1928–29 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team

The 1928–29 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team represented Montana State University during the 1928–29 NCAA men's basketball season in the United States. The head coach was Schubert R. Dyche, coaching in his first season with the Bobcats. The team finished the season with a 36–2 record[1] and was retroactively named the national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.[2][3] They defeated Amateur Athletic Union champion Cook's Painters in a best-of-three series.[4] This team was later nicknamed the "Golden Bobcats" and is now a prominent part of the lore for the men's basketball program at Montana State University.[5]

1928–29 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball
RMAC Champions
Helms Foundation National Champions
Premo-Porretta National Champions
ConferenceRocky Mountain Athletic Conference
DivisionWestern
1928–29 record36–2 (11–1 RMAC)
Head coachSchubert R. Dyche (1st season)
1928–29 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Eastern
Colorado102 .833  102  .833
Wyoming113 .786  154  .789
Northern Colorado86 .571  86  .571
Denver77 .500  128  .600
Colorado State66 .500  66  .500
Colorado College66 .500  89  .471
Western State19 .100  19  .100
Colorado School of Mines111 .083  111  .083
Western
Montana State111 .917  362  .947
BYU66 .500  2010  .667
Utah State48 .333  810  .444
Utah39 .250  512  .294
Rankings from AP Poll

This Montana State squad is considered one of the best college teams in the first half of the 20th century.[6] The 1928–29 season was a culmination of the entire decade in which the school revolutionized a fast break offense coupled with high-pressure defense, something that no other teams had ever done.[6] Players John "Cat" Thompson and Frank Ward were named consensus All-Americans at the end of the season, and Thompson was later inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[6]

References

  1. "Montana State season-by-season results". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  2. "NCAA Division I Men's Basketball – NCAA Division I Champions". Rauzulu's Street. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  3. ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 540. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  4. "Bobcats Athletic Traditions". The Golden Bobcats. Montana State University. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  5. "Last of 'Golden Bobcats' dies". Billings Gazette. TheBillingsGazette.com. April 25, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  6. "Golden Bobcat National Championship Team". Hall of Fame. Montana State University. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
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