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 247 is Tulane 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 Tulane basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 3
- Bids: 3
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 11.4
- Bids per season: 0.03
- AP Polls: 36
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 9
- Conference Players of the Year: 1
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 7
- Conference tournament titles: 0
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Tulane basketball
Tulane basketball has a very unique history in that most, if not all, of it is pre-21st century. A good chunk of it even goes back to the 1950s.
As far as the past quarter century or so has gone, the Green Wave have finished .500 or better just eight times since the 2000-01 season. Ron Hunter has done a promising job since coming from Georgia State, who we had just a few spots earlier in our rankings. In seven seasons, Hunter has a 107-104 record.
But you have to go back to the Perry Clark days for the last time Tulane was nationally relevant. Clark took them to the NCAA Tournament in 1992, 1993, and 1995. The craziest part? They never won the Metro Conference Tournament, but were often ranked in the AP Poll as one of the best overall teams in the country. The 1992 squad got a 10-seed, knocking off St. John’s before losing to Oklahoma State. In 1993, as an 11-seed, Tulane upset Kansas State before falling to Florida State. Then, in 1995, 9-seed Tulane beat BYU, but lost to Kentucky. It was a fun run, but unfortunately never got to the second weekend under Clark.
If you go back to the late 1940s and into the 50s, head coach Clifford Wells had Tulane as one of the best programs around. The Green Wave played in the SEC and were ranked as high as fifth in the country in 1948-49. However, they were not included in the 8-team NCAA Tournament field, falling to Kentucky in the SEC championship, and were ranked ninth in the final AP Poll.
Tulane would appear in AP Polls in the 1949-50 and 1956-57 seasons, as Wells remains their all-time program leader in wins with 254.
The Green Wave were also home to John “Hot Rod” Williams, who played there from 1981-85 and played in the NBA from 1986-99. While he was a great player, he had trouble staying on the team for missing practices and bad grades, and was involved in an alleged point-shaving scandal. Tulane actually disbanded the program from 1985-89. Williams passed away in 2015. He remains Tulane’s all-time leader in blocks.
For a program that’s been around for so long, it’s crazy how they’ve never won a conference tournament or been to more NCAA Tournaments. But they’ve had such a crazy history of wins, stories, and more.