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 296 is Southeastern Louisiana 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 Southeastern Louisiana 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: 12.8
- Bids per season: 0.02
- 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: 5
- Conference tournament titles: 1
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Southeastern Louisiana basketball
The Southeastern Louisiana Lions joined the Division I ranks in 1980, and saw some great instant success, with a winning record in four of their first five seasons.
After that, the program went cold, going through five coaches between 1984 and 1999. But when the program hired Billy Kennedy, it began to reach new heights.
Kennedy also struggled at first, but in year five, guided the Lions to a 20-9 season. The following year, they made the NCAA Tournament, finishing at 24-9. They also tied for the Southland regular season title in both seasons.
Kennedy left for Murray State, but the program still saw some solid years under Jim Yarbrough and later, Jay Ladner. It included another regular season conference crown as recent as 2018.
Now, under David Kiefer, Southeastern Louisiana basketball has had three winning seasons in seven tries, continuing to bounce back and show some fight from year to year.
While the Lions have never had a long stretch of success, they also haven’t had a long stretch of losing since the 1990s.