1973–74 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

The 1973–74 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1973, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1974 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 25, 1974, at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The North Carolina State Wolfpack won its first NCAA national championship with a 76–64 victory over the Marquette Warriors.

Rule changes
Holding or grabbing an opposing player away from the ball became fouls, as did illegal screens.

Season headlines

 * Prior to the beginning of the season, NCAA Division I replaced the NCAA University Division as the subdivision of the NCAA made up of colleges and universities competing at the highest level of college sports. In addition, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III replaced the NCAA College Division for colleges and universities competing at a lower level, with Division II consisting of schools awarding limited athletic scholarships and Division III consisting of schools offering no athletic scholarships.
 * On August 5, 1973, the NCAA handed down a two-year death penalty to the University of Southwestern Louisiana (University of Louisiana at Lafayette; athletically branded "Louisiana" since 1999–2000) after discovering over 100 rules violations, the most egregious of which were payments to players and falsified high school transcripts. All other Ragin' Cajun teams were placed on four years' probation and banned from competing for national championships during that period. The NCAA also proposed expelling the university from the organization, but that penalty was reduced to forfeiture of voting rights at the annual convention for three years. Additionally, the Ragin' Cajuns' participation in the 1972 and 1973 University Division tournaments was scrubbed from the record books, and the university was required to return all tournament revenue. USL became the first university to have a season cancelled by the NCAA since Kentucky in 1952–53.
 * In 1973, the first public draw for tickets to the NCAA tournament's Final Four games took place. The tickets were for the 1974 Final Four.
 * In the Pacific 8 Conference, UCLA won its eighth of what would ultimately be 13 consecutive conference titles.

Pre-season polls
The top 20 from the AP Poll and UPI Coaches Poll during the pre-season.

Final Four

 * Third Place – UCLA 78, Kansas 61

Semifinals & finals

 * Third Place – Boston College 87, Jacksonville 77

Major player of the year awards

 * Naismith Award: Bill Walton, UCLA
 * Helms Player of the Year: David Thompson, NC State & Bill Walton, UCLA
 * Associated Press Player of the Year: David Thompson, NC State
 * UPI Player of the Year: Bill Walton, UCLA
 * Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Bill Walton, UCLA
 * Adolph Rupp Trophy: Bill Walton, UCLA
 * Sporting News Player of the Year: Bill Walton, UCLA

Major coach of the year awards

 * Associated Press Coach of the Year: Norm Sloan, NC State
 * Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Norm Sloan, NC State
 * NABC Coach of the Year: Al McGuire, Marquette
 * UPI Coach of the Year: Digger Phelps, Notre Dame
 * Sporting News Coach of the Year: Digger Phelps, Notre Dame

Other major awards

 * Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Mike Robinson, Michigan State
 * Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Ron Haigler, Penn
 * NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Bill Campion, Manhattan

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