1922 National Intercollegiate basketball tournament

Tournament organization and team selection

The tournament was organized by the Indianapolis Junior Chamber of Commerce. In January, 1922, the Western Conference and Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League declined early invitations to send their champions. For the EIBL, the scheduling of the tournament made it impossible for its champion to participate. The league had not yet completed its season when the tournament was held. Penn played Dartmouth, and Cornell played Princeton on the day of the tournament final, and the league still had games remaining after that.

Therefore, the organizers selected Rutgers to represent the east. Three of the organizers' original choices accepted bids to the tournament, and three declined. Only one (Missouri) of the three declining teams decided to participate in another tournament instead. The other two (North Carolina and Rutgers) were barred from participating by their schools' administrations. Thus, the east and Missouri Valley regions were not represented as originally planned and were replaced by the champions of Michigan and Illinois. These two replacements were not mere emergency fill-ins; both were under consideration for bids when the organizers entertained the idea of expanding the tournament to eight teams.

Independent Wabash, the tournament champion, had won at Purdue, the Western Conference champion, in early March, avenging a home loss to the Boilermakers in December. As of March 2, the day after Wabash won at Purdue, it was reported that Wabash had been selected to represent the central-west portion of the country, Rutgers to represent the east, and Idaho to represent the Pacific coast and northwest. The original plan contemplated a six-team tournament comprising teams selected from different parts of the country. Organizers considered expanding the tournament to eight teams to include two more teams from among Brigham Young to represent the Rocky Mountains, Kalamazoo to represent Michigan, either Knox or Illinois Wesleyan to represent Illinois, and a second southern team in addition to the primary representative that had not yet been invited. The Southern Conference (SoCon) and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) staged a joint postseason tournament in 1922, to determine a champion of the south. Alabama had lost in the semifinals to fellow SoCon member North Carolina but nevertheless requested an invitation to the national tournament.

On March 6, just three days before the start of the tournament, organizers scrapped the notion of increasing the field to eight teams and announced the six teams that had been selected. These were Wabash from the middle west, Grove City from western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Rutgers from the Atlantic seaboard, North Carolina from the south, Missouri from the Missouri Valley Conference, and Idaho representing the Pacific slope. North Carolina's faculty would not consent to the team's participation in the tournament, and Mercer of the SIAA, which had lost to the Tar Heels in the southern tournament final, were chosen as the replacement. Rutgers's faculty also refused permission for the team to participate at the last minute, reaching the decision the day before the tournament began and after their participation had been confirmed. Missouri participated in the national AAU tournament instead of this tournament. Illinois Wesleyan, representing Illinois, replaced Missouri in the field.

At least one newspaper editor concluded the tournament was a national championship in name only due to the absence of more representative teams, while many newspapers in a nationally syndicated article reported Wabash's national championship, mentioning the accomplishments of participants, with one praising the participants as representing the best that could be sent from around the country.

Bracket

:March 9–11, 1922, in Indianapolis | RD1-team3=Wabash (IN) | RD1-score3=39 | RD1-team4=Illinois Wesleyan | RD1-score4=16 | RD1-team7=Kalamazoo (MI) | RD1-score7=38 | RD1-team8=Idaho | RD1-score8=31 | RD2-team1=Mercer (GA) | RD2-score1=25 | RD2-team2=Wabash | RD2-score2=62 | RD2-team3=Grove City (PA) | RD2-score3=13 | RD2-team4=Kalamazoo | RD2-score4=22 | RD3-team1=Wabash | RD3-score1=43 | RD3-team2=Kalamazoo | RD3-score2=23 :Source:

References

References

1. (March 9, 1922). "Idaho to open in title games". Spokane Daily Chronicle.
2. Scott, Jon. "History of the Early S.I.A.A. Atlanta Basketball Tournament".
3. (1922). "The Wabash Year Book".
4. "Lee Norman "Pete" Thorn".
5. (March 13, 1922). "Penn Wins As Tigers Lose to Cornell Team". The Daily Home News.
6. (March 2, 1922). "Wabash Wins from Purdue". The Indianapolis Star.
7. (March 3, 1922). "Wabash Leads in Mixup for Hoosier Title". The Grand Rapids Press.
8. "Purdue Five Has Trouble in Own State". The Detroit Free Press.
9. (March 2, 1922). "Field of National College Basketball Tourney Here May be Increased Two Teams". The Indianapolis Star.
10. (March 7, 1922). "Teams Announced for Basket Tourney". The Evansville Courier.
11. (March 8, 1922). "Mercer to Represent South". Richmond Times-Dispatch.
12. (March 8, 1922). "Faculty Refuses to Let Carolina Play in Tourney". The Asheville Citizen.
13. (March 10, 1922). "Indianapolis Meet". The Chattanooga News.
14. (March 8, 1922). "Iowa Cagers Arrive for Meet at Capital". The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette.
15. (March 9, 1922). "Last Pacific Coast Quintet is Eliminated". Oklahoma City Times.
16. (March 9, 1922). "Basketballites Will Reach Crest Tonight". The Indianapolis News.
17. (March 13, 1922). "National Court Championships". The Daily Home News.
18. (March 13, 1922). "Wabash Defeats Kalamazoo and Becomes Champs". The Anderson Herald.
19. (March 12, 1922). "Local Quintet is Easily One of the Greatest in West; Kazoo Mentor Develops 'Em". The Kalamazoo Gazetta.
20. (January 24, 1922). "Tourney for Colleges". New York Times.
21. "1922 National Intercollegiate Basketball Champions - Wabash College 1922".
22. (March 9, 1922). "Wesleyan and Wabash Fives to Open Tourney". Chicago Tribune.
23. (March 10, 1922). "Wabash Wins Easily". New York Times.
24. (March 12, 1922). "Wabash Takes Title". New York Times.
25. "Kalamazoo College Basketball, Men's Basketball All-Time Scores".
26. "Wabash College Basketball 2008-09 Media Guide".
27. (April 1922). "Alpha-Pi: Wabash College". Kappa Sigma Fraternity.
28. (May 1922). "The Phi Gamma Delta, Volume 44". Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity.
29. "Wabash Hoops: The Wonder Fives; The Early Champions".