1903–04 collegiate men's basketball season in the United States

{{Infobox NCAA Division I men's basketball season

| year = 1903

| image =

| caption =

| preseason_ap =

| regular_season =

| tourney_start =

| nc_date =

| champ_stad =

| champ_city =

| champ =

| helmschamp = Columbia (retroactive selection in 1943)

| nit_champ =

| cbi_champ =

| playeroftheyear =

| helmspoy =

}}

The 1903–04 collegiate men's basketball season in the United States began in December 1903, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1904.

Season headlines

In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Columbia as its national champion for the 1903–04 season.{{cite web|first=Jon|last=Scott|date=Nov 9, 2010|title=The truth behind the Helms Committee|url=http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/helms.html|access-date=13 May 2021}}
In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Columbia as its national champion for the 1903–04 season.{{cite book|title=ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game|editor-last=ESPN|publisher=ESPN Books|location=New York, NY|year=2009|pages=526, 529–587|ISBN=978-0-345-51392-2}}

Conference membership changes

class="wikitable sortable"

!School

!Former Conference

!New Conference

| No major basketball program

| Western Conference

| Independent

| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League

Regular season

= Conference winners =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!Conference

!Regular
Season Winner{{cite news|url=http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/m_basketball_RB/2009/Standings.pdf|title=2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section|year= 2009|publisher=NCAA|access-date=14 February 2009}}

!Conference
Player of the Year

!Conference
Tournament

!Tournament
Venue (City)

!Tournament
Winner

Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League

Columbia

None selected

colspan=3|No Tournament{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/ivy/men/1904.html |work=Sports Reference |title=1903-04 Men's Ivy League Season Summary |access-date=July 18, 2024}}

Western Conference

None {{nowrap|(see note)}}

None selected

colspan=3|No Tournament{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/western/men/1904.html |work=Sports Reference |title=1903-04 Men's Western Conference Season Summary |access-date=July 18, 2024}}

NOTE: The Western Conference (the future Big Ten Conference) did not sponsor an official conference season or recognize a regular-season champion until the 1905–06 season. In 1903–04, Chicago (7–0) finished with the best winning percentage (1.000) and Purdue (11–2) and Wisconsin (11–4) with the most wins.

cellpadding="5"

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1903–04 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1903–04 Western Conference men's basketball standings}}

= Independents =

A total of 56 college teams played as major independents. Among teams that played at least 10 games, {{nowrap|{{cbb link|year=1903|school=North Dakota State University|team=North Dakota State Bison|title=North Dakota Agricultural}} (11–1)}} had the best winning percentage (.917), and {{nowrap|{{cbb link|year=1903|school=Fordham University|team=Fordham Rams|title=Fordham}} (19–5)}} won the most games.{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/independent/men/1904.html |work=Sports Reference |title=1903-04 Men's Independent Season Summary |access-date=July 18, 2024}}

cellpadding="5"

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1903–04 collegiate men's basketball independents standings}}