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 302 is UTRGV 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 UTRGV 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: 12.2
- Bids per season: 0
- AP Polls: 5
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 6
- Conference Players of the Year: 0
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 0
- Conference tournament titles: 0
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on UTRGV basketball
UT-Rio Grande Valley came about when UT Brownsville and UT-Pan American combined their programs in 2015. Hence, UTRGV basketball, which is a newer “name” in DI college basketball, but they’ve been around much longer than that.
The Vaqueros have never made an NCAA Tournament or even won a conference title, so you’re probably asking why they’re this high in the rankings, above programs like UMBC or Lehigh?
For starters, tournaments don’t always equal consistency. In 58 years at the highest level of college competition, UTRGV has 18 winning seasons and 6 more where they finished .500. That means over 40% of their seasons have been respectable, which is definitely on the higher end for this part of the rankings.
They also had a season to remember in 1974-75, going 22-2 and getting to as high as 15th in the AP Poll. Gilbert King and Julies Howard both averaged double-doubles, while Marshall Rogers posted an average of 26.7 points per game. However, as an independent, despite such a high ranking, they didn’t get a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The program was independent during its glory years, which really didn’t help with certain aspects of our formula. In fact, they didn’t really become a full member of a conference, long-term, until the late 1980s.
Still, you can’t discount what happened in the 70s, especially under Abe Lemons, who in three seasons, guided the program to a 55-16 record. Lemons would then take a job at Texas.
Even before that, in the 60s, Otto Moore and Luke Jackson were both first round picks in the NBA Draft, with Moore playing nine seasons and Jackson playing eight.
Unfortunately, the 21st century hasn’t been UTRGV’s best, with some stretches of really bad seasons. But lately? Lots of promise! Head coach Kahil Fennell has a 35-29 record through two seasons, so it’s worth taking notes on the Vaqueros heading into next season.