The college basketball offseason is here, and we decided to have some fun over the next few months, ranking ALL 364 teams in D1. Number 336 is Brown basketball.
Before you say we’re crazy – or that all of this is up for debate, let’s go over the very intricate process of how we came to this conclusion. We took a very statistical approach – with the help of Chat GPT – taking into consideration everything from March Madness wins and finishes, to AP Poll appearances, to conference players of the year. And then, a good friend of ours, Scott Blanchard, took our approach to the MAX.
Click here to visit the FIRST article, which explains how the formula works!
Here’s the breakdown of Brown basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 0
- Bids: 2
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 9.4
- Bids per season: 0.02
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 1
- NBA players drafted & played: 1
- Conference Players of the Year: 3
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 1
- Conference tournament titles: 0
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Brown basketball
As an Ivy League school, Brown basketball has a lot of history, but it hasn’t always been good history. With only two NCAA Tournament appearances and averaging under 10 wins per season, it’s one of the lowest success rates in college basketball history.
But since they’ve been around so long, there are still some program players to mention. John Pryor was Brown’s only consensus All-American, getting the nod way back in 1908. Of course, there was a very small pool of teams and most players named to the AA honors were at Ivy League schools (before the league was created) or like-minded schools.
When the Ivy League did come into play, Brown did have one of the first conference Players of the Year in 1980, in Peter Moss. He actually didn’t start playing hoops until his sophomore year of high school, but figured it out and became one of the best players in Brown basketball history.
In 1986, Jim Turner won the Conference POY award, and most recently, Jason Forte, in 2004.
The ’86 season was arguably Brown’s best – they won the Ivy League regular season, which got them an NCAA Tournament automatic bid, falling in the first round by 49 to Syracuse.
But interestingly enough, Brown’s coolest fact is how they played in the FIRST ever NCAA Tournament in 1939. Only 8 teams made it – Villanova, Ohio State, Wake Forest, Oregon, Texas, Utah State, Oklahoma, and Brown. The Bears lost to Nova, 42-30, but for at least one year, their NCAA Tournament success rate was 100%.
Now, Brown is coached by Mike Martin, the winningest coach in program history. It hasn’t led to a big dance bid yet, but maybe one is coming soon!