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 295 is Omaha 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 Omaha basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 0
- Bids: 1
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 13.9
- Bids per season: 0.07
- 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: 1
- Conference tournament titles: 1
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Omaha basketball
Omaha basketball has only been at the Division I level for 14 seasons, but has already accomplished a bit, with a Summit League regular season title, conference tournament title (resulting in an NCAA Tournament bid), and a Conference Player of the Year.
The program saw a lot of success under head coach Derrin Hansen, who took the job in 2005 before the Mavericks went DI, and parted ways in 2022 after two straight five-win seasons.
However, Hansen still did well once Omaha made the move up. in 2018-19, Omaha basketball went 21-11 and finished second in the Summit, one of four winning seasons in Division I.
But when Chris Crutchfield took the job, the program took a leap. His third season was a memorable one, as Omaha won the Summit League regular season, won the conference tournament, and Marquel Sutton took home the Summit POY.
While Sutton was deserving, it almost seems impossible that the year before, Frankie Fidler averaged 20.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists, yet wasn’t the Summit League POY. Unfortunately, Omaha went 7-9 in conference, and Zeke Mayo also tore up the league, but you can’t forget how great of a player Fidler was at Omaha, before transferring to Michigan State.
The Mavericks have only had about a decade and a half here in DI, but they’ve already had a memorable season and some other great moments, looking to build on that as their season add on.