College Basketball Prestige Rankings

[tuff_gong]

I don't know if you guys have caught this or not, but Harold Shelton, Nick Loucks and Chris Fallica, three researchers for ESPN, ranked the most "prestigious" college b-ball programs since the '84-'85 season and have been releasing the top 50 every day this week in groups of 10. They give each programs impressive stats since the '84-'85 season and briefly explain their ranking. Some of the rankings have been pretty interesting as the week has gone on.

Here's the point system they have used for their rankings:

We let the numbers do the talking by assigning the following point values for certain successes and failures.

• National title … 25
• Title game loss … 20
• National semifinal loss … 15
• Elite Eight loss … 10
• Best W-L record in conference's regular season … 5
• 30-plus wins in a season … 5
• Sweet 16 loss … 5
• Conference tournament title … 3
• AP first-team All-American … 3
• Losing in NCAA second round … 3
• Player in Top 10 of NBA draft … 2
• NCAA first-round win as a 12-16 seed … 2
• NIT title … 2
• AP second-team All-American … 2
• 20-29 wins in a season … 1
• NCAA tournament berth … 1
• Postseason NIT berth … 1
• AP third-team All-American … 1
• NCAA first-round loss to a 12-16 seed … -2
• Losing season … -3
• Ban from NCAA tournament … -3
>> Minimum 15 seasons in Division I
** Ties are broken by overall winning percentage since the 1984-85 season
^^ Teams are listed with their current conferences
!! In conferences without postseason tournament champions, the points were awarded to the regular-season champ.

Here is what has been released so far:

50. College of Charleston Cougars
49. Iowa Hawkeyes
48. Chattanooga Mocs
47. Butler Bulldogs
46. Brigham Young Cougars
45. Wisconsin Badgers
44. Pittsburgh Panthers
43. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
42. Massachusetts Minutemen
41. LSU Tigers
40. Princeton Tigers
39. Tulsa Golden Hurricane
38. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
37. Missouri Tigers
36. St.John's Red Storm
35. Alabama Crimson Tide
34. Penn Quakers
33. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
32. Oklahoma State Cowboys
31. Villanova Wildcats
30. Murray State Racers
29. Purdue Boilermakers
28. Maryland Terrapins
27. Ohio State Buckeyes
26. Gonzaga Bulldogs
25. Stanford Cardinal
24. Utah Utes
23. Illinois Fighting Illini
22. Michigan Wolverines
21. Florida Gators
20. Temple Owls
19. Cincinnati Bearcats
18. Texas Longhorns
17. Xavier Musketeers
16. Louisville Cardinals
15. Arkansas Razorbacks
14. Memphis Tigers
13. Indiana Hoosiers
12. Oklahoma Sooners
11. Michigan State Spartans
10. Georgetown Hoyas
9. Syracuse Orange
8. UNLV Rebels
7. UCLA Bruins
6. Connecticut Huskies
5. Arizona Wildcats
4. Kentucky Wildcats
3. North Carolina Tar Heels
2. Kansas Jayhawks
1. Duke Blue Devils

[tuff_gong]

What I think surprised me the most from 50-11 is Oklahoma at #12. If I made a list of the top 15 basketball schools in the country off the top of my head, they would have not been on it. But if you look at their stats, they have not had a losing season since '84-'85, have had 20 20-win seasons, and have 10 conference titles during that time. I guess the tourney is the real measuring stick, but that is still pretty impressive.

[teddy ballgame]

I really thought Maryland would wind up higher than 28.

[jlm53089]

I thought UF would be higher than 21...
2 wins and 1 final lose should help.
But of course before the mid-90s there was limited success when it comes to bball.

[teddy ballgame]

The top 10 was released today:

10. GEORGETOWN HOYAS, Big East
9. SYRACUSE ORANGE, Big East
8. UNLV REBELS, Mountain West
7. UCLA BRUINS, Pac-10
6. CONNECTICUT HUSKIES, Big East
5. ARIZONA WILDCATS, Pac-10
4. KENTUCKY WILDCATS, SEC
3. KANSAS JAYHAWKS, Big 12
2. NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS, ACC
1. DUKE BLUE DEVILS, ACC

[jfg]

I wonder where the Gophs would have ended up if they didn't have their Final Four wiped out.

[tuff_gong]

Kansas and North Carolina have been switched (WAHOO! ). From the article:

Correction: In a July 25 story about the most prestigious college basketball programs since 1984-85, some facts for Kansas and North Carolina were incorrectly tabulated by the ESPN research department. The correct numbers for KU's conference titles and UNC's number of All-Americans resulted in Kansas switching places with North Carolina and it moved the Jayhawks from No. 3 in the overall rankings to No. 2 and dropped the Tar Heels from No. 2 to No. 3.

[Old_Style]

Did the Fab Five's '92 and '93 runner ups count?

[mweir145]

Kansas and North Carolina have been switched (WAHOO! ). From the article:

Correction: In a July 25 story about the most prestigious college basketball programs since 1984-85, some facts for Kansas and North Carolina were incorrectly tabulated by the ESPN research department. The correct numbers for KU's conference titles and UNC's number of All-Americans resulted in Kansas switching places with North Carolina and it moved the Jayhawks from No. 3 in the overall rankings to No. 2 and dropped the Tar Heels from No. 2 to No. 3.

Ha.

KU>UNC