🏀 The 1965-66 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 · 22-team tournament

← 1965 1967 →All seasons

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2000s

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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

1966season

← 1965 1967 →

1965-66 national champion

The NCAA tournament winner.

National champion

Texas Western

28-1Final AP #3

Title gameKentucky 65, Texas Western 72 (Mar 19)

Final FourTexas WesternKentuckyDukeUtah

The 1966 NCAA tournament

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

22-team field · 4 regions

First Round

Second Round

Duke76

St. Joseph's74

Davidson78

Syracuse94

Regional Finals

Duke91

Syracuse81

East region

First Round

Second Round

Duke76

St. Joseph's74

Davidson78

Syracuse94

Regional Finals

Duke91

Syracuse81

Mideast region

First Round

Dayton58

Miami (OH)51

Loyola-Chicago86

Western Kentucky105

Second Round

Dayton79

Regional Finals

West region

First Round

Colorado State76

Houston82

Second Round

Houston60

Oregon State63

Pacific74

Utah83

Regional Finals

Oregon State64

Utah70

Midwest region

First Round

Oklahoma City74

Texas Western89

Second Round

Kansas76

SMU70

Cincinnati76

Texas Western78

Regional Finals

Kansas80

Texas Western81

Final Four and the title game

Final Four

Duke79

Kentucky83

East vs Mideast · Mar 18

Texas Western85

Utah78

Mar 18

Championship game: Texas Western

Kentucky65

Texas Western72

Mar 19

Third-place games

Cincinnati84

SMU89

Regional Third Place · Midwest · Mar 12

Davidson76

St. Joseph's92

Regional Third Place · East · Mar 12

Houston102

Pacific91

Regional Third Place · West · Mar 12

Dayton62

Western Kentucky82

Regional Third Place · Mideast · Mar 12

Duke79

Utah77

Third Place Game · East vs West · Mar 19

Conference tournaments

The champion and the other finalist of each of the 3 conference tournaments held in 1965-66.

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Final
Atlantic Coast	Duke 71-66, Mar 5	North Carolina State	71-66, Mar 5
Ohio Valley	Western Kentucky	Eastern Kentucky
Southern	Davidson 80-69, Feb 26	West Virginia	80-69, Feb 26

The 1965-66 AP poll, week by week

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

Team	Nov30	Dec7	14	21	28	Jan4	11	18	25	Feb1	8	15	22	Mar1	8
Kentucky				10	5	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1
Duke	3	6	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	2
Texas Western						9	8	8	6	6	4	3	3	2	3
Kansas	8	7	4				10	6	9	7	7	7	6	6	4
St. Joseph's	4	3	2	2	8	4	4	3	5	8	8	8	7	7	5
Loyola-Chicago								9	7	5	3	4	4	4	6
Cincinnati									8	10				10	7
Vanderbilt	5	4	5	4	2	3	3	5	4	3	5	5	5	5	8
Michigan	2	2	3	3	7					9	10	10	10		9
Western Kentucky															10
Providence	6	8	7	7	10	6	6	4	3	4	6	6	9	8
Nebraska											9	9	8	9
UCLA	1	1	8			10	9	10	10
Bradley	9	9	9	5	3	5	5	7
BYU					6	8	7
Iowa				9	4	7
Minnesota	7	5	6	6	9
Wichita State			10	8
South Carolina		10
Kansas State	10

Tap a rank to read it.

1966 final AP Top 10

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

1966 final AP Top 10AP

1Kentucky27-2
2Duke26-4
3Texas Western28-1
4Kansas23-4
5St. Joseph's24-5

1966 standings by conference

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

1966 standings by conference19 conferences

AAWU8 teams

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

Atlantic Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Duke	26-4	12-2	★ 🏆 NCAA AP 2
North Carolina State	18-9	9-5
Clemson	15-10	8-6
North Carolina	16-11	8-6
Maryland	14-11	7-7
South Carolina	11-13	4-10
Virginia	7-15	4-10
Wake Forest	8-18	4-10

Big Eight8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kansas	23-4	13-1	★ NCAA AP 4
Nebraska	20-5	12-2
Kansas State	14-11	9-5
Oklahoma	11-14	7-7
Colorado	12-13	6-8
Iowa State	11-14	6-8
Oklahoma State	4-21	2-12
Missouri	3-21	1-13

Big Sky6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Weber State	20-5	8-2	★
Gonzaga	19-7	8-2	★
Montana	14-10	6-4
Montana State	7-17	5-5
Idaho	12-14	2-8
Idaho State	7-19	1-9

Big Ten10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Michigan	18-8	11-3	★ NCAA AP 9
Michigan State	15-7	10-4
Iowa	17-7	8-6
Illinois	12-12	8-6
Minnesota	14-10	7-7
Northwestern	12-12	7-7
Wisconsin	11-13	6-8
Ohio State	11-13	5-9
Indiana	8-16	4-10
Purdue	8-16	4-10

Ivy8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Pennsylvania	19-6	12-2	★
Columbia	18-6	10-4
Cornell	15-9	10-4
Princeton	16-7	9-5
Yale	9-12	6-8
Harvard	10-14	6-8
Brown	9-17	3-11
Dartmouth	3-21	0-14

Metropolitan7 teams

School	W-L	Conf
Manhattan	13-9	8-1
NYU	18-10	7-2
St. Peter's	11-12	5-4
Seton Hall	6-18	3-6
Iona	5-16	3-6
Wagner	14-12	1-8
St. Francis (NY)	5-17	0-9

Mid-American7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Miami (OH)	18-7	11-1	★ NCAA
Toledo	13-11	8-4
Ohio	13-10	6-6
Bowling Green	9-15	6-6
Marshall	12-12	4-8
Western Michigan	8-14	4-8
Kent State	8-16	3-9

Middle Atlantic9 teams

School	W-L	Note
St. Joseph's	24-5	★ NCAA AP 5
Temple	21-7
Bucknell	15-10
Lafayette	9-11
La Salle	10-15
Delaware	9-15
Gettysburg	9-15
West Chester	5-17
Lehigh	4-17

Missouri Valley8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Cincinnati	21-7	10-4	★ NCAA AP 7
Bradley	20-6	9-5
Wichita State	17-10	9-5
Louisville	16-10	8-6
Saint Louis	15-10	8-6
Tulsa	16-13	6-8
Drake	13-12	6-8
North Texas	5-20	0-14

Ohio Valley8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Western Kentucky	25-3	14-0	★ 🏆 NCAA AP 10
Eastern Kentucky	16-9	9-5
Tennessee Tech	17-8	8-6
Murray State	13-12	8-6
Morehead State	12-12	8-6
Austin Peay	7-14	3-11
East Tennessee State	7-14	3-11
Middle Tennessee State	7-17	3-11

Southeastern11 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kentucky	27-2	15-1	★ NCAA AP 1
Vanderbilt	22-4	13-3	AP 8
Tennessee	18-8	10-6
Mississippi State	14-11	10-6
Alabama	16-10	9-7
Florida	16-10	9-7
Auburn	16-10	8-8
Georgia	10-15	5-11
Tulane	9-16	5-11
LSU	6-20	2-14
Mississippi	5-18	2-14

Southern9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Davidson	21-7	11-1	★ 🏆 NCAA
West Virginia	19-9	8-2
William & Mary	13-12	8-3
Richmond	12-13	9-7
Furman	9-17	4-8
VMI	5-18	5-11
Citadel	7-16	4-9
George Washington	3-18	3-9
East Carolina	11-15

Southland5 teams

School	W-L	Note
Abilene Christian	21-7	★
Arkansas State	17-9
Lamar	17-9
Trinity	12-10
Texas-Arlington	9-13

Southwest8 teams

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

West Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Pacific	22-6	13-1	★ NCAA
San Francisco	22-6	11-3
Santa Clara	16-11	8-6
San Jose State	11-13	7-7
Loyola Marymount	11-15	7-7
UC Santa Barbara	10-16	5-9
St. Mary's	8-17	4-10
Pepperdine	2-24	1-13

Western Athletic6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Utah	23-8	7-3	★ NCAA
BYU	20-5	6-4
Wyoming	17-9	5-5
Arizona	15-11	5-5
New Mexico	16-8	4-6
Arizona State	12-14	3-7

Yankee6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Rhode Island	20-8	9-1	★ NCAA
Connecticut	16-8	9-1	★
Massachusetts	11-13	5-5
Maine	9-13	4-6
Vermont	12-8	3-7
New Hampshire	3-21	0-10

Independent49 teams

School	W-L	Note
Texas Western	28-1	NCAA AP 3
Loyola-Chicago	22-3	NCAA AP 6
Oklahoma City	24-5	NCAA
Providence	22-5	NCAA
Boston College	21-5
Dayton	23-6	NCAA
Houston	23-6	NCAA
Fairfield	19-5
Virginia Tech	19-5
Syracuse	22-6	NCAA
Hardin-Simmons	20-6
Penn State	18-6
Rutgers	17-7
St. Bonaventure	16-7
Army	18-8
DePaul	18-8
St. John's	18-8
Detroit	17-8
Georgetown	16-8
Colorado State	14-8	NCAA
Villanova	18-11
Butler	16-10
Seattle	16-10
Duquesne	14-9
Miami (FL)	15-11
Denver	14-11
Florida State	14-11
Air Force	14-12
Creighton	14-12
Marquette	14-12
Georgia Tech	13-13
Loyola (LA)	12-12
Xavier	13-13
Centenary	12-14
Utah State	12-14
Niagara	11-13
Holy Cross	10-13
Fordham	10-15
Memphis State	10-15
Navy	7-12
Colgate	8-14
Canisius	7-15
St. Francis (PA)	8-18
West Texas A&M	6-17
Portland	6-19
Pittsburgh	5-17
Notre Dame	5-21
Boston University	4-19
New Mexico State	4-22

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.

1966 Elo and upsets

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

1966 Elo and upsetsElo

Elo, top 10

1Duke1998
2Kentucky1935
3St. Joseph's1933
4Kansas1905
5BYU1865
6UCLA1852
7Vanderbilt1842
8Oregon State1820
9Michigan1814
10Tennessee1812

Biggest upsets

Mississippi State 92, Vanderbilt 90
Mar 5 · regular season · 4.7% win chance
Brown 68, Cornell 66
Jan 15 · regular season · 5.1% win chance
Virginia 65, Maryland 62
Jan 5 · regular season · 6.1% win chance
Rutgers 68, Princeton 66
Dec 13 · regular season · 6.4% win chance
Holy Cross 63, St. John's 60
Mar 1 · regular season · 6.5% win chance
Montana State 76, Seattle 72
Dec 11 · regular season · 7.3% win chance
Oregon 79, UCLA 72
Feb 19 · regular season · 9.8% win chance
San Jose State 58, Stanford 57
Dec 6 · regular season · 9.9% win chance
Bowling Green 74, Miami (OH) 62
Feb 2 · regular season · 10.0% win chance
Loyola (LA) 89, Miami (FL) 76
Feb 19 · 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.