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 271 is Wagner 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 Wagner 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: 14.1
- Bids per season: 0.04
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 0
- Conference Players of the Year: 4
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 4
- Conference tournament titles: 2
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Wagner basketball
For a small mid-major program, Wagner basketball has an insane history of coaches moving on to notable jobs. From 1976 to 1982, PJ Carlesimo was the head coach of the Seahawks, then moved on to coach Seton Hall and bring them to their only Final Four. Tim Capstraw coached Wagner from 1989-99, and didn’t take another coaching job, but is now a broadcaster for the Brooklyn Nets and NBATV. And of course, Dan Hurley, who only lasted two seasons, is now a 2x National Champion at UConn.
Despite the success of those coaches in one industry or another, neither of Wagner basketball’s two NCAA Tournaments came under any of them. Instead, it was Dereck Whittenburg guiding the Seahawks there in 2003. Whittenburg would also move on to Fordham, but didn’t fare well with the Rams.
Then, recently, Donald Copeland brought Wagner to the big dance in 2024. Of course, Copeland’s reign didn’t last long, as he was suspended for the 2025-26 season due to claims of abusive behavior in practice.
Coaches aside, Wagner’s not just a feeder program. The Seahawks have won 20+ games eight times and have finished with a winning record 27 times, definitely the most of any program at this point in our rankings.
That hasn’t led to any NBA stars, but it has led to four conference POYs. All of them came in the NEC, with Terrance Bailey winning it in 1986, Jermaine Hall in 2003, and Alex Morales in 2021 and 2022. Morales had a really touching story, which I wrote about during his time with the Seahawks.
With Wagner, a much-deserved spot here in the rankings, but a bit surprised PJ or Hurley never led them dancing, or else Wagner would have been much higher.