| 1954 | 1955 | 1956 |
| Champion | Second Place | Third place | Fourth place |
| USF | La Salle | Colorado | Iowa |
| Phil Woolpert | Kenneth Loeffler | Bebe Lee | Bucky O'Connor |
Active coaches (10+ games)
| Rank | Coach, Current school | Yrs | W-L | Pct. | Latest | Final | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | Trn | 1955 | All | 4 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| 1 | Kenneth Loeffler, La Salle | 20 | 2 | 4-1 | 9-1 | .900 | 1955 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | Adolph Rupp, Kentucky | 25 | 7 | 1-1 | 14-4 | .778 | 1955 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Phog Allen, Kansas | 49 | 4 | 10-3 | .769 | 1953 | 3 | 3 | 1 | |
| 4 | Harry Combes, Illinois | 8 | 3 | 8-3 | .727 | 1952 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | Hank Iba, Oklahoma State | 26 | 6 | 12-5 | .706 | 1954 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
| 6 | Bob Feerick, Santa Clara | 5 | 3 | 6-4 | .600 | 1954 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Everett Case, North Carolina State | 9 | 4 | 6-5 | .545 | 1954 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Everett Shelton, Wyoming | 18 | 7 | 4-11 | .267 | 1953 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
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Kenneth Loeffler brings La Salle back to defend its title but only manages second place this year. Loeffler's nine wins in his first nine tournament games breaks Branch McCracken's and Hank Iba's record of eight straight as he debuts at number one on the list at 9-1. |
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Adolph Rupp and Kentucky go 1-1, dropping Rupp's record below .800 for the first time since he won his first championship in 1948. |
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From here on, Oklahoma A&M is called Oklahoma State. |
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