🏀 The 1961-62 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 · 18 conferences · 25-team tournament

← 1961 1963 →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

1962season

← 1961 1963 →

1961-62 national champion

The NCAA tournament winner.

National champion

Cincinnati

29-2Final AP #2

Title gameCincinnati 71, Ohio State 59 (Mar 24)

Final FourCincinnatiOhio StateUCLAWake Forest

The 1962 NCAA tournament

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

25-team field · 4 regions

First Round

Second Round

Regional Finals

Midwest region

First Round

Second Round

Regional Finals

West region

First Round

Seattle65

Second Round

UCLA73

Regional Finals

UCLA88

Mideast region

First Round

Bowling Green55

Butler56

Detroit81

Western Kentucky90

Second Round

Butler60

Regional Finals

East region

First Round

NYU70

Yale82

Second Round

NYU76

Regional Finals

Final Four and the title game

Final Four

Cincinnati72

UCLA70

Midwest vs West · Mar 23

Ohio State84

Wake Forest68

Mideast vs East · Mar 23

Championship game: Cincinnati

Cincinnati71

Ohio State59

Midwest vs Mideast · Mar 24

Third-place games

Butler87

Western Kentucky86

Regional Third Place · Mideast · Mar 17

NYU94

St. Joseph's85

Regional Third Place · East · Mar 17

Pepperdine75

Utah State71

Regional Third Place · West · Mar 17

Creighton63

Texas Tech61

Regional Third Place · Midwest · Mar 17

UCLA80

Wake Forest82

Third Place Game · West vs East · Mar 24

Conference tournaments

The champion and the other finalist of each of the 2 conference tournaments held in 1961-62.

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Final
Atlantic Coast	Wake Forest 77-66, Mar 3	Clemson	77-66, Mar 3
Southern	West Virginia 88-72, Mar 3	Virginia Tech	88-72, Mar 3

The 1961-62 AP poll, week by week

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

Team	Dec12	19	26	Jan2	9	16	23	30	Feb6	13	20	27	Mar6	13
Ohio State	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Cincinnati	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2
Kentucky			6	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	3	4	4	3
Mississippi State				9	7	10	10	10	9	8	5	5	5	4
Bradley						9	9	9	7	5	6	6	6	5
Kansas State	8	4	5	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	6
Utah												10	7	7
Bowling Green				10	9	8	8	8	8	10	7	7	8	8
Colorado											9	9		9
Duke	7		10	8	10	7	7	6	5	7	8	8	9	10
Loyola-Chicago													10
Oregon State									10	6	10
Duquesne		7	3	7	8	5	6	7	6	9
USC	4	6	4	6	4	6	5	5
Villanova				5	6
West Virginia		5	7
Wichita			8
Purdue	6	8	9
Providence	5	3
St. Bonaventure		9
Arizona State		10
Seattle	10	10
Wake Forest	3
St. John's	9

Tap a rank to read it.

1962 final AP Top 10

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

1962 final AP Top 10AP

6Kansas State22-3
7Utah23-3
8Bowling Green21-4
9Colorado19-7
10Duke20-5

1962 standings by conference

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

1962 standings by conference18 conferences

Atlantic Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Wake Forest	22-9	12-2	★ 🏆 NCAA
Duke	20-5	11-3	AP 10
North Carolina State	11-6	10-4
South Carolina	15-12	7-7
North Carolina	8-9	7-7
Clemson	12-15	4-10
Maryland	8-17	3-11
Virginia	5-18	2-12

Big Eight8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Colorado	19-7	13-1	★ NCAA AP 9
Kansas State	22-3	12-2	AP 6
Iowa State	13-12	8-6
Oklahoma State	14-11	7-7
Nebraska	9-16	5-9
Oklahoma	7-17	5-9
Missouri	9-16	3-11
Kansas	7-18	3-11

Big Five5 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
UCLA	18-11	10-2	★ NCAA
Stanford	16-6	8-4
Washington	16-10	5-7
USC	14-11	5-7
California	8-17	2-10

Big Ten10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Ohio State	26-2	13-1	★ NCAA AP 1
Wisconsin	17-7	10-4
Purdue	17-7	9-5
Illinois	15-8	7-7
Indiana	13-11	7-7
Iowa	13-11	7-7
Minnesota	10-14	6-8
Michigan	7-17	5-9
Michigan State	8-14	3-11
Northwestern	8-15	3-11

Border5 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Arizona State	23-4	8-0	★ NCAA
Texas Western	18-6	5-3
New Mexico State	10-14	3-5
West Texas State	5-18	3-5
Hardin-Simmons	8-17	1-7

Ivy8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Yale	18-6	13-1	★ NCAA
Pennsylvania	17-8	11-3
Princeton	13-10	10-4
Cornell	18-7	9-5
Brown	11-14	6-8
Harvard	10-14	3-11
Dartmouth	6-18	3-11
Columbia	3-21	1-13

Metropolitan New York5 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
St. John's	21-5	5-0
NYU	20-5	3-2	NCAA
St. Francis (NY)	8-15	2-3
Manhattan	12-10	1-3
Fordham	10-14	1-3

Mid-American7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Bowling Green	21-4	11-1	★ NCAA AP 8
Ohio	13-10	8-4
Toledo	14-10	7-5
Western Michigan	13-11	6-6
Marshall	10-13	6-6
Miami (OH)	7-17	3-9
Kent State	2-19	1-11

Middle Atlantic10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
St. Joseph's	18-10	9-1	★ NCAA
Temple	18-9	8-2
Delaware	18-5	9-3
Lafayette	18-6	9-3
La Salle	16-9	5-3
Gettysburg	18-6	7-5
Lehigh	7-12	4-10
Rutgers	10-13	2-8
Bucknell	7-15	2-9
Muhlenberg	5-17	1-12

Missouri Valley7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Cincinnati	29-2	10-2	★ NCAA AP 2
Bradley	21-7	10-2	★ AP 5
Wichita	18-9	7-5
Drake	16-8	6-6
Saint Louis	11-15	5-7
Tulsa	7-19	4-8
North Texas	3-23	0-12

Mountain States8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Utah	23-3	13-1	★ AP 7
Utah State	22-7	12-2	NCAA
Colorado State	18-9	10-4
Montana	10-14	5-9
BYU	10-16	5-9
Denver	8-17	5-9
Wyoming	9-17	3-11
New Mexico	6-20	3-11

Ohio Valley7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Western Kentucky State	17-10	11-1	★ NCAA
Tennessee Tech	16-6	7-5
Morehead State	14-8	7-5
Eastern Kentucky	10-6	7-5
Murray State	13-12	5-7
East Tennessee State	11-14	3-9
Middle Tennessee State	6-12	2-10

Southeastern12 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Mississippi State	24-1	13-1	★ AP 4
Kentucky	23-3	13-1	★ NCAA AP 3
Auburn	18-6	11-3
Florida	12-11	8-6
LSU	13-11	7-7
Tulane	12-10	6-8
Vanderbilt	12-12	6-8
Alabama	11-15	6-8
Mississippi	12-13	5-9
Georgia Tech	10-16	4-10
Georgia	8-16	3-11
Tennessee	4-19	2-12

Southern9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
West Virginia	24-6	12-1	★ 🏆 NCAA
Virginia Tech	19-6	9-3
Furman	15-12	8-5
George Washington	9-15	6-7
Davidson	14-11	5-6
VMI	9-11	6-8
Citadel	8-15	4-8
William & Mary	7-17	5-11
Richmond	6-21	5-11

Southwest8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
SMU	18-7	11-3	★
Texas Tech	19-8	11-3	★ NCAA
Texas A&M	15-9	9-5
Texas	16-8	8-6
Rice	12-11	7-7
Arkansas	14-10	5-9
TCU	5-19	4-10
Baylor	4-20	1-13

West Coast7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Pepperdine	20-7	11-1	★ NCAA
Santa Clara	19-6	8-4
St. Mary's	13-11	8-4
Loyola Marymount	18-9	6-6
Pacific	10-16	5-7
San Francisco	10-15	4-8
San Jose State	13-11	0-12

Yankee6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Massachusetts	15-9	8-2	★ NCAA
Connecticut	16-8	7-3
Rhode Island	14-12	7-3
Maine	11-13	4-6
Vermont	12-12	3-7
New Hampshire	3-20	1-9

Independent48 teams

School	W-L	Note
Loyola-Chicago	23-4
Oregon State	24-5	NCAA
Creighton	21-5	NCAA
Dayton	24-6
Butler	22-6	NCAA
Houston	21-6
Holy Cross	20-6
Providence	20-6
Duquesne	22-7
Villanova	21-7	NCAA
Air Force	16-7	NCAA
Boston College	15-7
Memphis State	15-7	NCAA
Niagara	16-8
Seattle	18-9	NCAA
St. Bonaventure	14-7
Centenary	17-9
Idaho State	17-9
Florida State	15-8
St. Francis (PA)	14-8
Seton Hall	15-9
Navy	13-8
Georgetown	14-9
Louisville	15-10
Marquette	15-11
Canisius	12-9
DePaul	13-10
Detroit	15-12	NCAA
Gonzaga	14-12
Miami (FL)	14-12
Oklahoma City	14-12
Xavier	14-12
Penn State	12-11
Pittsburgh	12-11
Idaho	13-13
Loyola (LA)	12-13
Army	10-11
Regis	10-11
Arizona	12-14
Montana State	10-13
Iona	8-11
Colgate	8-15
Oregon	9-17
Portland	8-18
Washington State	8-18
Notre Dame	7-16
Boston University	5-15
Syracuse	2-22

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.

1962 Elo and upsets

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

1962 Elo and upsetsElo

Elo, top 10

Biggest upsets

Syracuse 73, Boston College 72
Mar 3 · regular season · 3.5% win chance
Pacific 59, Loyola Marymount 52
Feb 16 · regular season · 3.9% win chance
Michigan 81, Wisconsin 74
Feb 5 · regular season · 4.3% win chance
TCU 65, Texas Tech 63
Feb 6 · regular season · 4.3% win chance
Yale 73, Holy Cross 71
Dec 9 · regular season · 8.5% win chance
Syracuse 72, Connecticut 67
Mar 5 · regular season · 8.5% win chance
California 68, Washington 65
Mar 3 · regular season · 8.9% win chance
Middle Tennessee State 72, Morehead State 69
Feb 10 · regular season · 9.2% win chance
St. Francis (PA) 64, Niagara 61
Jan 20 · regular season · 9.8% win chance
Creighton 68, Iowa 67
Feb 3 · regular season · 10.2% 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.