1928–29 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1928–29 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1928, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1929.

1928–29 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	Montana State (retroactive selection in 1943)
Player of the Year (Helms)	John "Cat" Thompson, Montana State (retroactive selection in 1944)

Rule changes

The charging foul by the player dribbling the ball was introduced.

Season headlines

• The Big Six Conference and the Missouri Valley Conference began play. Both had formed when the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) split into the two new conferences in May 1928, with the Big Six Conference officially retaining the MVIAA's name and the Missouri Valley Conference retaining its staff. Both claimed the MVIAA's founding date (1907) and its history from 1907 to 1928 as their own, and both claimed to be a continuation of the original conference.
• The practice of naming an annual Consensus All-American Team began.
• In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Montana State as its national champion for the 1928–29 season.
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Montana State as its national champion for the 1928–29 season.

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Drake Bulldogs	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Missouri Valley Conference
Duke Blue Devils	Independent	Southern Conference
Grinnell Pioneers	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Missouri Valley Conference
Iowa State Cyclones	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Big Six Conference
Kansas Jayhawks	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Big Six Conference
Kansas State Wildcats	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Big Six Conference
Missouri Tigers	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Big Six Conference
Nebraska Cornhuskers	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Big Six Conference
Oklahoma Sooners	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Big Six Conference
Oklahoma A&M Aggies	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Missouri Valley Conference
Washington University in St. Louis Bears	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Missouri Valley Conference

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular season winner	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Big Six Conference	Oklahoma	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Michigan & Wisconsin	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Penn	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Washington University	None selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Washington (North); California (South)		No Tournament; California defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Colorado (Eastern); Montana State (Western)		No Tournament
Southern Conference	Washington and Lee	None selected	1929 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta, Georgia)	NC State
Southwest Conference	Arkansas	None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1928–29 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Oklahoma 10 – 0   1.000 13 – 2   .867 Missouri 7 – 3   .700 11 – 7   .611 Nebraska 5 – 5   .500 11 – 5   .688 Iowa State 4 – 6   .400 8 – 7   .533 Kansas State 2 – 8   .200 6 – 10   .375 Kansas 2 – 8   .200 3 – 15   .167	1928–29 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Wisconsin 10 – 2   .833 15 – 2   .882 Michigan 10 – 2   .833 13 – 3   .813 Purdue 9 – 3   .750 13 – 4   .765 Northwestern 7 – 5   .583 12 – 5   .706 Illinois 6 – 6   .500 10 – 7   .588 Ohio State 6 – 6   .500 9 – 8   .529 Iowa 5 – 7   .417 9 – 8   .529 Indiana 4 – 8   .333 7 – 10   .412 Chicago 2 – 10   .167 5 – 11   .313 Minnesota 1 – 11   .083 4 – 13   .235	1928–29 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Penn 8 – 2   .800 20 – 6   .769 Dartmouth 7 – 3   .700 13 – 6   .684 Columbia 5 – 5   .500 9 – 9   .500 Cornell 5 – 5   .500 9 – 11   .450 Yale 4 – 6   .400 11 – 9   .550 Princeton 1 – 9   .100 9 – 15   .375
1928–29 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Washington University 7 – 0   1.000 11 – 7   .611 Creighton 4 – 1   .800 13 – 4   .765 Drake 3 – 4   .429 6 – 13   .316 Oklahoma A&M 0 – 4   .000 1 – 14   .067 Grinnell 0 – 5   .000 6 – 11   .353	1928–29 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT North Washington 10 – 0   1.000 18 – 2   .900 Idaho 6 – 4   .600 11 – 10   .524 Washington State 5 – 5   .500 9 – 14   .391 Oregon State 4 – 6   .400 12 – 8   .600 Oregon 3 – 7   .300 10 – 8   .556 Montana 2 – 8   .200 9 – 11   .450 South California † 9 – 0   1.000 17 – 3   .850 Stanford 6 – 3   .667 13 – 6   .684 USC 2 – 7   .222 16 – 6   .727 UCLA 1 – 8   .111 7 – 9   .438 † Conference playoff series winner	1928–29 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Eastern Colorado 10 – 2   .833 10 – 2   .833 Wyoming 11 – 3   .786 15 – 4   .789 Northern Colorado 8 – 6   .571 8 – 6   .571 Denver 7 – 7   .500 12 – 8   .600 Colorado Agricultural 6 – 6   .500 6 – 6   .500 Colorado College 6 – 6   .500 8 – 9   .471 Western State 1 – 9   .100 1 – 9   .100 Colorado School of Mines 1 – 11   .083 1 – 11   .083 Western Montana State 11 – 1   .917 36 – 2   .947 BYU 6 – 6   .500 20 – 10   .667 Utah State 4 – 8   .333 8 – 10   .444 Utah 3 – 9   .250 5 – 12   .294
1928–29 Southern Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Washington and Lee 7 – 1   .875 16 – 2   .889 North Carolina 12 – 2   .857 17 – 8   .680 Georgia Tech 10 – 2   .833 15 – 6   .714 Georgia 13 – 4   .765 17 – 7   .708 Tulane 9 – 4   .692 9 – 5   .643 Kentucky 7 – 4   .636 12 – 5   .706 Tennessee 7 – 4   .636 11 – 5   .688 Alabama 10 – 6   .625 16 – 10   .615 Clemson 6 – 4   .600 15 – 12   .556 Duke 5 – 4   .556 12 – 8   .600 NC State† 6 – 5   .545 15 – 6   .714 Mississippi 7 – 8   .467 9 – 9   .500 Virginia Tech 5 – 7   .417 5 – 13   .278 Mississippi A&M 5 – 8   .385 8 – 15   .348 Virginia 3 – 6   .333 9 – 10   .474 LSU 5 – 9   .357 8 – 13   .381 South Carolina 4 – 10   .286 8 – 13   .381 Vanderbilt 2 – 5   .286 4 – 12   .250 Florida 4 – 11   .267 7 – 13   .350 Auburn 3 – 9   .250 6 – 15   .286 Maryland 2 – 6   .250 7 – 9   .438 VMI 1 – 7   .125 6 – 7   .462 Sewanee 0 – 7   .000 3 – 8   .273 † Southern Conference Tournament winner	1928–29 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Arkansas 11 – 1   .917 19 – 1   .950 Texas 10 – 2   .833 18 – 2   .900 SMU 6 – 6   .500 7 – 9   .438 TCU 5 – 7   .417 10 – 7   .588 Texas A&M 4 – 6   .400 12 – 6   .667 Baylor 2 – 8   .200 7 – 9   .438 Rice 2 – 10   .167 2 – 10   .167

Independents

A total of 91 college teams played as major independents. Loyola of Illinois (16–0) was undefeated, and St. John's (23–2) finished with the most wins.

1928–29 NCAA men's basketball independents standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Loyola (Ill.) –   – 16 – 0   1.000 Rhode Island State –   – 15 – 1   .938 St. John's (N.Y.) –   – 23 – 2   .920 East Central –   – 21 – 2   .913 St. Ignatius –   – 21 – 2   .913 Fordham –   – 18 – 2   .900 Butler –   – 17 – 2   .895 Westminster (Pa.) –   – 15 – 2   .882 West Texas State –   – 21 – 3   .875 Rider –   – 19 – 3   .864 Ohio Wesleyan –   – 18 – 3   .857 Mount Union –   – 17 – 3   .850 Providence –   – 17 – 3   .850 Northern Arizona State –   – 15 – 3   .833 Arizona –   – 19 – 4   .826 Springfield (Mass.) –   – 14 – 3   .824 Temple –   – 17 – 4   .810 Carleton –   – 12 – 3   .800 Colgate –   – 16 – 4   .800 Indiana State –   – 15 – 4   .789 Saint Louis –   – 14 – 4   .778 Santa Clara –   – 10 – 3   .769 Cincinnati –   – 13 – 4   .765 Pittsburgh –   – 16 – 5   .762 Notre Dame –   – 15 – 5   .750 The Citadel –   – 12 – 4   .750 Seton Hall –   – 11 – 4   .733 Syracuse –   – 11 – 4   .733 West Virginia –   – 16 – 6   .727 Wichita Municipal –   – 16 – 6   .727 New York University –   – 13 – 5   .722 St. Bonaventure –   – 17 – 7   .708 Army –   – 12 – 5   .706 Georgetown –   – 12 – 5   .706 Washburn –   – 12 – 5   .706 Wooster –   – 12 – 5   .706 Muhlenberg –   – 9 – 4   .692 Loyola (Md.) –   – 11 – 5   .688 Michigan State –   – 11 – 5   .688 Furman –   – 12 – 6   .667 Marshall –   – 14 – 7   .667 Richmond –   – 10 – 5   .667 Rutgers –   – 10 – 5   .667 Connecticut –   – 11 – 6   .647 CCNY –   – 9 – 5   .643f Kent State Normal –   – 11 – 7   .611 New Mexico –   – 14 – 9   .609 Duquesne –   – 12 – 8   .600 Louisville –   – 12 – 8   .600 Holy Cross –   – 10 – 7   .588 Canisius –   – 7 – 5   .583 Western State Teachers –   – 11 – 8   .579 Niagara –   – 12 – 9   .571 Pittsburg State –   – 13 – 10   .565 Bucknell –   – 10 – 8   .556 Davidson –   – 10 – 8   .556 DePaul –   – 5 – 4   .556 DePauw –   – 9 – 8   .529 Saint Francis (N.Y.) –   – 9 – 8   .529 Texas Tech –   – 9 – 8   .529 Xavier –   – 9 – 8   .529 Penn State –   – 10 – 9   .526 Valparaiso –   – 11 – 10   .524 Bradley –   – 8 – 8   .500 Lehigh –   – 7 – 7   .500 Marquette –   – 8 – 8   .500 Navy –   – 8 – 8   .500 Ohio –   – 10 – 10   .500 Dayton –   – 9 – 10   .474 LIU –   – 10 – 12   .455 William & Mary –   – 9 – 11   .450 St. Joseph's –   – 8 – 10   .444 Western Kentucky State –   – 8 – 10   .444 Harvard –   – 6 – 8   .429 Villanova –   – 6 – 8   .429 New Mexico A&M –   – 6 – 9   .400 Buffalo –   – 7 – 11   .389 Miami (Ohio) –   – 7 – 11   .389 Wake Forest –   – 5 – 8   .385 Toledo –   – 6 – 10   .375 Bowling Green State –   – 6 – 11   .353 Boston University –   – 4 – 8   .333 Lafayette –   – 6 – 12   .333 Saint Mary's (Calif.) –   – 5 – 10   .333 Tempe State –   – 5 – 12   .294 Detroit –   – 4 – 11   .267 Manhattan –   – 4 – 11   .267 Brown –   – 4 – 13   .235 Texas State M&M –   – 4 – 14   .222 George Washington –   – 2 – 8   .200 Tulsa –   – 2 – 11   .154

Awards

Consensus All-American team

Main article: 1929 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Consensus Team

Player	Class	Team
Tom Churchill	Junior	Oklahoma
Vern Corbin	Senior	California
Charley Hyatt	Junior	Pittsburgh
Stretch Murphy	Junior	Purdue
Joe Schaaf	Senior	Pennsylvania
Cat Thompson	Junior	Montana State

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: John "Cat" Thompson, Montana State (retroactive selection in 1944)

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Georgetown	Elmer Ripley		Bill Dudack	Ripley left to coach at Yale. His assistant Dudack replaced him.
Iowa	Sam Barry		Rollie Williams
USC	Leo Calland		Sam Barry