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 232 is Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 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 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 1
- Bids: 3
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 16.4
- Bids per season: 0.12
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 0
- Conference Players of the Year: 1
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 2
- Conference tournament titles: 3
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi basketball
The first order of business for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi basketball is addressing the elephant in the room. Sports Reference lists them as having a team in 1972-73. Georgia Southern’s series history says they played a game in that season. But the actual Texas A&M-CC record books don’t mention it. I went with Sports Reference, since that’s who we used for most of our stats, and they had the Islanders going 13-12 that season. Maybe it’s the biggest mystery in sports we don’t know about!
Regardless, the Islanders definitely went DI in 2002, under head coach Ronnie Arrow. Arrow helped their transition be seamless, winning 20 games in 2004-05, 2005-06, and 26 with an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2006-07. However, Arrow would leave and return to coach South Alabama, whom he had previously left to come to Texas A&M-CC.
What followed were some up and down years under Perry Clark and Willis Wilson, until Steve Lutz came to town. In two seasons, Lutz managed to win two Southland Conference Tournaments, combining to go 47-23 with a First Four win in 2023. Lutz would quickly leave for Oklahoma State.
But clearly Lutz left them in good shape, because Jim Shaw hasn’t had a losing record in three seasons, going 59-41 so far.
It’s been a brief history for the Texas A&M-CC program, but just four seasons with fewer than 10 wins and nine seasons of losing records in 25 tries is the mark of a winning program overall. We’ll see if Shaw can keep the streak of five straight winning seasons going.