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 187 is NC A&T 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 NC A&T basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 1
- Bids: 10
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 14.0
- Bids per season: 0.18
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 5
- Conference Players of the Year: 9
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 13
- Conference tournament titles: 16
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on NC A&T basketball
One of the highest-ranked HBCU programs in our series, NC A&T had a dominant run in the 1980s. After some initial great seasons to kick start their Division I move in the 1970s, head coach Don Corbett brought them to amazing heights. The Aggies made seven straight NCAA Tournaments from 1982-88, winning the MEAC Tournament title each of those years. In fact, in the 14 seasons Corbett coached NC A&T basketball, they won the conference regular season crown seven times as well.
And winning the MEAC used to be NC A&T’s thing. They’ve won 13 MEAC titles in DI and 16 tournament titles. The 16 is the most in conference history, even with their last being in 2013. The next closest number is six – a tie between Hampton and Howard.
Of course, Corbett and other coaches have played a huge part, but it comes down to the players in the end. Seven NC A&TÂ players have won the MEAC POY:
- Elmer Austin (1972)
- James Sparrow (1976)
- Joe Brawner (1979)
- Joe Binion (1982, 1983, 1984)
- Eric Boyd (1985)
- George Cale (1987)
- Claude Williams (1988)
Nine POY awards are also the most in conference history, and as a reminder, NC A&T joined the Big South in 2021, and went to the CAA in 2022.
Life in their new conferences hasn’t been kind, with zero winning records so far. But the program has so much history, it could be a way to recruit and get back to some winning ways. And for the purposes of our rankings, few programs have been as dominant in one single conference as NC A&T.