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 283 is CCSU 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 CCSU basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 0
- Bids: 3
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 12.0
- Bids per season: 0.08
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 1
- Conference Players of the Year: 7
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 5
- Conference tournament titles: 3
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on CCSU basketball
The Central Connecticut State basketball program hasn’t nearly been the same, and you might be surprised to hear how successful they were under former head coach Howie Dickenman.
Dickenman was the coach from 1996 to 2016, leading the Blue Devils to three NCAA Tournament appearances. As the head coach, Dickenman produced FIVE NEC Players of the Year, and the school has had SEVEN total, the second-most in the history of the conference.
They were:
- Rick Mickens (2000)
- Corsley Edwards (2002)
- Ron Robinson (2004)
- Javier Mojica (2007)
- Ken Horton (2011)
- Jordan Jones (2025)
- Darin Smith Jr. (2026)
Current head coach Patrick Sellers has produced the past two, and while he hasn’t guided the Blue Devils to March Madness, he has led them to regular season conference championships in 2024 and 2025.
Overall, it’s a Blue Devils program that’s gone through some rough patches as most small mid-majors have, but the Dickenman era was a special one. All three tournament bids came in an eight year stretch, so for a while, CCSU hoops was the premiere team in the NEC.
Now, they’ve put together another good stretch under Sellers, hoping it can continue and lead to more March Madness bids.