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 258 is Harvard 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 Harvard basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 1
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 2
- Bids: 5
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 10.9
- Bids per season: 0.04
- AP Polls: 5
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 2
- NBA players drafted & played: 2
- Conference Players of the Year: 4
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 7
- Conference tournament titles: 0
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Harvard basketball
The Ivy League schools have been at it for a while, with Harvard playing 114 seasons at the highest level of college hoops.
Five of those have ended in trips to March Madness, with the last one coming in 2015. It actually ended a streak of four straight tourney appearances, with the Crimson winning a first round game in 2013 against 3-seed New Mexico. The following March Madness, they upset 5-seed Cincinnati and gave 4-seed Michigan State a run for their money. All of their tournament teams in the 2010s were coached by Tommy Amaker, who has racked up 321 wins as their lead man.
But Harvard’s first tourney appearance came all the way back in 1946, when it was just eight teams. Does that count for an Elite 8? You sure bet it does!
Go back another 40 years, when Harvard had a pair of consensus All-Americans in Harold Amberg and Ralph Griffiths. As a team, they only went 12-4, but those two clearly set the foundation of good things to come.
But the name everyone associates with Harvard basketball is Jeremy Lin! The future New York Knicks legend scored nearly 1,500 points in four seasons with the program, and is their second all-time leader with 225 steals.
It’s a bit surprising Amaker hasn’t recruited another star or been back to the NCAA Tournament after four straight bids, but Harvard stays competitive year in and year out in one of the most underrated conferences in college basketball.