1961–62 NCAA University Division men's basketball season

{{Infobox NCAA Division I men's basketball season

| year = 1961

| image =

| caption =

| preseason_ap = Ohio State{{cite book |title=ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia |isbn=978-0-345-51392-2 |publisher=Random House |date=2009 |page=846}}{{cite web |url=http://www.collegepollarchive.com/mbasketball/ap/seasons.cfm?appollid=424|title=1978 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll|publisher=College Poll Archive|accessdate=August 8, 2020}}

| regular_season =

| tourney_start = March 12

| nc_date = 24, 1962

| champ_stad = Freedom Hall

| champ_city = Louisville, Kentucky

| champ = Cincinnati

| helmschamp = Cincinnati

| nit_champ = Dayton

| cbi_champ =

| playeroftheyear =

| helmspoy = Paul Hogue, Cincinnati

}}

The 1961–62 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1961, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1962 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 24, 1962, at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The Cincinnati Bearcats won their second NCAA national championship with a 71–59 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Season headlines

The Associated Press (AP) Poll changed format, abandoning the Top 20 format it had used since its inception in the 1948–49 season and becoming a Top 10 poll.[https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/play-index/matchup_finder.cgi?request=1&year_min=1950&year_max=2021&school_id=georgetown&opp_id=saint-josephs&comp_school=le&rank_school=ANY&comp_opp=le&rank_opp=ANY&game_type=A&game_month=&game_location=&game_result=&is_overtime=&order_by=date_game sports-reference.com Matchup Finder]
Cincinnati's national championship was its second in a row as well as second overall, and the national championship game was a rematch from the year before between Cincinnati and Ohio State.
The 1962 NCAA University Division basketball tournament set a new attendance record for an NCAA tournament, with a combined 177,469 fans attending its 29 games.Smith Barrier, "Unusual West Coast Watch Factory -- They Don't Make Any, Just Win Them", 1972 Official Collegiate Basketball Guide, Published by College Athletics Publishing Service
The Border Conference and Mountain States (or Skyline) Conference both disbanded at the end of the season.

Season outlook

= Pre-season polls =

{{main|1961–62 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings}}

The Top 10 from the AP Poll and the UPI Coaches Poll during the pre-season.{{cite book |title=ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia |isbn=978-0-345-51392-2 |publisher=Random House |date=2009 |page=836}}{{cite web |url=http://www.collegepollarchive.com/mbasketball/ap/seasons.cfm?appollid=407|title=1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll|publisher=College Poll Archive|accessdate=August 8, 2020}}

style="vertical-align:top;" \| {\| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" !colspan=2\| Associated Press
Ranking !Team
1 \|Ohio State
2 \|Cincinnati
3 \|Wake Forest
4 \|USC
5 \|Providence
6 \|Purdue
7 \|Duke
8 \|Kansas State
9 \|St. John's
10 \|Seattle

style="vertical-align:top;"

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

!colspan=2| Associated Press

Ranking

!Team

|USC

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" !colspan=2\| UPI Coaches
Ranking !Team
1 \|Ohio State
2 \|Cincinnati
3 \|Kansas State
4 \|Providence
5 \|Duke
6 \|Purdue
7 \|USC
8 \|Arizona State
9 \|West Virginia
10 \|Wake Forest

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

!colspan=2| UPI Coaches

Ranking

!Team

|USC

Regular season

=Conference=

== Conference winners and tournaments ==

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=2009-02-14}} !Conference player of the year !Conference tournament !Tournament venue (City) !Tournament winner
Athletic Association of Western Universities	UCLA	None selected	colspan=3\|No Tournament
Atlantic Coast Conference	Wake Forest	Len Chappell, Wake Forest[http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/acc/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/09mbkguide083112.pdf 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192652/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/acc/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/09mbkguide083112.pdf \|date=2016-03-03 }}, retrieved 2009-02-14	1962 ACC men's basketball tournament	Reynolds Coliseum (Raleigh, North Carolina)	Wake Forest
Big Eight Conference	Colorado	None selected	colspan=3 \|No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Ohio State	None selected	colspan=3\|No Tournament
Border Conference	Arizona State		colspan=3\|No Tournament
Ivy League	Yale	None selected	colspan=3\|No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference	St. John's		colspan=3 \|No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Bowling Green State	None selected	colspan=3\|No Tournament
Middle Atlantic Conference	Saint Joseph's		colspan=3 \|No Tournament
Mountain States (Skyline) Conference	Utah		colspan=3\|No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Bradley & Cincinnati	None selected	colspan=3 \|No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference	Western Kentucky State	None selected	colspan=3\|No Tournament
\|Southeastern Conference	Kentucky & {{nowrap\|Mississippi State}}	None selected	colspan=3 \| No Tournament
Southern Conference	West Virginia	Rod Thorn, {{nowrap\|West Virginia}}[http://www.soconsports.com/fls/4000/socon/files/0809mbkguide/honorsandawards.pdf?SPSID=35819&SPID=1798&DB_OEM_ID=4000 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section], Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09	1962 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Richmond Arena (Richmond, Virginia)	West Virginia[http://www.soconsports.com/fls/4000/socon/files/0809mbkguide/standingsandresults.pdf?SPSID=35819&SPID=1798&DB_OEM_ID=4000 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section], Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
Southwest Conference	SMU & {{nowrap\|Texas Tech}}	Carroll Broussard, {{nowrap\|Texas A&M}}	colspan=3\|No Tournament
West Coast Athletic Conference	Pepperdine	Harry Dinnel, Pepperdine, & {{nowrap\|Steve Gray}}, {{nowrap\|Saint Mary's}}	colspan=3\|No Tournament
Yankee Conference	Massachusetts	None selected	colspan=3\|No Tournament

==Conference standings==

cellpadding="5"

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 AAWU Conference men's basketball standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 ACC men's basketball standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings}}

valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 Border Conference men's basketball standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 Ivy League men's basketball standings}}

valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 Metropolitan New York Conference men's basketball standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 MAC men's basketball standings}}

valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 Mountain States Conference men's basketball standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings}}

valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 Southern Conference men's basketball standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings}}

valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 West Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 Yankee Conference men's basketball standings}}

=University Division independents=

A total of 48 college teams played as University Division independents. Among them, Loyola of Illinois (23–4) had the best winning percentage (.852), while {{cbb link|year=1961|team=Oregon State Beavers|title=Oregon State}} (24–5) and {{cbb link|year=1961|team=Dayton Flyers|title=Dayton}} (24–6) finished with the most wins.{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/independent/men/1962.html |work=Sports Reference |title=1961-62 Men's Independent Season Summary |access-date=August 12, 2024}}

cellpadding="5"

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1961–62 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings}}

= Informal championships =

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

!Conference

!Regular
season winner

!Most Valuable Player

Philadelphia Big 5

Villanova

Hubie White, Villanova

Villanova finished with a 4–0 record in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.

= Statistical leaders =

Post-season tournaments

= NCAA tournament =

{{main|1962 NCAA University Division basketball tournament|1962 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship Game}}

== Final Four ==

{{4TeamBracket | RD1=National semifinals | RD2=National finals | RD2b=National finals

| RD1-seed1=E

| RD1-team1=Wake Forest

| RD1-score1=68

| RD1-seed2=ME

| RD1-team2=Ohio State

| RD1-score2=84

| RD1-seed3=MW

| RD1-team3=Cincinnati

| RD1-score3=72

| RD1-seed4=W

| RD1-team4=UCLA

| RD1-score4=70

| RD2-seed1=ME

| RD2-team1=Ohio State

| RD2-score1=59

| RD2-seed2=MW

| RD2-team2=Cincinnati

| RD2-score2=71

| RD2b-seed1=E

| RD2b-team1=Wake Forest

| RD2b-score1=82

| RD2b-seed2=W

| RD2b-team2=UCLA

| RD2b-score2=80

}}

= National Invitation tournament =

== Semifinals & finals ==

{{4TeamBracket |seeds=no | RD1=Semifinals | RD2=Finals | RD2b=Third place

| RD1-seed1=

| RD1-team1=Dayton

| RD1-score1=98

| RD1-seed2=

| RD1-team2=Loyola (Ill.)

| RD1-score2=82

| RD1-seed3=

| RD1-team3=Duquesne

| RD1-score3=65

| RD1-seed4=

| RD1-team4=St. John's

| RD1-score4=75

| RD2-seed1=

| RD2-team1=Dayton

| RD2-score1=73

| RD2-seed2=

| RD2-team2=St. John's

| RD2-score2=67

| RD2b-seed1=

| RD2b-team1=Loyola (Ill.)

| RD2b-score1=95

| RD2b-seed2=

| RD2b-team2=Duquesne

| RD2b-score2=84

}}

Awards

= Consensus All-American teams =

style="width:600px" "border:'1' 'solid' 'gray'" \|+ Consensus First Team
bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:40%" \| Player ! bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:4%" \| Position ! bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:16%" \| Class ! bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:40%" \| Team
Len Chappell \| C/F \| Senior \| Wake Forest
Terry Dischinger \| F \| Senior \| Purdue
Jerry Lucas \| F/C \| Senior \| Ohio State
Billy McGill \| C \| Senior \| Utah
Chet Walker \| F \| Senior \| Bradley

style="width:600px" "border:'1' 'solid' 'gray'"

|+ Consensus First Team

bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:40%" | Player

! bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:4%" | Position

! bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:16%" | Class

! bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:40%" | Team

Len Chappell

| C/F

| Senior

| Wake Forest

Terry Dischinger

| F

| Senior

| Purdue

Jerry Lucas

| F/C

| Senior

| Ohio State

Billy McGill

| C

| Senior

| Utah

Chet Walker

| F

| Senior

| Bradley

style="width:600px" "border:'1' 'solid' 'gray'" \|+ Consensus Second Team
bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:40%" \| Player ! bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:4%" \| Position ! bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:16%" \| Class ! bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:40%" \| Team
Jack Foley \| G/F \| Senior \| Holy Cross
John Havlicek \| F \| Senior \| Ohio State
Art Heyman \| F \| Junior \| Duke
Cotton Nash \| F \| Sophomore \| Kentucky
John Rudometkin \| F \| Senior \| USC
Rod Thorn \| G/F \| Junior \| West Virginia

style="width:600px" "border:'1' 'solid' 'gray'"

|+ Consensus Second Team

bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:40%" | Player

! bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:4%" | Position

! bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:16%" | Class

! bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="width:40%" | Team

Jack Foley

| G/F

| Senior

| Holy Cross

John Havlicek

| F