1965–66 NCAA University Division men's basketball season

1965–66 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
1965–66 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1	UCLA
NCAA Tournament	1966
Tournament dates	March 7–19, 1966 –
National Championship	Cole Field House; College Park, Maryland
NCAA Champions	Texas Western
Helms National Champions	Texas Western
Other champions	BYU (NIT)
Player of the Year; (Helms)	Cazzie Russell, Michigan
	← 1964–65 1966–67 →

The 1965–66 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1965, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1966 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 19, 1966, at Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland. The Texas Western Miners won their first NCAA national championship with a 72–65 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats.

Season headlines[edit]

After introducing a preseason Top 20 the previous season, the Associated Press (AP) Poll contracted its preseason poll to a Top 10, aligning with the Top 10 format for in-season polls it had used since the 1961–62 season.^[3]
The NCAA tournament contracted from 23 to 22 teams.
Texas Western became the first team to begin an NCAA tournament final game with an all-African American starting lineup, and the first team with an all-African American starting line-up to win the NCAA championship.
The Metropolitan Collegiate Conference, consisting of schools in the New York City-New Jersey area, began play.

Season outlook[edit]

Pre-season polls[edit]

The Top 10 from the AP Poll and Top 20 from the Coaches Poll during the pre-season.^[4]^[5]

Associated Press
Ranking	Team
1	UCLA
2	Michigan
3	Duke
4	Saint Joseph's
5	Vanderbilt
6	Providence
7	Minnesota
8	Kansas
9	Bradley
10	Kansas State

UPI Coaches
Ranking	Team
1	UCLA
2	Michigan
3	Minnesota
4	Saint Joseph's
5	Duke
6	Vanderbilt
7	Providence
8	Kansas
9	Bradley
10	BYU
11	San Francisco
12	Kansas State
13	NC State
14	Dayton
15 (tie)	Boston College
15 (tie)	St. John's
17 (tie)	Louisville
	Tennessee
	West Virginia
20 (tie)	Iowa
	New Mexico
	Princeton

Conference membership changes[edit]

School	Former conference	New conference
East Carolina Pirates	non-NCAA University Division	Southern Conference
Fairleigh Dickinson Knights	non-NCAA University Division	Metropolitan Collegiate Conference
Hofstra Flying Dutchmen	non-NCAA University Division	Metropolitan Collegiate Conference
Iona Gaels	University Division independent	Metropolitan Collegiate Conference
Long Island Blackbirds	non-NCAA University Division	Metropolitan Collegiate Conference
Manhattan Jaspers	University Division independent	Metropolitan Collegiate Conference
NYU Violets	University Division independent	Metropolitan Collegiate Conference
Saint Peter's Peacocks	University Division independent	Metropolitan Collegiate Conference
St. Francis Terriers	University Division independent	Metropolitan Collegiate Conference
Seton Hall Pirates	University Division independent	Metropolitan Collegiate Conference
Virginia Tech Hokies	Southern Conference	University Division independent
Wagner Seahawks	non-NCAA University Division	Metropolitan Collegiate Conference

NOTES:

East Carolina did not begin University Division play until the 1966–1967 season.
Fairleigh Dickinson did not begin University Division play until the 1967–1968 season.
Hofstra did not begin University Division play until the 1966–1967 season.
Long Island did not begin University Division play until the 1968–1969 season.

Regular season[edit]

Conference winners and tournaments[edit]

Conference	Regular season winner^[6]	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Athletic Association of Western Universities	Oregon State	None selected	No Tournament
Atlantic Coast Conference	Duke	Steve Vacendak, Duke^[7]	1966 ACC men's basketball tournament	Reynolds Coliseum (Raleigh, North Carolina)	Duke
Big Eight Conference	Kansas	None selected	No Tournament
Big Sky Conference	Gonzaga & Weber State	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Michigan	None selected	No Tournament
Ivy League	Penn	None selected	No Tournament
Metropolitan Collegiate Conference	Manhattan		No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Miami (OH)	None selected	No Tournament
Middle Atlantic Conference	Saint Joseph's		No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Cincinnati	None selected	No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference	Western Kentucky State	Clem Haskins, Western Kentucky State	1966 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament	Jefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky)	Western Kentucky State
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky	Clyde Lee, Vanderbilt (UPI selection), & Pat Riley, Kentucky (AP selection)^[8]	No Tournament
Southern Conference	Davidson	Dick Snyder, Davidson^[9]	1966 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Charlotte Coliseum (Charlotte, North Carolina)	Davidson^[10]
Southwest Conference	SMU	John Beasley, Texas A&M	No Tournament
West Coast Athletic Conference	Pacific	Keith Swagerty, Pacific	No Tournament
Western Athletic Conference	Utah	None selected	No Tournament
Yankee Conference	Connecticut & Rhode Island	None selected	No Tournament

Informal championships[edit]

Conference	Regular season winner	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Philadelphia Big 5	St. Joseph's	None selected	No Tournament

Statistical leaders[edit]

Post-season tournaments[edit]

NCAA tournament[edit]

Final Four[edit]

National Semi-finals			National finals

E	Duke	79

ME	Kentucky	83
			ME	Kentucky	65

			MW	Texas Western	72
MW	Texas Western	85

W	Utah	78

Third place – Duke 79, Utah 77

National Invitation tournament[edit]

Semi-finals and Finals[edit]

Semi-finals			Finals

	BYU	66

	Army	60
				BYU	97

				NYU	84
	NYU	69

	Villanova	63

Third place – Villanova 76, Army 65

Awards[edit]

Consensus All-American teams[edit]

**Consensus First Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Dave Bing	G	Senior	Syracuse
Clyde Lee	F	Senior	Vanderbilt
Cazzie Russell	F	Senior	Michigan
Dave Schellhase	G/F	Senior	Purdue
Jimmy Walker	G	Junior	Providence

**Consensus Second Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Louie Dampier	G	Junior	Kentucky
Matt Guokas	G	Junior	St. Joseph's
Jack Marin	F	Senior	Duke
Dick Snyder	F	Senior	Davidson
Bob Verga	G	Senior	Duke
Walt Wesley	C	Senior	Kansas

Coaching changes[edit]

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

Team	Former Coach	New Coach	Reason
Georgetown	Tommy O'Keefe	Jack Magee	Able to sustain himself financially only by working outside of basketball to supplement the low salary of Georgetown's head coaching position, and lacking the time to recruit players properly while coaching only part-time, O'Keefe resigned after the season to devote himself full-time to his business concerns. His resignation prompted Georgetown to commit to hiring a full-time coach beginning with the following season.^[11]^[12]
Hardin–Simmons	Lou Henson	Paul Lambert
Loyola (LA)	Bill Gardiner	Ron Greene
New Mexico State	Lou Henson	Jim McGregor

References[edit]

^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 846. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1978 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
^ sports-reference.com Matchup Finder
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 836. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
^ 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved February 14, 2009
^ 2008–09 SEC Men's Basketball Record Book, Southeastern Conference, retrieved February 6, 2009
^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved February 9, 2009
^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved February 9, 2009
^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Head Coaches". Archived from the original on May 27, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 46. Tom O'Keefe". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 5, 2014.

[preseason-1] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 846. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[2] "1978 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.

[3] sports-reference.com Matchup Finder

[ESPN-4] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 836. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[5] "1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.

[6] "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.

[7] 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved February 14, 2009

[8] 2008–09 SEC Men's Basketball Record Book, Southeastern Conference, retrieved February 6, 2009

[9] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved February 9, 2009

[10] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved February 9, 2009

[11] "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Head Coaches". Archived from the original on May 27, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2013.

[12] "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 46. Tom O'Keefe". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 5, 2014.

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v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball seasons
Pre-regulation	1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898-99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06
IAAUS / NCAA pre-Tournament era	1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38
NCAA Tournament era	1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24