Most prestigious basketball program since 1985...

[wkuhillhound]

There was an interesting article on espn.com discussing the most prestigious college basketball program since 1985.

In 1985, this was the year that NCAA Basketball expanded the tournament field to 64 teams. There is also a scoring system associated with it.

Here are the Top 50
50) College of Charleston
49) Iowa
48) Chattanooga
47) Butler
46) BYU
45) Wisconsin
44) Pittsburgh
43) Western Kentucky
42) Massachusetts
41) LSU
40) Princeton
39) Tulsa
38) Wake Forest
37) Missouri
36) St. John's
35) Alabama
34) Penn
33) Georgia Tech
32) Oklahoma State
31) Villanova
30) Murray State
29) Purdue
28) Maryland
27) Ohio State
26) Gonzaga
25) Stanford
24) Utah
23) Illinois
22) Michigan
21) Florida
20) Temple
19) Cincinnati
18) Texas
17) Xavier
16) Louisville
15) Arkansas
14) Memphis
13) Indiana
12) Oklahoma
11) Michigan State
10) Georgetown
9) Syracuse
8) UNLV
7) UCLA
6) Connecticut
5) Arizona
4) Kentucky
3) North Carolina
2) Kansas
1) Duke

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

I was glad to see Temple up there at 20. I think we have the potential to return to the glory days of the late 80's early 90's in the next few years. Last years break through season under Dunphy was just the beginning. We should crack some pre-season top 25's this season.

Also cool to see Syracuse in the top 10 as well. I've been a big 'Cuse fan since Lawrence Moten was there. I try to get to a game or two at the Dome every year.

[Go...gate]

Glad to see that Penn is at #34 and Princeton is #40, but that is living on past glories. Both programs have a lot of rebuilding to do.

[Gil Dobie]

Georgetown seems a little low at 10 xeyebrowx

[Franks Tanks]

Georgetown seems a little low at 10 xeyebrowx

Who would you jump them over besides UNLV??? All the teams ahead of them have won a championship during the time frame mentioned and the Hoyas havent.

[93henfan]

Glad to see that Penn is at #34 and Princeton is #40, but that is living on past glories. Both programs have a lot of rebuilding to do.

Penn gets cool points for simply playing at the Palestra.

'Nova is too low. Perhaps with this starting in 1985, it didn't include the '84-'85 season where they beat Georgetown in one of the greatest championship upsets of all time?

[wkuhillhound]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3501739

I forgot to put the link for the programs.

[Gil Dobie]

Who would you jump them over besides UNLV??? All the teams ahead of them have won a championship during the time frame mentioned and the Hoyas havent.

Most Prestigious not most championships. Besides UNLV, IMO Syracuse. Like I said, a little low.

[wkuhillhound]

These schools did not qualify because you MUST have at least 15 Division I seasons:

Alabama A&M, SWAC
Albany, America East
Arkansas-Pine Bluff, SWAC
Binghamton, America East
Belmont, Atlantic Sun
Cal Poly, Big West
Cal State Bakersfield, Independent
Central Arkansas, Southland
Denver, Sun Belt
Elon, Southern
Florida Gulf Coast, Atlantic Sun
Gardner-Webb, Big South
Hampton, MEAC
High Point, Big South
IPFW, Summit
IUPUI, Summit
Jacksonville State, Ohio Valley
Kennesaw State, Atlantic Sun
Lipscomb, Atlantic Sun
Longwood, Independent
NJIT, Independent
Norfolk State, MEAC
North Carolina Central, Independent
North Dakota State, Summit
Northern Colorado, Big Sky
North Florida, Atlantic Sun
Oakland, Summit
Portland State, Big Sky
Presbyterian, Big South
Quinnipiac, Northeast
Sacred Heart, Northeast
Savannah State, Independent
South Dakota State, Summit
Stony Brook, America East
Texas A&M-CC, Southland
UC Davis, Big West
UC Riverside, Big West
USC Upstate, Atlantic Sun
Utah Valley State, Independent
Winston-Salem State, MEAC
Wofford, Southern

[wkuhillhound]

The underachiever status are power conference teams that rank lower than 150: xsmhx

174. Texas A&M, Big 12
T-181. Arizona State, Pac-10
T-185. Penn State, Big Ten
T-185. South Carolina, SEC
T-192. Mississippi, SEC
T-210. Virginia Tech, ACC
219. Colorado, Big 12
T-225. Rutgers, Big East
T-229. South Florida, Big East
T-237. Washington State, Pac-10
T-241. Oregon State, Pac-10
T-266. Baylor, Big 12
T-290. Northwestern, Big Ten

[wkuhillhound]

These are the conference averages.

1. Big East -- 68
2. Big Ten -- 69
3. ACC -- 74
4. SEC -- 81
5. Big 12 -- 98
6. Mountain West -- 113
7. Pac-10 -- 118
8. Atlantic 10 -- 126
9. WAC -- 129
10. Sun Belt -- 143 (Western Kentucky #43 :D )
11. Missouri Valley -- 143
12. Colonial -- 145
13. Conference USA -- 145
14. Horizon -- 155
15. West Coast -- 156
16. Southern -- 156
17. MAC -- 159
18. MAAC -- 166
19. Patriot -- 173
20. Big Sky -- 177
21. Big West -- 181
22. SWAC -- 194
23. Big South -- 195
24. Ohio Valley -- 200
25. Northeast -- 207
26. Ivy League -- 208
27. Southland -- 217
28. Summit -- 224
29. MEAC -- 225
30. America East -- 228
31. Atlantic Sun -- 231
** Ties are broken by the conference with the higher-ranked team.

[Franks Tanks]

Most Prestigious not most championships. Besides UNLV, IMO Syracuse. Like I said, a little low.


They are not a little low IMO. Georgetown has not been as consistently good as the schools above them. Also this is not an arbitrary list, if you read the article they use a specific scoring criteria and then add up the points and rank em. They give so many points for a conference championship and tourney wins etc. You can say their scoring system is flawed, but all schools are ranked in line with that criteria.

[Gil Dobie]

They are not a little low IMO. Georgetown has not been as consistently good as the schools above them. Also this is not an arbitrary list, if you read the article they use a specific scoring criteria and then add up the points and rank em. They give so many points for a conference championship and tourney wins etc. You can say their scoring system is flawed, but all schools are ranked in line with that criteria.

I'm not saying anything is flawed, just going by what I see, and my opinion as a prestigious basketball program.

[Franks Tanks]

I'm not saying anything is flawed, just going by what I see, and my opinion as a prestigious basketball program.

I understand, but this list isnt about opinions and that is what makes it interesting.

[elcid96]

There was an interesting article on espn.com discussing the most prestigious college basketball program since 1985.

In 1985, this was the year that NCAA Basketball expanded the tournament field to 64 teams. There is also a scoring system associated with it.

Here are the Top 50
50) College of Charleston
49) Iowa
48) Chattanooga
47) Butler
46) BYU
45) Wisconsin
44) Pittsburgh
43) Western Kentucky
42) Massachusetts
41) LSU
40) Princeton
39) Tulsa
38) Wake Forest
37) Missouri
36) St. John's
35) Alabama
34) Penn
33) Georgia Tech
32) Oklahoma State
31) Villanova
30) Murray State
29) Purdue
28) Maryland
27) Ohio State
26) Gonzaga
25) Stanford
24) Utah
23) Illinois
22) Michigan
21) Florida
20) Temple
19) Cincinnati
18) Texas
17) Xavier
16) Louisville
15) Arkansas
14) Memphis
13) Indiana
12) Oklahoma
11) Michigan State
10) Georgetown
9) Syracuse
8) UNLV
7) UCLA
6) Connecticut
5) Arizona
4) Kentucky
3) North Carolina
2) Kansas
1) Duke

Fixed it for ya. College of Charleston is also in a 1-aa conf

[gmoney55]

I'm not saying anything is flawed, just going by what I see, and my opinion as a prestigious basketball program.

I think if the list went back three or four years they would be a lot higher, since GTown would get a title and a title-game loss included. They also had one of the longer down periods earlier this decade for teams that are rated so high.

[Franks Tanks]

I think if the list went back three or four years they would be a lot higher, since GTown would get a title and a title-game loss included. They also had one of the longer down periods earlier this decade for teams that are rated so high.

1985 - National finalist
1986 - 2nd Round loss
1987 - Regional finalist
1988 - 2nd Round loss
1989 - Regional finalist
1990 - 2nd Round loss
1991 - 2nd Round loss
1992 - 2nd Round loss
1994 - 2nd Round loss
1995 - Regional semifinalist
1996 - Regional finalist
1997 - 1st Round loss
2001 - Regional semifinalist
2006 - Regional semifinalist
2007 - National semifinalist

Right--here is G-town's performance over that time. From 98-2005 they only made the tourney one time. However they were very good before and since.

[89Hen]

30) Murray State
xconfusedx xconfusedx I guess I really don't follow basketball. WTF has Murray State done to earn that spot???

[appfan2008]

murray state has won conference titles... in this ranking a murray state con title is worth just as many points as duke or unce or any other team winning the acc

[89Hen]

murray state has won conference titles... in this ranking a murray state con title is worth just as many points as duke or unce or any other team winning the acc
xcoolx xcoolx xcoolx Kinda makes this ranking a joke to me.

I just looked it up and Murray has the lowest winning percentage of teams with a tourney win...

1 of 14 = .071

[Go...gate]

The underachiever status are power conference teams that rank lower than 150: xsmhx

174. Texas A&M, Big 12
T-181. Arizona State, Pac-10
T-185. Penn State, Big Ten
T-185. South Carolina, SEC
T-192. Mississippi, SEC
T-210. Virginia Tech, ACC
219. Colorado, Big 12
T-225. Rutgers, Big East
T-229. South Florida, Big East
T-237. Washington State, Pac-10
T-241. Oregon State, Pac-10
T-266. Baylor, Big 12
T-290. Northwestern, Big Ten

This is a tragedy. From the 1976 Final Four to #225. And what promise that program had!!! xnonono2x

[93henfan]

This is a tragedy. From the 1976 Final Four to #225. And what promise that program had!!! xnonono2x

It's obviously crappy recruiting because Rutgers has more local HS talent to choose from than most other schools in the country, save St Johns.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

Most Prestigious not most championships. Besides UNLV, IMO Syracuse. Like I said, a little low.

Syracuse has a title and 2 other title game appearances. Plus they have been rock steady the last 25 yeras while Georgetown was in the dumps for a few years during the late 90's early 00's.

[furpal87]

Rutgers problems have been several:

Tough, tough league
Crappy place to play until recently
Terrible coaches

[Marcus Garvey]

I'm not sure I agree with Pitt's inclusion on this list. Yes, they've been very good the last 6 or 7 years. And, they had a few great years in the late 80's. But the 90's was a terrible time for Panther basketball. I would have assumed this list would recognize those programs that have been consistently good the past 23 years.