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 173 is Wright 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 Wright State basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 1
- Bids: 5
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 17.2
- Bids per season: 0.13
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 1
- Conference Players of the Year: 4
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 5
- Conference tournament titles: 5
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Wright State basketball
Talk about making the most of a move to Division I – Wright State hasn’t shied away from the opportunity.
Since joining in 1987, the Raiders have played 39 seasons. They’ve finished with fewer than 10 wins just twice and have had a winning record 26 times. It’s a program that wins practically every single season, with just three losing records in the last 20 seasons.
As you’d expect, this play has led to five NCAA Tournaments: 1993, 2007, 2018, 2022, and 2026.
The first trip came under Ralph Underhill, who built up an underrated program. They were a 16-seed, but still got to experience March Madness in just their sixth season in Division I.
Brad Brownell took over in 2006 after doing a great job with UNC Wilmington, who we just had a few spots below at No. 175. Brownell led them to four straight 20-win seasons and a trip to the big dance in his first year in town. They never finished worse than fourth in the Horizon League under Brownell, who left for Clemson in 2010.
Billy Donlon replaced Brownell, and actually did solidly, going 109-94, and was fired after a 22-win season.
But the move turned out to be the right one, as Scott Nagy came in and became the best coach in program history. Nagy went 167-92 in eight seasons, never having a losing season and five of those with 20+ wins. His teams went to two NCAA Tournaments and won three Horizon League regular season chips.
And so far, even with Nagy out to Southern Illinois, Clint Sargent has had a good start. After a below .500 record, Wright State went 23-12 last season and made it back to March Madness. The 37-year-old figures to be a top bright mind of the game and could have the Raiders in a great spot for more seasons to come.