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 266 is Mount St. Mary’s 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 Mount St. Mary’s basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 3
- Bids: 7
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 13.3
- Bids per season: 0.18
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 2
- Conference Players of the Year: 2
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 2
- Conference tournament titles: 7
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Mount St. Mary’s basketball
Much like we had with FDU on Monday, Mount St. Mary’s basketball is a very interesting case.
On one hand, the Mountaineers have made 7 NCAA Tournaments in fewer than 40 years. Roughly 20 percent of their seasons have resulted in a trip to the big dance. That’s an incredible number for a small mid-major program.
On the other hand, they’ve only averaged about 13 wins per season. In other words, if the Mountaineers are somewhat good, they seemingly always play well in March. But they’re not always all that competitive. 8 of their 38 seasons have ended in fewer than 10 wins. 23 of their seasons have ended in losing records. But in the 12 seasons they’ve had a winning record, over half have resulted in trips to the big dance. I’m not sure if that’s luck or what, but it’s definitely not typical. Plus, all three wins they’ve had in March Madness have been in the play-in round.
Another cool fact? All but one coach for Mount St. Mary’s basketball at the D1 level has brought them to the NCAA Tournament. Jim Phelan coached there for 15 seasons and guided The Mount to two NCAA Tournaments. Milan Brown did it once in seven seasons. Jamion Christian did it twice in six seasons. Dan Englestad did it once in six seasons. And in just two years as the current head coach, Donny Lind did it in 2025. Only Robert Burke, who coached for two seasons, is the odd man out.
So when you look at Mount St. Mary’s hoops, typically, they’re not a mid-major force. But practically every coach who goes there pans out alright and turns it into a trip to the big dance. It’s not realistic at most places, but at The Mount, I guess it’s just their thing!