The Premo-Porretta Power Poll is a retroactive end-of-year ranking for American college basketball teams competing in the 1895âÂÂ96 through the 1947âÂÂ48 seasons. These rankings are not officially recognized by the NCAA.
The poll was intended to serve collectively as a source of information regarding the relative standings of college basketball teams within given seasons during the early decades of the sport. No systematic end-of-season national tournament existed in college basketball until the founding of the National Invitation Tournament in 1938 and the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Tournament in 1939, the latter of which determines the NCAA champion for a given season. Furthermore, no regular, recognized national polling took place for college basketball prior to the establishment of the Associated Press poll and the coaches poll in the 1948âÂÂ49 and 1950âÂÂ51 seasons, respectively.
Patrick Premo, a professor emeritus of accounting at St. Bonaventure University, and Phil Porretta, a former computer programmer, have each spent more than 40 yearsâÂÂfirst separately, and later collaborativelyâÂÂresearching the early history of college basketball. Their archival work has often uncovered game results that had not previously been reported in books and basketball program media guides, such as the results of competition against AAU, semi-professional, club, and YMCA teams. Whereas Bill Schroeder of the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively named only his choice of the top team nationally for each season from 1900âÂÂ01 through 1941âÂÂ42 (and then annually selected a national champion for each season from 1942âÂÂ43 through 1981âÂÂ82), Premo and Porretta have used the data they have compiled to compare teams against one another and assign rankings to multiple teams for each seasonâÂÂ15 teams for the 1895âÂÂ96 season, 20 teams for each season from 1896âÂÂ97 through 1908âÂÂ09, and 25 teams for each season from 1909âÂÂ10 through 1947âÂÂ48.
Premo's findings, which he clarified were "simply his opinion", were first published in 1995 as the Premo Power Poll. Most recently, in 2009, Premo and Porretta's full collaborative rankings were included with the core information for each season prior to 1949 in the ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia.
The teams listed below are the highest-ranked teams in the Premo-Porretta Power Poll for that season. They did not win a contemporary national tournament or title.