🏀 The 1968-69 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

← 1968 1970 →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

1969season

← 1968 1970 →

1968-69 national champion

The NCAA tournament winner.

National champion

UCLA

29-1Final AP #1

Title gamePurdue 72, UCLA 92 (Mar 22)

Final FourUCLAPurdueDrakeNorth Carolina

The 1969 NCAA tournament

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

25-team field · 4 regions

First Round

Colorado State52

Dayton50

Texas A&M81

Trinity66

Second Round

Drake81

Regional Finals

Drake84

Midwest region

First Round

Colorado State52

Dayton50

Texas A&M81

Trinity66

Second Round

Drake81

Regional Finals

Drake84

West region

First Round

Seattle73

BYU62

Second Round

UCLA53

Regional Finals

Santa Clara52

UCLA90

East region

First Round

Second Round

Regional Finals

Mideast region

First Round

Second Round

Purdue91

Regional Finals

Marquette73

Purdue75

Final Four and the title game

Final Four

Drake82

UCLA85

Midwest vs West · Mar 20

North Carolina65

Purdue92

East vs Mideast · Mar 20

Championship game: UCLA

Purdue72

UCLA92

Mideast vs West · Mar 22

Third-place games

Duquesne75

St. John's72

Regional Third Place · East · Mar 15

New Mexico State56

Weber State58

Regional Third Place · West · Mar 15

Kentucky72

Miami (OH)71

Regional Third Place · Mideast · Mar 15

Colorado97

Texas A&M82

Regional Third Place · Midwest · Mar 15

Drake104

North Carolina84

Third Place Game · Midwest vs East · Mar 22

Conference tournaments

The champion and the other finalist of each of the 2 conference tournaments held in 1968-69.

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Final
Atlantic Coast	North Carolina 85-74, Mar 8	Duke	85-74, Mar 8
Southern	Davidson 102-76, Mar 1	East Carolina	102-76, Mar 1

The 1968-69 AP poll, week by week

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

Team	Nov26	Dec3	10	17	24	31	Jan7	14	21	28	Feb4	11	18	25	Mar4
UCLA	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
La Salle			20	16	17	11	11	11	9	9	7	5	4	3	2
Santa Clara		18	16	10	9	6	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	4	3
North Carolina	2	2	2	2	2	4	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	4
Davidson	6	6	3	3	3	2	6	4	4	4	6	6	5	5	5
Purdue	10	14	13	12	18				18	14	9	8	9	9	6
Kentucky	3	3	4	4	4	3	7	5	5	5	4	4	6	6	7
St. John's						17	8	6	6	6	5	9	7	7	8
Duquesne						15	15	12	10	11	15	13	8	10	9
Villanova	11	10	8	8	5	9	9	9	11	10	8	11	11	12	10
Drake							18								11
New Mexico State				14	15	12	10	7	7	8	16	15	15	16	12
South Carolina										19			12	8	13
Marquette	15	20					20	15	16	16	17	18	20	18	14
Louisville				19	14	14	14					20	13	11	15
Boston College														20	16
Notre Dame	4	5	7	7	7	16	17	16	15						17
Colorado								20	17	17	20	14	18		18
Kansas	5	4	11	11	8	5	5	10	13	15	13	12	16	13	19
Illinois					12	8	4	8	8	7	10	10	19	15	20
Ohio State	12	13	17	17	16	13	16	13	12	12	12	16	10	14
Tennessee	20	20			20								17	17
Tulsa								14	14	13	11	7	14	19
Dayton									20	20	19	17
Baylor								18				19
Columbia									19	18	14
New Mexico	9	8	5	5	6	18					18
Northwestern						19	12	17
Cincinnati	14	9	6	6	10	10	19	19
Detroit	18	15	14	13	11	7	13
St. Bonaventure	7	11	10	9	13	20
Wyoming					19
California		19	18	15
Western Kentucky	16	17	15	18
Houston	8	6	12	20
Duke	17	16	9
Iowa		20	19
Vanderbilt	13	12
Florida	19

Tap a rank to read it.

1969 final AP Top 20

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

1969 final AP Top 20AP

1UCLA29-1
2La Salle23-1
3Santa Clara27-2
4North Carolina27-5
5Davidson27-3
6Purdue23-5
7Kentucky23-5
8St. John's23-6
9Duquesne21-5
10Villanova21-5

11Drake26-5
12New Mexico State24-5
13South Carolina21-7
14Marquette24-5
15Louisville21-6
16Boston College24-4
17Notre Dame20-7
18Colorado21-7
19Kansas20-7
20Illinois19-5

1969 standings by conference

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

1969 standings by conference19 conferences

Atlantic Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
North Carolina	27-5	12-2	★ 🏆 NCAA AP 4
South Carolina	21-7	11-3	AP 13
Wake Forest	18-9	8-6
North Carolina State	15-10	8-6
Duke	15-13	8-6
Virginia	10-15	5-9
Maryland	8-18	2-12
Clemson	6-19	2-12

Big Eight8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Colorado	21-7	10-4	★ NCAA AP 18
Kansas	20-7	9-5	AP 19
Kansas State	14-12	9-5
Iowa State	14-12	8-6
Missouri	14-11	7-7
Oklahoma State	12-13	5-9
Nebraska	12-14	5-9
Oklahoma	7-19	3-11

Big Sky6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Weber State	27-3	15-0	★ NCAA
Montana State	17-8	11-4
Gonzaga	11-15	6-9
Idaho	11-15	6-9
Montana	9-17	4-11
Idaho State	8-18	3-12

Big Ten10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Purdue	23-5	13-1	★ NCAA AP 6
Illinois	19-5	9-5	AP 20
Ohio State	17-7	9-5
Michigan	13-11	7-7
Northwestern	14-10	6-8
Minnesota	12-12	6-8
Michigan State	11-12	6-8
Iowa	12-12	5-9
Wisconsin	11-13	5-9
Indiana	9-15	4-10

Ivy8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Princeton	19-7	14-0	★ NCAA
Columbia	20-4	11-3
Pennsylvania	15-10	10-4
Cornell	12-13	7-7
Yale	9-16	6-8
Dartmouth	10-15	4-10
Harvard	7-18	3-11
Brown	3-23	1-13

Metropolitan8 teams

School	W-L	Conf
St. Peter's	21-7	7-1
Manhattan	13-9	7-1
LIU-Brooklyn	17-6	6-2
Iona	11-11	4-4
Hofstra	12-13	4-4
Seton Hall	9-16	4-4
Wagner	18-10	2-6
Fairleigh Dickinson	9-13	2-6

Mid-American7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Miami (OH)	15-12	10-2	★ NCAA
Ohio	17-9	9-3
Kent State	14-10	6-6
Western Michigan	11-13	6-6
Toledo	13-11	5-7
Bowling Green	9-15	3-9
Marshall	9-15	3-9

Middle Atlantic11 teams

School	W-L	Note
La Salle	23-1	AP 2
Temple	22-8
St. Joseph's	17-11	★ NCAA
Gettysburg	14-10
Bucknell	13-11
Delaware	11-10
West Chester	12-13
Rider	11-14
Lafayette	9-17
Lehigh	7-17
American	4-19

Missouri Valley9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Drake	26-5	13-3	★ NCAA AP 11
Louisville	21-6	13-3	★ AP 15
Tulsa	19-8	11-5
Cincinnati	17-9	8-8
North Texas	15-10	8-8
Bradley	14-12	7-9
Wichita State	11-15	7-9
Saint Louis	6-20	5-11
Memphis State	6-19	0-16

Ohio Valley8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Murray State	22-6	11-3	★ NCAA
Morehead State	18-9	11-3	★
Western Kentucky	16-10	9-5
Eastern Kentucky	13-9	7-7
East Tennessee State	15-11	6-8
Tennessee Tech	13-11	5-9
Middle Tennessee State	13-13	4-10
Austin Peay	10-14	3-11

Pacific-88 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
UCLA	29-1	13-1	★ NCAA AP 1
Washington State	18-8	11-3
USC	15-11	8-6
Washington	13-13	6-8
Oregon	13-13	5-9
Oregon State	12-14	5-9
California	12-13	4-10
Stanford	8-17	4-10

Southeastern10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kentucky	23-5	16-2	★ NCAA AP 7
Tennessee	21-7	13-5
Florida	18-9	12-6
Auburn	15-10	10-8
Vanderbilt	15-11	9-9
Georgia	13-12	9-9
LSU	13-13	7-11
Mississippi	10-14	7-11
Mississippi State	8-17	6-12
Alabama	4-20	1-17

Southern8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Davidson	27-3	9-0	★ 🏆 NCAA AP 5
East Carolina	17-11	9-2
George Washington	14-11	7-5
Richmond	13-14	6-7
Furman	9-17	5-6
Citadel	13-12	5-8
William & Mary	6-20	3-8
VMI	5-18	3-11

Southland5 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Texas-Arlington	8-18	3-5
Lamar	20-4
Trinity	19-5		★ NCAA
Arkansas State	6-16
Abilene Christian	5-20

Southwest8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Texas A&M	18-9	12-2	★ NCAA
Baylor	18-6	10-4
SMU	12-12	8-6
Texas Tech	11-13	6-8
Rice	10-14	6-8
TCU	12-12	5-9
Texas	9-15	5-9
Arkansas	10-14	4-10

West Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Santa Clara	27-2	13-1	★ NCAA AP 3
San Jose State	16-8	11-3
Pacific	17-9	9-5
UC Santa Barbara	17-9	8-6
Pepperdine	14-12	6-8
San Francisco	7-18	3-11
Loyola Marymount	6-19	3-11
St. Mary's	6-19	3-11

Western Athletic6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Wyoming	19-9	6-4	★
BYU	16-12	6-4	★ NCAA
Arizona	17-10	5-5
Utah	13-13	5-5
New Mexico	17-9	4-6
Arizona State	11-15	4-6

Yankee6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Massachusetts	17-7	9-1	★
Rhode Island	10-15	7-3
Maine	10-13	5-5
Vermont	14-11	3-7
New Hampshire	9-15	3-7
Connecticut	5-19	3-7

Independent56 teams

School	W-L	Note
Boston College	24-4	AP 16
Rutgers	21-4
Marquette	24-5	NCAA AP 14
New Mexico State	24-5	NCAA AP 12
Duquesne	21-5	NCAA AP 9
Villanova	21-5	NCAA AP 10
St. John's	23-6	NCAA AP 8
Dayton	20-7	NCAA
Notre Dame	20-7	NCAA AP 17
Seattle	20-8	NCAA
Colorado State	17-7	NCAA
Jacksonville	17-7
St. Bonaventure	17-7
Florida State	18-8
West Texas A&M	18-8
Holy Cross	16-8
Oklahoma City	18-9
Southern Illinois	16-8
St. Francis (PA)	16-8
Fordham	17-9
Army	18-10
UTEP	16-9
Detroit	16-10
Houston	16-10
Penn State	13-9
Boston University	14-10
Miami (FL)	14-10
Providence	14-10
NYU	12-9
DePaul	14-11
Northern Illinois	13-11
Virginia Tech	14-12
Creighton	13-13
Georgetown	12-12
Hardin-Simmons	13-13
Georgia Tech	12-13
Tulane	12-14
West Virginia	12-14
Air Force	11-13
Niagara	11-13
Colgate	11-14
Butler	11-15
Loyola-Chicago	9-14
Fairfield	10-16
Xavier	10-16
Syracuse	9-16
Utah State	9-17
Centenary	9-18
Navy	7-14
Texas-Pan American	8-17
Canisius	7-16
St. Francis (NY)	7-16
Loyola (LA)	5-19
Pittsburgh	4-20
Portland	3-23
Denver	2-24

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.

1969 Elo and upsets

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

1969 Elo and upsetsElo

Elo, top 10

1UCLA2159
2Purdue1959
3Drake1941
4North Carolina1893
5Davidson1888
6Santa Clara1866
7Boston College1859
8Kentucky1852
9Marquette1843
10La Salle1831

Biggest upsets

USC 46, UCLA 44
Mar 8 · regular season · 3.7% win chance
VMI 87, West Virginia 84
Jan 15 · regular season · 6.7% win chance
Canisius 83, Niagara 79
Mar 8 · regular season · 7.5% win chance
Richmond 80, West Virginia 79
Dec 11 · regular season · 9.0% win chance
Rice 75, Baylor 73
Feb 11 · regular season · 9.4% win chance
Missouri 56, Kansas 55
Feb 15 · regular season · 9.5% win chance
Utah 80, USC 72
Jan 3 · regular season · 9.5% win chance
Mississippi State 73, Georgia 71
Jan 27 · regular season · 9.6% win chance
Washington 64, Ohio State 59
Dec 30 · regular season · 10.1% win chance
Detroit 76, Duquesne 66
Jan 30 · regular season · 10.8% 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.