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 242 is Portland 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 Portland State basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 0
- Bids: 2
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 14.3
- Bids per season: 0.05
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 1
- NBA players drafted & played: 1
- Conference Players of the Year: 3
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 3
- Conference tournament titles: 2
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Portland State basketball
2026-27 will be the 40th season in Division I for Portland State basketball, and they’ve had a fairly successful time so far.
The Vikings have made two NCAA Tournaments, coming in 2008 and 2009. Ken Bone was the head coach for both and won 77 games in just four seasons with the program.
For the most part, Portland State has always been a top-end program in the Big Sky. They’ve only finished below .500 in conference play five times in the last 13 years, and have always won at least six games in that stretch. They’ve won the Big Sky regular season title three times, including just this past year.
The best way to sum up their consistent play is that 22 of the 39 seasons in DI have been winning seasons. That’s a good chunk of good results, even if it hasn’t always turned into tourney bids.
Portland State also had a bit of a legend in the 1970s. Freeman Williams was a National Consensus All-American in 1978 and the eighth overall pick in the NBA Draft. He is the third all-time leading scorer in DI college basketball history, with 3,249 points. In 1976-77, Williams averaged 38.8 points per game, not to be outdone by his senior year, going for 35.9 PPG.
Williams did well in the NBA, but his career was short, only lasting six seasons. However, he averaged 14.7 PPG for his career. Unfortunately, Williams had some off-court struggles with substance abuse that impacted his overall career arc. Williams passed away at age 65 in 2022.
Portland State will always remember Williams and for good reason, but the Vikings aren’t just a one-hit wonder because of him. They’ve had a lot of other good seasons and seem to be in a good place with three straight winning seasons at the moment.