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 224 is Western Michigan 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 Western Michigan basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 1
- NCAA wins: 2
- Bids: 4
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 12.4
- Bids per season: 0.04
- AP Polls: 7
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 4
- Conference Players of the Year: 4
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 11
- Conference tournament titles: 2
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Western Michigan basketball
We return to the MAC for Western Michigan basketball – a program that has a winning record overall, which is a great achievement for a mid-major program that has been around for 113 seasons.
Surprisingly, the Broncos have only been to four NCAA Tournaments, despite a track record that includes 11 20-win seasons and plenty more of overall winning records.
Still, WMU’s first tourney bid in 1976 resulted in a Sweet 16 appearance, after knocking off Virginia Tech in the first round. They were ranked 10th in the final AP Poll, finishing with a 25-3 (15-1) record and winning the MAC regular season title.
WMU wouldn’t make it to March Madness again until 1998, but it made it a more common thing, going again in 2004 and 2014.
Steve Hawkins was the coach of the final two tourney teams, serving as head coach for 17 seasons with a 291-262 record. He led Western Michigan to 8 regular season titles and 2 conference tournament titles, and was the MAC Coach of the Year in 2013-14. Since the MAC has divisions, some of those regular season titles are technically co-titles with the East winner.
Hawkins’ tenure ended with two straight losing seasons, and in six seasons since, they have yet to have another winning record. It’s a rough time for the program currently, but when you are looking at their all-time resume, it’s a small portion in the grand scheme of things.