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 259 is UTSA 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 UTSA basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 1
- Bids: 4
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 14.2
- Bids per season: 0.09
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 1
- Conference Players of the Year: 3
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 3
- Conference tournament titles: 4
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on UTSA basketball
It’s surprising how San Antonio doesn’t have a high major program, but UTSA does play in the American, so they’re the closest they get.
The Roadrunners joined D1 in 1981 and saw some early success under head coach Don Eddy, winning 20 games in their third season. This was even more impressive, because their first season ever having basketball was 1980. But Eddy’s time was short-lived as the success went down quickly, and he resigned after an altercation with a player.
Upon hiring Ken Burmeister in 1986, the success quickly went back up. UTSA made the NCAA Tournament in 1988, his second season as the head coach. Burmeister’s instant winning culture landed him the job at Loyola-Chicago, before finishing at another San Antonio school, Incarnate Word.
But after Burmeister came Stu Starner, who started with back-to-back 21-win seasons, both ending in regular season conference championships.
Starner resigned in 1995, with Tim Carter taking over. Carter is UTSA’s winningest head coach all-time, going 160-152 and taking them back to the big dance in 1999 and 2004.
UTSA would find some more success under Brooks Thompson, going dancing again in 2011. But since then, neither Steve Henson nor Austin Claunch has reciprocated, with that being their last trip to March Madness.
UTSA has never put together a long stretch of success, but it’s also hard when you go from conference to conference. Since the 2011-12 season, they’ve played in the Southland, WAC, Conference USA, and American, which has to be up there for the most switches in that short of a time period.
But despite the inconsistency of a home, UTSA has still found ways to be at the top of its conference. Lately, playing against better overall competition has hurt them, but they’re still in a big market with hopes of changing that soon.