A national championship at the highest level of men's college basketball, currently NCAA Division I, is a designation awarded annually to the best college basketball team in the United States. The national championship is currently won by the champion of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, a single-elimination tournament played to determine the men's Division I basketball champion. The NCAA tournament was first played in 1939, 40 to 50 years after the first college basketball games in the 1890s following the game's invention by James Naismith.
Prior to the establishment and sustained success of the annual NCAA tournament, the national collegiate basketball title was considered a "mythical national championship".[1] Much like national championships in college football, national championships in college basketball were claimed by schools, named by sportswriters, awarded by various organizations, and won on the court in occasional intersectional post-season games between conference or regional champions.
The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) was established in 1938, one year before the NCAA tournament. During the early years of the two tournaments the NIT and NCAA competed against each other, giving rise to debate over their relative prowess.[2] During the next two decades the relative status of the two tournaments was unclear, and thus some years produced disputed national championship claims between the tournament winners.[2] In 1950, the City College of New York became the first and only team to complete the "grand slam" of college basketball by winning the NIT and NCAA tournaments in the same year. The NIT and NCAA champions played each other four times in post-tournament competition to settle the title; in all four cases the NCAA champion was victorious.
Through shrewd competitive actions the NCAA positioned its tournament to match and then surpass the NIT. Fallout from the 1951 point-shaving scandal severely damaged the reputation of the NIT and basketball in New York City; the NCAA seized the initiative by abandoning scandal-plagued Madison Square Garden and expanding its tournament field to include more conference champions. The UCLA dynasty under head coach John Wooden, who won 10 national championships in the NCAA tournament between 1964–1975, further cemented the NCAA's dominance as did the tournament's expansion to 32 and then 64 teams. The "March Madness" phenomenon grew with prime-time network coverage of championship games and ESPN's coverage of the early rounds, leaving the NCAA contest as the clear top post-season tournament and sole determiner of the national championship.
The concept of a national championship in college basketball dates back to the earliest years of the sport in the 1890s.[3][4]James Naismith's original announcement of the new game of "Basket Ball" and the sport's original 13 rules were published in the January 1892 issue of The Triangle, a magazine published by the students of the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. An article in this same publication, then titled Physical Education, in April 1893 called for the formation of three basketball leagues made up of YMCAs, colleges, and amateur athletic clubs to each compete for a "Trophy or Championship Emblem".[3][4] The national champions of the three leagues would then compete in a "triangular contest for the Supreme Championship".[3][4] The 1898 Spalding's Guide noted that this early suggestion for leagues and national championships was premature, "for it wasn't until 1895 that the athletic clubs gave the game its due recognition, and even up to the present time comparatively few colleges are interested in the game."[4]:29
In 1902, Minnesota claimed the national college championship citing their 15–0 unblemished record and win over eastern champion Yale.[5][6] Going further, they asserted that their win over the champion Company E team of Fond du Lac entitled them to the full amateur basketball championship of the United States.[6] In 1903 and 1904 Minnesota sought to play eastern champions Yale and Columbia in post-season games to decide the national title but in both cases were refused.[7][8]
This tournament marks the beginning of what may in the years to come be an annual fixture, namely — a National College Basket Ball Championship held annually between the colleges of the U.S. played in alternate years in the East and West. Such a championship could easily be made a great athletic and social event.
—"The First Olympic College Basket Ball Championship", Spalding's Official Basket Ball Guide (1904)[9]:31
In 1920, Chicago again met Pennsylvania in a playoff between Western Conference and Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League champions. The series went to three games, with the championship played on March 27 at a neutral site at the Princeton Gymnasium.[15] Penn was victorious and won the national title.
The Helms Athletic Foundation published, in 1943[18] and 1957, retrospective lists of 'National Collegiate Champions' for the early years of the sport.[19][20] The Helms selections were made by the organization's co-founder and managing director Bill Schroeder, based upon historic research and consultation with coaches, sportswriters, and other basketball authorities.[20] The pre-tournament Helms selections were adopted by the NCAA and are included in the official Division I Men's Basketball Records book as the "Final Regular-Season Poll" leaders for the years prior to the start of the AP poll for college basketball in in 1948–49.
In 1995 the Premo Power Poll, a mathematical system used to rank college basketball teams, was published in the Encyclopedia of College Basketball.[21] The final rankings were slightly modified and published as the Premo-Porretta Power Poll in the ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia in 2009.[22] These rankings stretch back to the very earliest days of the sport, long before nation-wide polling, and rank the teams based on strength of schedule.[23]
Teams and selectors listed in italics indicate retroactively applied championships.
Early NIT and NCAA tournament era (1938–1950s)
Madison Square Garden, home of the NIT and venue of seven NCAA championship games between 1943–1950.Souvenir program from the inaugural NIT showcasing the "National Championship Trophy" won by Temple in 1938.
The NIT's success inspired the National Association of Basketball Coaches, led by Kansas coach Phog Allen, to conduct their own championship tournament that was open only to NCAA-member schools. The two tournaments closed out the 1939 season. On March 23 undefeated Long Island won the NIT,[1][37] while on March 27 Oregon won the NCAA championship.[38] Both teams were recognized as national champions and asserted claims on the "mythical" national title.[1][37][38]
In 1940, Colorado and Duquesne were the first teams to play in both tournaments. Colorado won the NIT but then lost to USC in the first round of the NCAA tournament, then lost again in the Western region consolation game, thus ceding any national claim to eventual NCAA champion Indiana. Long Island and West Virginia, Invitation champions in 1941 and 1942, both treat their NIT titles as national championships.
During World War II, Madison Square Garden hosted benefit games between the NIT and NCAA champions with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross.[39][31] The three games from 1943–1945 were all won by the NCAA champion, in each case settling the question of the season's national championship.
In 1950, the City College of New York became the first and only team to complete the "grand slam" of college basketball by winning the NIT and NCAA tournaments in the same year, defeating Bradley in both championship games and claiming the undisputed national title.[40]
The popularity of the two tournaments did not fully preclude other teams from being lauded with national championship honors. In 1944 undefeated 15–0 Army was honored by the Helms Athletic Foundation and was the No. 1 team in the final post-tournament Converse-Dunkel Basketball Forecast. In 1954 25–0 SEC champions Kentucky were the top team in the nation, but three of the team's star players were ruled ineligible for post-season play by the NCAA due to graduation. Head coach Adolph Rupp kept the team out of the competition in protest; the Wildcats retained their No. 1 ranking in the post-tournament final AP Poll and collected the Helms Athletic Foundation selection.[43][44]
Teams and selectors listed in italics indicate retroactively applied championships.
In 1970, Marquette and head coach Al McGuire turned down an invitation to the NCAA tournament due to perceived poor regional seeding and instead played in (and won) the NIT. The NCAA responded to this action in 1971 by banning invited teams from playing in any other post-season tournament, thus definitively ending the NIT's contention for national championship-caliber teams.
UCLA has won a record 11 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball championships.
Beginning in 1964 the tournament's reputation and exposure was strengthened by the UCLA dynasty under head coach John Wooden, who won 10 national championships in 12 years in the NCAA tournament.[59][39] In 1975 the NCAA repealed the rule that limited the tournament to one team from each conference, strengthening the field.[59] In 1980 nascent sports channel ESPN began airing the early rounds of the tournament on their cable network, leading to the "March Madness" phenomenon and supercharging interest in the tournament.[59] The tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
Today the NCAA tournament is the sole accepted method for determining the national champion.[60]
1 2 Ghio, Barney (March 8, 1950). "May Have Real National Champ". The Times. In collegiate sports—especially football and basketball—national championships are seldom clearly defined honors. [...] In basketball, usually the champion of the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament is regarded as the national champion. But regardless of what is used as the basis for determining the national champion, there are plenty of dissenters. [...] Disputing the claim of the NCAA for the basketball championship is the National Invitation tournament [...] If a couple of teams enter both tournaments and either one wins both, as Kentucky tried last year, then the national basketball championship should be clearly settled. But if a team in both tournaments wins one and loses the other, its championship will be clouded. Kentucky last year won the NCAA and wound up first in the AP poll, but the Wildcats lost by a sizable margin to Loyola of Chicago in the NIT, a loss that certainly tainted their NCAA title and their claim to the national championship.
1 2 3 Reach, Robt. (April 1893). "Basket Ball as an In-door Game for Winter Amusement and Exercise". Physical Education. Vol.II, no.2. Springfield, Massachusetts: The Triangle Publishing Co. pp.21–22. Why wouldn't it be a good plan to organize a Basket Ball League and put up a Trophy or Championship Emblem to be contested for. It might be as well to have three Divisions, or Leagues, YMCA's, Colleges, and Athletic Clubs, including in the latter the regimental Athletic Clubs; and at the end of the season have a triangular contest for the Supreme Championship.
1 2 3 4 Browne, T.J. (September 1898). "History of Basket Ball". In Gulick, Luther (ed.). Spalding's Official Basket Ball Guide (1898). Vol.8. New York: American Sports Publishing Co. pp.21–74. Indeed, by March 1893, its future seemed so bright that a writer in 1893 Physical Education of that month suggested the formation of three national leagues of the Young Men's Christian Associations, colleges and athletic clubs respectively; games to be played for the national championship in each class, at the time a rather premature suggestion, for it wasn't until 1895 that the athletic clubs gave the game its due recognition, and even up to the present time comparatively few colleges are interested in the game.
1 2 "Say They Are 'Champs' — The 'U' Basket Ball Team — Have Won Sixteen Games and Lost None". The Minneapolis Journal. March 7, 1902. The university [of Minnesota] basket-ball team, which has successfully concluded a very hard schedule, is out with the claim to the national championship. The team played sixteen games during the season and did not meet with a single defeat. Victories were won from Yale, champion of the east; Fon Du Lac, tied with Ravenswood for championship honors last year; Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa and Fargo college, as well as from a number of teams of less importance.
1 2 3 4 "Athletics — Basketball". The Gopher. Vol.XVI. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota. 1902. pp.144–147. Minnesota claims the amateur basket ball championship of the United States. [...] After this [Yale] game the title of national college champions was claimed for the team. [..] A month later the Company E team of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, was disposed of. This aggregation had held the national amateur championship for two years and had lost it the season before to Ravenswood by a single point. By this victory the title not only of college champions but the championship of all amateur teams of the country accrued to Minnesota. [...] Which Makes Us CHAMPIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
1 2 Ghio, Barney (March 22, 1951). "NCAA Winner Bona Fide Champ". The Shreveport Times. Vol.LXXVII, no.295. p.12. Nevertheless, the NCAA champion has for several years been regarded as the national champion and the winner certainly has more right to the acclaim than the national football champion, which is decided by popular vote. At least, the NCAA champion earns the honor by competing against other top-ranking quintets of the nation. However, it was not always that the NCAA champ was universally regarded as the national titleholder. In fact, the NIT can boast of beating the NCAA to the punch if a consensus is taken. Such a conclusion involves the Helms Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, a respected group that has figured prominently in athletics.
1 2 3 Kerkhoff, Blair (March 23, 2022). "Kansas Jayhawks on quest for another banner, a century after first 'national championship'". The Kansas City Star. A project to determine top teams from the pre-tournament era retroactively concluded that the Jayhawks were college basketball's best team during the years of Babe Ruth, the Model T and Prohibition. [...] When it came to college basketball, Schroeder solicited opinions from coaches and sportswriters around the country. But when he finalized his list of the nation's best teams from 1920-42, there is no evidence that anyone other than Schroeder made the selections.
↑ "Williams Basketball Record — New England College Disputes Championship Title With Columbia". The Sun. New York. March 19, 1905. The Williams team has lost but two games out of the twenty-two played, and by reason of pronounced victories over the strongest college teams in the country, Williams considers her team the intercollegiate champions of America. [...] The only disputant to the title won by Williams is Columbia, but the latter five has only played one team of any strength—Yale. [...] Williams had game arranged with Columbia, but the New Yorkers cancelled the date.
↑ "National Champions — Williams, Head of New England Basketball League, Wins 15 Out of 16 Games". The Williams Record. Vol.XXI, no.2. Williamstown, Massachusetts. March 21, 1907. The Williams basketball team of 1907, whose season has just finished, can, like the team of 1904-5, lay claim to the national basketball championship. Though this claim is by no means so indisputable as that of Captain Wadsworth's five with its more representative schedule, the fact that Williams was the champion of the newly formed New England Intercollegiate league, that the one game out of the seventeen which it lost was to an opponent which it subsequently defeated, and that it overwhelmed the team which the champion of the league of the big colleges sent to meet it give Williams a claim that is certainly equal to Yale's to the honor.
↑ "St. John's Quintette Claims College Title". The Brooklyn Eagle. New York. February 27, 1911. St. John's College basketball team has just ended the most successful season in the history of the sport at the institution, going through the year without a defeat. Coach Allen and Captain Keenan are so pleased with the work of the quintet that they are claiming the intercollegiate championship. The team has victories over the best aggregations in the country.
1 2 Barra, Allen (March 16, 2012). "How the NCAA Basketball Cartel Seized Its Power". The Atlantic. The NCAA established their tournament the year after the NIT began, and until the early 1950s it was second to Ned Irish's baby in both prize money and prestige. The reason wasn't difficult to figure. The NIT could offer something that the NCAA couldn't: a trip to New York.
↑ Luce, Henry R., ed. (December 16, 1940). "Long Island University Basketball Team Demonstrates Best Scoring Plays". LIFE. Vol.9, no.25. pp.41–45. Mecca for all college basketball teams is New York's Madison Square Garden. There each winter the leading teams in the U. S. play double-header games on 16 nights, wind up the season with the National Invitation Tournament sponsored by the Metropolitan colleges to decide the mythical title.
↑ Wilson, Dave (March 29, 1938). "Temple's National Champions Honored Again at Banquet — City Fetes Temple, National Champion". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p.19. Representatives of this city's official family, leaders in education and prominent men in athletics paid tribute to Temple University's national championship basketball team at the dinner given by Mayor S. Davis Wilson in the ballroom of the Bellevue-Stratford last night. [...] Following his speech Mayor Wilson presented Jimmy Usilton, Temple coach, with a wrist watch and also gave each member of the Owl team a gold ring-tokens of gratitude for the fame and honor which the Templars brought to this city.
1 2 Snider, Steve (March 28, 1939). Written at Evanston, IL. "Oregon Team Claims U.S. Title After Winning Crown In Intercollegiate Finals". Astorian Budget. Astoria, OR. United Press. Oregon's rangy sharpshooters, new champions of the National Collegiate Athletic association, entered a claim to the national intercollegiate basketball title today and it's as good a claim as any other. [...] The national championship, however, still is a muddle. Long Island university, victor in Manhattan's invitational tournament, is a popular eastern choice for the title and Southwestern Teachers of Winfield, Kan., won a similar tournament at Kansas City. Oregon was a good enough team last night to claim any title.
1 2 Anderson, Dave (March 28, 1996). "Recalling Final Four's Garden Roots". The New York Times. p.B13. In the post-season, the NIT had more stature. It originated in 1938, a year before the NCAA tournament began. It was also center stage in the Garden, the nation's most famous arena. [...] Although the NIT was considered stronger, its winner lost to the N.C.A.A. winner during World War II in each of the three Red Cross charity games at the Garden involving the two champions—the only three times that the two tournament winners met to determine an undisputed national champion.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
↑ Effrat, Louis (March 29, 1950). "City College Conquers Bradley for First Sweep of National Basketball Titles". The New York Times. p.40. CCNY, Invitation Victor, Becomes First Five to Win NCAA Title Also — Running out of basketball worlds to conquer, Nat Holman's City College Beavers became—undisputedly—the nation's No. 1 college quintet by virtue of a breath-taking 71-68 victory over Bradley last night at Madison Square Garden. [...] gave CCNY the grand slam
↑ Terrell, Roy (February 20, 1956). "News that a college all-star team would enter the Olympic basketball trials failed to slow the race for a place in THE TOURNAMENTS". Sports Illustrated. Vol.4, no.8. p.45. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. In the interest of Olympic supremacy, a little of the luster was rubbed off the nation's two big postseason tournaments last week. No longer, announced Dutch Lonborg of Kansas, chairman of the Olympic College Basketball Committee, will the National Collegiate and National Invitation tournaments send their champions to the Olympic trials. Instead, a 14-man all-star team will be selected from colleges all over the nation to challenge one service and two AAU teams for the trip to Melbourne in November. But Melbourne is still a long way off and mid-February remains, in the world of college basketball, a time to worry about mid-March and the 37 spots in the brackets of the NCAA and the NIT. The NCAA has room for 25 teams—16 conference champions and nine 'at-large' selections; the NIT is seeking to fill a field of 12.
↑ Fraley, Oscar (April 6, 1944). Written at New York. "In Cage Selections Made By Helms Foundation Army Is Voted Top Quintet". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio. United Press. Retrieved December 25, 2023. Army was rated as the nation's No. 1 team despite the fact that Utah's Cinderella Kids won mythical national honors in postseason tournament play which was ruled out for the Cadets.
↑ Sullivan, Gene (May 27, 1945). "Dick Dunkel final rankings". St. Joseph News-Press. Dick Dunkel, whose basketball forecasts have been running in The News-Press for the last two seasons, is out with his final rankings for the 1944–45 campaign and Henry P. Iba's Oklahoma Aggies are accorded the No. 1 position. The selection was rather obvious after what the Aggies did. However, the Dunkel recognition puts the cap on the season. In the intercollegiate ranks, Dunkel strung these clubs out behind A. and M. for a first 10: DePaul, Iowa, New York U., Ohio State, Notre Dame Army, Rice, Bowling Greet and Navy.
↑ Greene, Clarence (June 2, 1946). "Final Basketball Ratings". The Harlan Daily Enterprise. Dick Dunkel's final 1945–46 basketball ratings of the nation's 817 basketball teams was complete and released today. The top 10 of the nation are as follows: 1. Oklahoma A&M 78.5; 2. Kentucky 77.7
↑ Finnegan, Jim (May 2, 1948). "Final Dick Dunkel Cage Ratings". Our Sunday Visitor. The Kentucky Wildcats were rated a very good chance to end up in first place long before the season ever got under way, and they did just that. Right behind them in second place were the Billikens of St. Louis. Eddie Hickey's team rated their high potion by their performance in the National Invitation Tourney which they copped in Madison Square Garden.
↑ "Final Dunkel Ratings". The Cincinnati Enquirer. May 25, 1949. The nation's first 10 teams were, in this order, Kentucky, Loyola (Chicago), Oklahoma A. & M., Illinois, San Francisco, Bowling Green (Ohio), Minnesota, Ohio State and Cincinnati.
↑ Robertson, Orlo (March 21, 1953). Written at New York. "NCAA Champion Hoosiers Head Final AP Poll — Given 128 of 159 Votes". The Herald-Times. Bloomington, IN. Associated Press. Indiana University's Hoosiers, champions of the NCAA, capped their most successful season in more than a decade by being named the No. 1 college team of the nation. [...] They were named first on 128 ballots to outdistance Seton Hall, winner of the National Invitation Tournament
↑ Bolinger, George (May 6, 1953). "Dick Dunkel Power Index 1952–53". The Herald-Telephone. Here's the top ten: Indiana, Kansas, Illinois, Seton Hall, La Salle, Duquesne, Washington, Kansas State, North Carolina State, and Notre Dame.
↑ "Bears Rank No. 56 in Dunkel Ratings". The Springfield News-Leader. April 24, 1954. Kentucky, which drew a top rating of 88.0 [...] In the top ten were Kentucky, first, followed by Holy Cross Duquesne, LaSalle, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Niagara, Western Kentucky and Duke. Other interesting ratings included Cape Girardeau, 198th: Warrensburg, 247th; Pittsburg (Kan.), 269th; Central College, 274th; and Maryville, 284th. Drury College placed 445th.
↑ "U.D. 4th, By Dunkel!". Dayton Daily News. June 5, 1955. San Francisco U., the NCAA champion, topped the Dunkel list, with Duquesne, the NIT champion [...] as runnerup.
↑ Decourcy, Mike (March 13, 2020). "It's madness to assume a college basketball champion can be identified without the NCAA Tournament". The Sporting News. We can pretend all we want. We can look at the top of the various computer rankings and see who stands No. 1. We can look at the top of the polls. We can run a computer simulation or play it out using our best e-sporters, or whatever they call themselves. There is no way to arrive at a genuine champion for the 2019-20 college basketball season, though. Because the greatest glory of this sport is contained in this declarative: We don't do it by a bleeping vote. [...] In this sport, championships are won on the court. [...] We'll see no such thing this year. No Madness, no champion. That's how it works.
↑ Louisville Basketball 2024-2025 Media Guide(PDF). University of Louisville Athletics. 2024. pp.154–156. Louisville's National Champions: 2013 NCAA Champions (championship later vacated), 1986 NCAA Champions, 1980 NCAA Champions, 1956 NIT Champions, 1948 NAIB Champions
↑ "University of Chicago Team NCAA Champions & Finalists". University of Chicago Athletics. June 12, 2023. Retrieved August 13, 2025. The University of Chicago men's basketball team was also awarded three consecutive National Championships in 1907, 1908, and 1909 from the Helms Athletic Foundation. [...] NCAA Champions: Men's Basketball (3 times) — 1907, 1908, 1909
↑ "USF Basketball History". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved May 23, 2025. National Championships: 1949 NIT Champions, 1955 NCAA Champions, 1956 NCAA Champions
↑ "Syracuse National Champions". Syracuse University. December 21, 2006. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved August 12, 2025. TEAM (31): 1917-18 Men's Basketball (Helms Foundation); 1925-26 Men's Basketball (Helms Foundation); 2003 Men's Basketball
↑ 2012-13 Utah Basketball Media Guide(PDF). University of Utah Athletic Communications Office. 2012. p.87. Archived from the original(PDF) on May 12, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2013. National Champions: 1916 AAU Champions, 1944 NCAA Champions, 1947 NIT Champions [...] making the University of Utah the only school in history to win the NCAA, NIT, and AAU National Championships.
↑ "National Championship Teams". Holy Cross Athletics. July 1, 2009. Retrieved May 24, 2025. National Championship Teams: 1947 NCAA Champions, 1954 NIT Champions
↑ "La Salle's Men's Basketball By The Numbers". La Salle Magazine. Philadelphia, PA: La Salle University. Archived from the original on July 11, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2025. La Salle has two national champion teams—the 1952 NIT champions, which was considered the national championship at the time, and the 1954 NCAA Tournament champions. [...] 1 NCAA Championship; 1 NIT Championship [...] 1951-1952 NIT Champions: Then considered the premier college basketball tournament, the championship made La Salle, and top scorer Tom Gola, household names.
↑ "LIU Sharks Athletics History". Long Island University Athletics. February 26, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2025. LIU Brooklyn National Championships: Men's Basketball 1939, 1941
↑ Penn 2024 Men's Basketball Fact Book(PDF). University of Pennsylvania. 2024. p.80. Retrieved August 13, 2025. Penn Basketball - 1919-20 and 1920-21 Helms National Champions [...] Penn was retroactively named the national college champion in men's basketball by the Helms Athletic Foundation in both 1919-20 and 1920-21. The 1919-20 Quakers went 22-1 and were considered the Eastern champion after going undefeated in the Eastern Intercollegiate League (EIL). They then bested the Western champion, the University of Chicago, in a best-of-three series to earn the Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships. A year later, the 1920-21 Penn team went 21-2 and again won the EIL title with a 9-1 mark, the lone loss a 20-19 decision at Cornell. Unlike the previous year, Penn's 1920-21 title was not bestowed until years later.
↑ 2024-25 DePaul Basketball Media Guide(PDF). DePaul Athletics Department. 2024. p.139. Retrieved May 24, 2025. ...the 1945 edition of the Blue Demons won the school's first national championship by winning the 1945 National Invitation Tournament.
↑ "Temple Hall of Fame: 1938 Men's Basketball Team". Temple University. Archived from the original on June 24, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2025. The 1938 NIT Championship Men's Basketball Team became the first team to be enshrined in the Temple University Athletics Hall of Fame. That Owl team claimed the first-ever National Championship in college basketball history, posting a 20-2 regular-season record to earn a spot in the Inaugural National Invitation Tournament.
↑ 1922 First National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament Champions; 1982 NCAA Division III Basketball National Champions (Signs). Chadwick Court: Wabash College. 2025.
↑ Washburn 2024-25 Ichabod Basketball Media Guide(PDF). Washburn University. 2024. p.127. Retrieved August 13, 2025. 1924–25 AAU National Champions [...] In 1925 Dutch Lonborg coached Washburn College to an AAU title; it was the last time a college team won that championship.
↑ "Wisconsin National Championships". University of Wisconsin. November 21, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2025. NCAA National Titles: Men's Basketball (1): 1941
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2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 
