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 221 is Arkansas 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 Arkansas State basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 0
- Bids: 1
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 15.0
- Bids per season: 0.02
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 2
- Conference Players of the Year: 7
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 8
- Conference tournament titles: 1
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Arkansas State basketball
Arkansas State basketball has had one of the best historical track records for a program with just a single NCAA Tournament bid.
The Red Wolves are above .500 all-time (in almost 60 seasons at DI), have won 8 regular season conference titles, and have had the conference Player of the Year 7 times. However, their only time making it to the big dance was in 1999.
That tourney bid came under head coach Dickey Nutt (yes, have a laugh). Nutt coached the program for 13 seasons, going 189-187. He’s the all-time winningest head coach in Red Wolves’ history.
The program had other good seasons before Nutt under head coach Nelson Catalina, but unfortunately never made the NCAA Tournament with him. Since Nutt, John Brady had some solid seasons, but it was Bryan Hodgson who had a great run, going 45-28 in a short two seasons.
In terms of players, there have been a lot of great ones. The most recent notable name was Norchad Omier, who was the Sun Belt POY in 2022. Chico Fletcher was also a top player for Arkansas State, winning that award in 1998 and 1999. Fletcher ranks 19th all-time in assists, with 893 in his career.
So for Arkansas State, the solo tourney bid is surprising, but they’ve been a winning program for a long time – 33 winning seasons if you are counting. And after a 20-12 record under Ryan Pannone last season, more may be in store!