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 252 is Georgia State 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 Georgia State basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 2
- Bids: 6
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 13.1
- Bids per season: 0.11
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 1
- Conference Players of the Year: 5
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 8
- Conference tournament titles: 6
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Georgia State basketball
For Georgia State basketball, one moment sits above the rest.
In the 2015 NCAA Tournament, star guard RJ Hunter nailed a three-pointer for an upset win over 3-seed Baylor. His father, Ron, who was also the head coach, fell to the ground in excitement, and to this day, it remains a highlight that comes back around every March.
While it’s a fun moment to recall, it’s not all the Panthers are known for. They’ve actually made the big dance six times in 53 seasons, with four of them coming since 2015. Georgia State also made it in 1991 and 2001, taking down 6-seed Wisconsin in an upset in the ’01 tournament, in a 50-49 low-scoring game. It wasn’t a buzzer-beater, but the Panthers scored the go-ahead bucket with about 12 seconds to go.
Georgia State actually had a ridiculously bad start in Division I, winning fewer than 10 games in 10 of their first 12 and 12 of their first 17 seasons. Even their first tourney bid came in a year where they only won 16 games.
But when legendary coach Lefty Driesell took over in 1997, the program got a boost and hasn’t really looked back. He went 103-59 in his short time there, helping them win that March Madness shocker in 2001, where they finished with a 29-5 record.
The program saw a small chunk of failure, but Ron Hunter did an outstanding job, taking them to the tourney three times in five years and setting up Rob Lanier for a good follow-up job.
Currently, the Panthers have had four straight losing seasons, so we’ll see if Jon Cremins can turn them back around as he was announced as the new head coach in April.