1915–16 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1915–16 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1915, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1916.

1915–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	Wisconsin (retroactive selection in 1943)
Player of the Year (Helms)	George Levis, Wisconsin (retroactive selection in 1944)

Season headlines

• The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) adopted a new set of rules nationally for amateur basketball in the United States, standardizing the rules used in college, YMCA, and AAU basketball. Officially appointed representatives of the three organizations prepared the uniform set of rules, the NCAA, YMCA, and AAU having decided that working together in this way was in the best interests of the game's welfare and of the organizations themselves.
• The Pacific Coast Conference began play with four original members, three of which fielded basketball teams for the 1915–16 season.
• Utah won the post-season Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championship tournament— in which a mix of collegiate and non-collegiate amateur teams competed — in 1916 to become the first of only four collegiate teams to win the tournament. No college team would win the tournament again until 1920.
• In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Wisconsin as its national champion for the 1915–16 season.
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Wisconsin as its national champion for the 1915–16 season.

Rule changes

• "Class A" fouls — general fouls called for delay of game; "tackling" the ball (i.e., touching the ball while a teammate already was touching it); kicking, striking, advancing, or hugging the ball; tackling, holding, or pushing an opponent; and addressing the game officials — were changed to violations. "Class B" fouls — striking, kicking, shouldering, tripping, or hacking an opponent; unnecessary roughness; and using profane or abusive language — became technical and personal fouls.
• A player is disqualified after committing his fourth personal foul in a game. Previously, a player was disqualified if he committed two "Class B" fouls in a game.
• If a player was fouled in the act of shooting, his team was awarded two free-throw attempts regardless of whether he made the field goal. Previously, the shooting team had been awarded one point and one free-throw attempt if a shooter was fouled. If the shooting player made the shot, it counted for two points, just as it had before this rule change.
• The shooting team was awarded one free-throw attempt if a defending player interfered with the ball or basket while the ball was on the basket's rim. Previously, the shooting team had been awarded one point under these circusmtances.
• All players were required to wear plain numbers at least 6 inches (15.2 cm) high and 1 inch (2.54 cm) wide fastened securely on the backs of their shirts.

Conference membership changes

School	Former Conference	New Conference
California Golden Bears	Independent	Pacific Coast Conference
Oregon Webfoots	Independent	No basketball team
Oregon Agricultural Beavers	Independent	Pacific Coast Conference
Washington Huskies	Independent	Pacific Coast Conference

NOTE: Although Oregon joined the Pacific Coast Conference in 1915, it did not field a basketball team during the 1915–16 season.

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners

Conference	Regular Season Winner	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Penn	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Nebraska	None selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	California & Oregon Agricultural	None selected	No Tournament
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Colorado & Colorado College		No Tournament
Southwest Conference	Texas	None selected	No Tournament
Western Conference	Wisconsin	None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1915–16 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Penn 8 – 2   .800 11 – 7   .611 Princeton 8 – 2   .800 16 – 4   .800 Cornell 5 – 5   .500 13 – 5   .722 Yale 5 – 5   .500 12 – 8   .600 Dartmouth 3 – 7   .300 11 – 12   .478 Columbia 1 – 9   .100 3 – 9   .250	1915–16 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Nebraska 12 – 0   1.000 13 – 1   .929 Missouri 10 – 2   .833 13 – 3   .813 Kansas State 9 – 3   .750 9 – 3   .750 Kansas 5 – 11   .313 6 – 12   .333 Iowa State 2 – 8   .200 4 – 12   .250 Drake 1 – 5   .167 3 – 9   .250 Washington University 1 – 11   .083 6 – 11   .353	1915–16 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Oregon Agricultural 5 – 3   .625 16 – 5   .762 California 5 – 3   .625 11 – 5   .688 Washington 2 – 6   .250 7 – 7   .500 Washington State –   – 18 – 3   .857
1915–16 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Colorado College 6 – 2   .750 8 – 2   .800 Colorado 6 – 2   .750 6 – 2   .750 Denver 5 – 3   .625 7 – 3   .700 Colorado Agricultural 3 – 5   .375 6 – 6   .500 Colorado Mines 0 – 8   .000 0 – 8   .000	1915–16 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Texas 6 – 0   1.000 12 – 0   1.000 Texas A&M 6 – 2   .750 11 – 2   .846 Rice 5 – 3   .625 12 – 5   .706 Southwestern (Tex.) 0 – 4   .000 0 – 4   .000 Baylor 0 – 8   .000 8 – 9   .471	1915–16 Western Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Wisconsin 11 – 1   .917 20 – 1   .952 Illinois 9 – 3   .750 13 – 3   .813 Northwestern 9 – 3   .750 13 – 3   .813 Minnesota 6 – 6   .500 11 – 6   .647 Indiana 3 – 5   .375 6 – 7   .462 Chicago 4 – 8   .333 15 – 11   .577 Iowa 2 – 4   .333 11 – 4   .733 Ohio State 2 – 8   .200 9 – 13   .409 Purdue 2 – 10   .167 4 – 10   .286

Independents

A total of 122 college teams played as major independents. Among independents that played at least 10 games, Carleton (15–0), North Dakota Agricultural (18–0), Tennessee (12–0), and Utah (11–0) were undefeated, and Nebraska Wesleyan (20–2) finished with the most wins.

1915–16 NCAA men's basketball independents standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Arizona –   – 5 – 0   1.000 Carleton –   – 15 – 0   1.000 North Dakota Agricultural –   – 18 – 0   1.000 Roanoke –   – 9 – 0   1.000 Tennessee –   – 12 – 0   1.000 Utah –   – 11 – 0   1.000 Allegheny –   – 10 – 1   .909 Montana State –   – 10 – 1   .909 Nebraska Wesleyan –   – 20 – 2   .909 Wake Forest –   – 16 – 2   .889 Pittsburgh –   – 15 – 2   .882 Seton Hall –   – 13 – 2   .867 Navy –   – 12 – 2   .857 Augustana (Ill.) –   – 11 – 2   .846 Dayton –   – 11 – 2   .846 Virginia –   – 11 – 2   .846 Ripon –   – 15 – 3   .833 Swarthmore –   – 10 – 2   .833 New Mexico –   – 9 – 2   .818 Wabash –   – 17 – 4   .810 Virginia Tech –   – 12 – 3   .800 Vanderbilt –   – 11 – 3   .786 Colgate –   – 14 – 4   .778 Duquesne –   – 7 – 2   .778 Georgia –   – 7 – 2   .778 Bucknell –   – 10 – 3   .769 Saint Mary's (Calif.) –   – 10 – 3   .769 Alabama –   – 13 – 4   .765 Millikin –   – 16 – 5   .762 Notre Dame –   – 9 – 3   .750 Syracuse –   – 9 – 3   .750 VMI –   – 9 – 3   .750 New York University –   – 11 – 4   .733 Oklahoma –   – 19 – 7   .731 Louisville –   – 8 – 3   .727 Penn State –   – 8 – 3   .727 Fordham –   – 10 – 4   .714 North Central –   – 12 – 5   .706 Detroit –   – 7 – 3   .700 Catholic –   – 9 – 4   .692 Central Missouri –   – 9 – 4   .692 Lake Forest –   – 9 – 4   .692 Gettysburg –   – 11 – 5   .688 Mississippi A&M –   – 11 – 5   .688 Santa Clara –   – 11 – 5   .688 Saint Louis –   – 13 – 6   .684 Kalamazoo –   – 6 – 3   .667 New Mexico A&M –   – 6 – 3   .667 The Citadel –   – 4 – 2   .667 North Carolina –   – 12 – 6   .667 Toledo –   – 2 – 1   .667 Fairmount –   – 10 – 5   .667 Buffalo –   – 7 – 4   .636 Delaware –   – 7 – 4   .636 Washington College –   – 7 – 4   .636 William & Mary –   – 7 – 4   .636 Connecticut –   – 5 – 3   .625 West Virginia –   – 11 – 7   .611 Denison –   – 9 – 6   .600 Georgetown –   – 9 – 6   .600 Millsaps –   – 6 – 4   .600 Montana –   – 6 – 4   .600 Mount Union –   – 6 – 4   .600 Union (N.Y.) –   – 9 – 6   .600 Wyoming –   – 3 – 2   .600 Louisiana State –   – 14 – 10   .583 Davidson –   – 11 – 8   .579 Indiana State –   – 7 – 2   .778 Kentucky –   – 8 – 6   .571 Southwestern (Kan.) –   – 8 – 6   .571 Grove City –   – 9 – 7   .563 Tulsa –   – 9 – 7   .563 Western State Normal –   – 9 – 7   .563 Tulane –   – 10 – 8   .556 St. Joseph's –   – 11 – 9   .550 North Dakota –   – 6 – 5   .545 Wisconsin–Stevens Point –   – 6 – 5   .545 CCNY –   – 7 – 6   .538 Temple –   – 7 – 6   .538 Ohio –   – 8 – 7   .533 Wooster –   – 8 – 7   .533 Lehigh –   – 12 – 11   .522 Akron –   – 5 – 5   .500 Boston University –   – 2 – 2   .500 Brigham Young –   – 3 – 3   .500 Michigan State –   – 8 – 8   .500 Oklahoma A&M –   – 7 – 8   .467 Muhlenberg –   – 5 – 6   .455 Trinity (N.C.) –   – 9 – 11   .450 Bradley –   – 8 – 10   .444 Lafayette –   – 7 – 9   .438 Butler –   – 3 – 4   .429 Rutgers –   – 3 – 4   .429 Washington and Lee –   – 6 – 8   .429 Army –   – 5 – 7   .417 Niagara –   – 4 – 6   .400 Rochester (N.Y.) –   – 6 – 9   .400 South Carolina –   – 4 – 6   .400 Rhode Island State –   – 3 – 5   .375 Ole Miss –   – 4 – 7   .364 Kent State –   – 4 – 8   .333 St. John's (NY) –   – 5 – 10   .333 Utah State –   – 2 – 4   .333 Washburn –   – 4 – 8   .333 Virginia Tech –   – 12 – 3   .800 Manhattan –   – 4 – 9   .308 Miami (Ohio) –   – 4 – 9   .308 Richmond –   – 4 – 9   .308 North Carolina State –   – 2 – 5   .286 Bowling Green State –   – 3 – 8   .273 Auburn –   – 2 – 6   .250 Clemson –   – 2 – 6   .250 Southern California –   – 5 – 15   .250 Texas Christian –   – 1 – 3   .250 DePauw –   – 1 – 3   .250 Northern Colorado –   – 1 – 4   .200 Washington & Jefferson –   – 1 – 4   .200 Stanford –   – 2 – 9   .182 George Washington –   – 2 – 10   .167 Cincinnati –   – 1 – 9   .100 Idaho –   – 1 – 12   .077 Canisius –   – 0 – 4   .000

Awards

Helms College Basketball All-Americans

Main article: 1916 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

The practice of selecting a Consensus All-American Team did not begin until the 1928–29 season. The Helms Athletic Foundation later retroactively selected a list of All-Americans for the 1915–16 season.

Player	Team
Roy Bohler	Washington State
Bill Chandler	Wisconsin
Cyril Haas	Princeton
George Levis	Wisconsin
Clyde Littlefield	Texas
Edward McNichol	Penn
Dick Romney	Utah
Adolph Sieberts	Oregon Agricultural
Fred Williams	Missouri
Ray Woods	Illinois

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: George Levis, Wisconsin (retroactive selection in 1944)