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 287 is UC Davis 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 UC Davis basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 1
- Bids: 1
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 13.6
- Bids per season: 0.05
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 0
- Conference Players of the Year: 3
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 2
- Conference tournament titles: 1
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on UC Davis basketball
UC Davis moved up to DI in 2004 and after some rough seasons under Gary Stewart, hired Jim Les. And with Les, it’s been more for UC Davis basketball. He’s led the Aggies to a pair of Big West regular season titles and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017, winning a game in the First Four.
Les has sparked remarkable consistency – just three losing records in the last dozen seasons, proving a small school with lots of recruiting competition in California can still make it with the right coaching. And recently, the Aggies have been one of the best programs in the Big West, finishing in the top six in the league in each of the last four seasons. In fact, their last losing record in conference play was back in 2018-19.
Les has also coached some mid-major greats, with Corey Hawkins winning the conference Player of the Year in 2015, TJ Shorts doing so in 2018, and Elijah Pepper in 2024.
For a program that only has a single appearance in March Madness, UC Davis is consistently one of the best teams in its conference which can’t go overlooked.