 1 · regular season · 11.5% 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.