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 279 is Abilene Christian 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 Abilene Christian basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 1
- Bids: 2
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 15.1
- Bids per season: 0.11
- 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: 0
- Conference tournament titles: 2
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Abilene Christian basketball
A fairly new program to Division I, Abilene Christian is our first program in these rankings with an all-time winning record at 271-268.
In 18 seasons, half have been losing records and half have been winning records, but a few of the better seasons outweigh the bad ones.
In 2018-19, head coach Joe Golding led the Wildcats to a 27-win season, winning the Southland Tournament to punch their first-ever bid to March Madness. The following season, they’d have another 20-win campaign. Then, in 2020-21, they’d complete the trifecta and head back to the NCAA Tournament, going 24-5 in the somewhat shortened COVID season.
That year was extra special because the 14-seed Wildcats upset Texas in the first round before falling to 11-seed Cinderella UCLA. Texas had a title-caliber team, but ACU had one of the best defenses in the country and held the Longhorns to just 52 points in the upset win.
Golding would leave for UTEP, and Brette Tanner led them to another 25-win season in his first year. But since then, the program has taken a step back, with four straight seasons of .500 records or worse.
Obviously, 18 seasons isn’t a whole lot of material, but in their short time in DI, ACU’s ceiling has been better than most. And when you can win a game in March, that will always bump your case up a little!