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 326 is Western Illinois 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 Western Illinois basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 0
- Bids: 0
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 11.9
- Bids per season: 0
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 0
- Conference Players of the Year: 1
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 2
- Conference tournament titles: 1
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Western Illinois basketball
Since joining DI in 1981, the Western Illinois Leathernecks have never made an NCAA Tournament, despite having four 20-win seasons and 14 winning seasons.
Still, there were a few seasons that really stick out. In 1983, their first year in the Summit League, WIU won the regular season crown, going 9-3 in conference play. Star player Joe Dykstra was named conference Player of the Year, the first and only in program history.
The next season, WIU went just 6-8 in conference play but won the conference tournament. Unfortunately, they did not earn a bid to the big dance.
The Leathernecks would go through some rough patches with some good seasons mixed in, but in 2013, they had a season to remember, going 22-9 and 13-3 in the Summit. They were second in the country in fewest points per game allowed, at just 53.6, but also only scored 59.5 per game.
Overall, there’s been a handful of winning seasons, but never enough of a stretch of years where the Leathernecks really took over their conference, which has switched to the OVC for the last three years.