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50 Greatest Programs of All-Time

dukedevilz

Cameron Crazy
Apr 3, 2002
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I was hoping to create a system which ranks the all-time programs while minimizing subjectivity as much as possible. That being said, conference champions is very subjective. And that's ultimately what put Kansas ahead of us. But, I also feel it's important to include. Here's how my scoring system is based.
1 point- Round of 64 (labeled R64)
2 points- Round of 32 (labeled R32)
3 points- Sweet 16 (labeled S16)
5 points- Elite 8 (labeled E8)
10 points- Final Four (labeled FF)
20 points- Title Game (labeled CG for Championship Game)
30 points- NCAA Champion (labeled NC)

5 points- Conference Champion (labeled CC)

The NCAA Tournament didn't start until 1939. So I'm only including conference champions from 1939 to present day. Sorry, Purdue. Just want to make the years as comparable as possible. I'm calculating the points based on a tiered scoring system.

So, a conference champion + Sweet 16 is 5+ 1 + 2 + 3 = 11
That is the equivalent of a non-conference champion making the Elite 8 (1+2+3+5). You could argue that a conference champ/Sweet 16 team should be valued more. However, we must consider that many of the conferences Pre-1980 were 6-8 teams. Not exactly equivalent of a conference title nowadays.

Also, in 1975, roughly 1/3 of D-1 basketball schools were independent. When the NCAA decided to allow additional bids for a conference, everyone started to jump on the conference affiliation bandwagon. Schools realized quickly that the number of bids would be shrinking when the ACC-Big Ten-Pac 10, etc. would be taking multiple bids. So, for all of the schools that were independent, I'm giving credit for a conference championship, provided they finished in the top 10 of the final AP Poll. The AP Poll began in 1949, so anyone that made it to the tournament before 1949 would also be given credit.

Also, I realize that not all conferences are created equal. I'm allowing five points for those that win in power conferences. To receive the full five points, non-power conference champions must be nationally ranked - and have at least 1 other conference member ranked in the final poll. If that requirement is not met, then they are rewarded four points, instead of five.
 
Independents granted a conference title for finishing in the top 10:
12- Notre Dame
10- Marquette
8- DePaul
4- La Salle
3- Syracuse, UConn, Providence, Loyola Chicago
2- Louisville, Temple, UNLV, Houston, Dayton, UTEP
1- Temple, Utah, St.John's, San Francisco, Seton Hall, Florida State

Conference Champions that weren't nationally ranked, and didn't have another conference member that was also ranked (1 point deduction):
28- Western Kentucky
22- Gonzaga
21- Saint Joseph's
20- UConn
19- BYU
17- Utah
16- Butler
15- Temple, San Francisco, Xavier
13- Louisville
12- West Virginia
11- UTEP
10- Cincinnati, Memphis
9- Wyoming
8- Arizona, Arizona State, UNLV, Wichita State
6- Loyola Chicago
4- Houston
3- Villanova, Dayton
2- Florida State, Baylor

I'm probably going to add more metrics and adjust later. Some of these would be NIT results from 1939-56, top 10 finishes, top 25 finishes, seasons below .500, and seasons below .300. But, I think this is a good starting point.
 
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