🏀 The 1970-71 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

← 1970 1972 →All seasons

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1980s

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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

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1940s

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1930s

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1920s

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1900s

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1890s

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1971season

← 1970 1972 →

1970-71 national champion

The NCAA tournament winner.

National champion

UCLA

29-1Final AP #1

Title gameUCLA 68, Villanova 62 (Mar 27)

Final FourUCLAVillanovaKansasWestern Kentucky

The 1971 NCAA tournament

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

25-team field · 4 regions

First Round

Notre Dame102

TCU94

Houston72

New Mexico State69

Second Round

Drake79

Notre Dame72

Houston77

Kansas78

Regional Finals

Drake71

Kansas73

Midwest region

First Round

Notre Dame102

TCU94

Houston72

New Mexico State69

Second Round

Drake79

Notre Dame72

Houston77

Kansas78

Regional Finals

Drake71

Kansas73

West region

First Round

BYU91

Second Round

Pacific65

BYU73

UCLA91

Regional Finals

Long Beach State55

UCLA57

East region

First Round

Duquesne65

Pennsylvania70

Fordham105

Furman74

Second Round

Fordham75

Regional Finals

Mideast region

First Round

Second Round

Regional Finals

Final Four and the title game

Final Four

Kansas60

UCLA68

Midwest vs West · Mar 25

Villanova92

Western Kentucky89

East vs Mideast · Mar 25

Championship game: UCLA

UCLA68

Villanova62

West vs East · Mar 27

Third-place games

Kentucky74

Marquette91

Regional Third Place · Mideast · Mar 20

Fordham100

South Carolina90

Regional Third Place · East · Mar 20

BYU81

Pacific84

Regional Third Place · West · Mar 20

Houston119

Notre Dame106

Regional Third Place · Midwest · Mar 20

Kansas75

Western Kentucky77

Third Place Game · Midwest vs Mideast · Mar 27

Conference tournaments

The champion and the other finalist of each of the 2 conference tournaments held in 1970-71.

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Final
Atlantic Coast	South Carolina 52-51, Mar 13	North Carolina	52-51, Mar 13
Southern	Furman 68-61, Mar 6	Richmond	68-61, Mar 6

The 1970-71 AP poll, week by week

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

Team	Dec1	8	15	22	29	Jan5	12	19	26	Feb2	9	16	23	Mar2	9	16
UCLA	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	1	1	1	1	1	1
Marquette	6	4	4	3	3	3	2	2	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2
Pennsylvania	11	8	6	5	6	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	4	3
Kansas	14	11	12	8	12	8	8	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	5	4
USC	7	9	8	6	4	4	3	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	5
South Carolina	2	2	2	2	2	2	6	11	10	7	10	7	7	6	6	6
Western Kentucky	9	13	11	10	5	6	5	7	12	9	7	9	9	7	7	7
Kentucky	3	5	3	7	8	11	10	12	11	8	8	12	10	8	8	8
Fordham						18	14	17			20	18	11	10	10	9
Ohio State												20	18	13	12	10
Jacksonville	4	3	5	4	9	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	9	9	11
Notre Dame	5	6	7	14	15	9	9	9	7	12	9	14	19	16	14	12
North Carolina			20	17		20	15	20	20	16	11	8	13	12	13	13
Houston	17									18	15			15	18	14
Duquesne									17	14	12	10	8	11	11	15
Long Beach State	18												20	17	17	16
Tennessee		17	14	12	10	17	18	8	8	11	14	13	17	14	15	17
Drake	10	7	9	9	7	16										18
Villanova	8	10	10	13	11	14	13	14	16	17	18					19
BYU																20
Utah State	12	16	15		19	15	17	12	9	13	19	15	16	20	16
Duke	13														19
Miami (OH)															20
Indiana	16	11	13	11	14	12	11	18						18
La Salle								15	14	10	13	11	14	19
Michigan										20	16	16	12
Louisville		20			17	13	16					19	15
Murray State									19	19	17	17
Illinois									18	15
Oregon		18	16	17	16			16	13
Virginia								19	15
St. Bonaventure		19	19	15	13	10	12	10
Memphis State							19
Oregon State							20
Purdue				16	20	19
LSU					18
St. John's				19
New Mexico State	15	15	17	20
Florida State			17
Army		14
North Carolina State	19

Tap a rank to read it.

1971 final AP Top 20

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

1971 final AP Top 20AP

1UCLA29-1
2Marquette28-1
3Pennsylvania28-1
4Kansas27-3
5USC24-2
6South Carolina23-6
7Western Kentucky24-6
8Kentucky22-6
9Fordham26-3
10Ohio State20-6

11Jacksonville22-4
12Notre Dame20-9
13North Carolina26-6
14Houston22-7
15Duquesne21-4
16Long Beach State24-5
17Tennessee21-7
18Drake21-8
19Villanova27-7
20BYU18-11

1971 standings by conference

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

1971 standings by conference19 conferences

Atlantic Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
North Carolina	26-6	11-3	★ AP 13
South Carolina	23-6	10-4	🏆 NCAA AP 6
Duke	20-10	9-5
Wake Forest	16-10	7-7
Virginia	15-11	6-8
Maryland	14-12	5-9
North Carolina State	13-14	5-9
Clemson	9-17	3-11

Big Eight8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kansas	27-3	14-0	★ NCAA AP 4
Oklahoma	19-8	9-5
Missouri	17-9	9-5
Nebraska	18-8	8-6
Colorado	14-12	6-8
Kansas State	11-15	6-8
Oklahoma State	7-19	2-12
Iowa State	5-21	2-12

Big Sky8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Weber State	21-6	12-2	★ NCAA
Idaho	14-12	8-6
Montana State	12-13	8-6
Idaho State	9-15	7-7
Gonzaga	13-13	6-8
Montana	8-16	6-8
Boise State	10-16
Northern Arizona	6-19

Big Ten10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Ohio State	20-6	13-1	★ NCAA AP 10
Michigan	19-7	12-2
Purdue	18-7	11-3
Indiana	17-7	9-5
Illinois	11-12	5-9
Minnesota	11-13	5-9
Michigan State	10-14	4-10
Iowa	9-15	4-10
Wisconsin	9-15	4-10
Northwestern	7-17	3-11

Ivy8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Pennsylvania	28-1	14-0	★ NCAA AP 3
Harvard	16-10	11-3
Columbia	15-9	9-5
Princeton	14-11	9-5
Brown	10-15	5-9
Dartmouth	10-16	5-9
Yale	4-20	2-12
Cornell	5-21	1-13

Mid-American6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Miami (OH)	20-5	9-1	★ NCAA
Ohio	17-7	6-4
Western Michigan	14-10	5-5
Kent State	13-11	4-6
Toledo	13-11	4-6
Bowling Green	7-18	2-8

Middle Atlantic12 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
St. Joseph's	19-9	6-0	★ NCAA
Lafayette	17-9	9-1	★
La Salle	20-7	5-1
Rider	20-6	8-2
Hofstra	16-8	4-2
Temple	13-12	3-3
Delaware	11-14	5-5
Bucknell	9-14	4-6
Lehigh	10-16	4-6
American	13-12	2-4
Gettysburg	4-21	0-10
West Chester	7-18

Missouri Valley10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Drake	21-8	9-5	★ NCAA AP 18
Louisville	20-9	9-5	★
Saint Louis	17-12	9-5	★
Memphis State	18-8	8-6
Tulsa	17-9	8-6
Bradley	13-12	6-8
North Texas	10-15	4-10
Wichita State	10-16	3-11
West Texas A&M	19-7
New Mexico State	19-8		NCAA

Ohio Valley8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Western Kentucky	24-6	12-2	★ NCAA AP 7
Murray State	19-5	10-4
Eastern Kentucky	16-8	10-4
East Tennessee State	12-12	8-6
Austin Peay	10-14	5-9
Morehead State	8-17	4-10
Tennessee Tech	7-17	4-10
Middle Tennessee State	11-15	3-11

Pacific Coast6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Long Beach State	24-5	10-0	★ NCAA AP 16
UC Santa Barbara	20-6	8-2
CSU-Los Angeles	15-11	5-5
Fresno State	15-11	4-6
San Diego State	12-14	3-7
San Jose State	2-24	0-10

Pacific-88 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
UCLA	29-1	14-0	★ NCAA AP 1
USC	24-2	12-2	AP 5
Oregon	17-9	8-6
California	16-9	8-6
Washington	15-13	6-8
Oregon State	12-14	4-10
Washington State	12-14	2-12
Stanford	6-20	2-12

Southeastern10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kentucky	22-6	16-2	★ NCAA AP 8
Tennessee	21-7	13-5	AP 17
LSU	14-12	10-8
Mississippi State	15-10	9-9
Vanderbilt	13-13	9-9
Auburn	11-15	8-10
Florida	11-15	8-10
Mississippi	11-15	6-12
Alabama	10-16	6-12
Georgia	6-19	5-13

Southern7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Davidson	15-11	9-1	★
William & Mary	11-16	7-3
East Carolina	13-12	7-4
Citadel	13-12	6-5
Furman	15-12	5-5	🏆 NCAA
Richmond	7-21	3-9
VMI	1-25	1-11

Southland5 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Arkansas State	15-9	6-2	★
Abilene Christian	15-9	5-3
Lamar	11-13	5-3
Texas-Arlington	8-18	3-5
Trinity	5-16	1-7

Southwest8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
TCU	15-12	11-3	★ NCAA
Baylor	18-8	10-4
Texas Tech	16-10	9-5
SMU	16-10	8-6
Rice	14-12	6-8
Texas	12-12	6-8
Texas A&M	9-17	5-9
Arkansas	5-21	1-13

West Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Pacific	22-6	12-2	★ NCAA
Loyola Marymount	15-10	10-4
UNLV	16-10	9-5
Santa Clara	11-15	8-6
San Francisco	10-16	8-6
Pepperdine	12-13	4-10
St. Mary's	10-16	4-10
Nevada	3-23	1-13

Western Athletic8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
BYU	18-11	10-4	★ NCAA AP 20
UTEP	15-10	9-5
Utah	15-11	9-5
Arizona State	16-10	8-6
Colorado State	15-10	7-7
Wyoming	10-15	6-8
New Mexico	14-12	4-10
Arizona	10-16	3-11

Yankee6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Massachusetts	23-4	10-0	★
Rhode Island	10-17	8-2
Connecticut	10-14	5-5
New Hampshire	11-12	3-7
Maine	8-16	3-7
Vermont	9-15	1-9

Independent62 teams

School	W-L	Note
Marquette	28-1	NCAA AP 2
Fordham	26-3	NCAA AP 9
Jacksonville	22-4	NCAA AP 11
Duquesne	21-4	NCAA AP 15
Hawaii	23-5
Villanova	27-7	NCAA AP 19
St. Bonaventure	21-6
Houston	22-7	NCAA AP 14
Utah State	20-7	NCAA
Syracuse	19-7
Georgia Tech	23-9
Providence	20-8
Fairleigh Dickinson	16-7
Rutgers	16-7
Holy Cross	18-8
Notre Dame	20-9	NCAA AP 12
Dayton	18-9
St. John's	18-9
Denver	17-9
Florida State	17-9
Loyola (LA)	16-10
Marshall	16-10
Colgate	15-10
St. Francis (PA)	15-10
Pittsburgh	14-10
Boston College	15-11
Northern Illinois	13-10
Southern Illinois	13-10
Creighton	14-11
Virginia Tech	14-11
Manhattan	13-11
Cincinnati	14-12
Detroit	14-12
Niagara	14-12
West Virginia	13-12
Centenary	13-13
Navy	12-12
Texas-Pan American	13-13
Air Force	12-14
Georgetown	12-14
Seattle	12-14
Army	11-13
St. Peter's	11-13
Iona	10-12
Penn State	10-12
George Washington	11-14
Seton Hall	11-15
LIU-Brooklyn	10-15
Butler	10-16
Canisius	8-13
Fairfield	9-15
Hardin-Simmons	9-16
Oklahoma City	9-16
Xavier	9-17
DePaul	8-17
St. Francis (NY)	8-17
Tulane	8-18
Boston University	7-18
Miami (FL)	7-19
NYU	5-20
Portland	5-21
Loyola-Chicago	4-20

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.

1971 Elo and upsets

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

1971 Elo and upsetsElo

Elo, top 10

Biggest upsets

Gonzaga 74, Washington State 72
Dec 5 · regular season · 2.7% win chance
Kent State 64, Purdue 62
Dec 15 · regular season · 5.0% win chance
CSU-Los Angeles 77, Colorado State 75
Jan 2 · regular season · 5.4% win chance
Texas-Arlington 77, Texas A&M 75
Dec 7 · regular season · 6.1% win chance
North Texas 79, Louisville 73
Feb 27 · regular season · 7.6% win chance
Texas A&M 66, Texas Tech 64
Feb 20 · regular season · 7.8% win chance
Denver 93, Oregon 83
Jan 30 · regular season · 7.8% win chance
Austin Peay 96, Western Kentucky 94
Mar 1 · regular season · 8.0% win chance
Xavier 66, Cincinnati 65
Feb 17 · regular season · 8.2% win chance
Loyola Marymount 63, Cincinnati 61
Dec 22 · regular season · 8.3% 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.