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 236 is Milwaukee 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 Milwaukee basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 1
- NCAA wins: 3
- Bids: 4
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 14.6
- Bids per season: 0.09
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 1
- Conference Players of the Year: 2
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 4
- Conference tournament titles: 4
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Milwaukee basketball
We stay in the Midwest for No. 236, going from Northwestern to Milwaukee basketball. The Panthers have pretty much been a .500 program for their 43 seasons, and have made the NCAA Tournament four times, all in a 12-year span.
That span was easily the height of the program, as the first two came under legendary head coach Bruce Pearl. It was Pearl’s first head coaching job, and he did an outstanding job, going 86-38 in four seasons. All four seasons, the Panthers had winning records, and in the 2004-05 campaign, they took down 5-seed Alabama and 4-seed Boston College as a 12-seed. They fell to 1-seed Illinois in the Sweet 16.
Pearl clearly left the program in a good spot, because head coach Rob Jeter took over and led them back to the big dance the very next season, and in 2014. The 2005-06 team was an 11-seed and upset 6-seed Oklahoma in the first round before falling to 3-seed and eventual champion, Florida. In total, Milwaukee won three NCAA Tournament games between 2005 and 2006.
Despite going 12-20 last season, the first three years under Bart Lundy were all 20-win campaigns, proving Milwaukee can continue to be a force in the Horizon League. In total, the Panthers have had 13 20-win seasons in 43 years, and 22 seasons with winning records.
It’s also worth mentioning that Bo Ryan coached Milwaukee for two seasons before Pearl took over, which is quite a wild era to go from one college hoops legend to another.
Overall, Milwaukee has been a program where coaches can go and improve their stock, as it’s in a big location in an underrated Horizon League.