1946–47 Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team

The Crusaders, behind coach Alvin "Doggie" Julian, NCAA tournament MVP George Kaftan, star Joe Mullaney and a freshman point guard named Bob Cousy, beat Oklahoma at Madison Square Garden to win the NCAA championship.

In the first match, Holy Cross defeated the United States Naval Academy in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden by a score of 55 to 47.

[3] In the semi-final match, Holy Cross faced the City College of New York (CCNY), coached by Nat Holman, one of the game's earliest innovators.

[4] Holy Cross became the first school from the New England area, as well as the state of Massachusetts, to win a national college basketball title.

Future NBA legend Cousy was named AP and UP player of the year, and George Kaftan was voted to the all-decade team of the 1940s by the NCAA in 1989.