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 303 is UMBC 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 UMBC basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 1
- Bids: 3
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 12.6
- Bids per season: 0.08
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 0
- Conference Players of the Year: 0
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 4
- Conference tournament titles: 3
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on UMBC basketball
No reason to overthink where to start here! In 2018, UMBC pulled off the most shocking win in NCAA Tournament history, becoming the first 16 seed to ever knock off a 1 seed. The Retrievers blew out Virginia and the rest is history. And for then head coach Ryan Odom, it turned into a new job at Utah State, and now at UVA, which is going well so far.
But back to UMBC basketball. The program has made it to March Madness three times since 2008, a fairly good rate for an America East league dominated by Vermont. Jim Ferry took the Retrievers back to the big dance this past year, falling in the First Four.
It’s also crazy to think about how many conferences UMBC joined before finding a home in the A-East. They went from independent to the ECC, to the Big South, and to the NEC, all in their first 17 seasons in DI. Their best season in that group was in 1998-99, when they went 17-3 in the NEC, winning the regular season title.
However, more success followed in the America East, winning regular season championships in 2008, 2021, and just now in 2026.
The most surprising thing? No conference Player of the Year during any point in their history. But who needs that when you’ve got the biggest upset in tourney history to your name?