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 174 is Montana 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 Montana State basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 1
- NCAA wins: 0
- Bids: 6
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 13.6
- Bids per season: 0.05
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 5
- NBA players drafted & played: 1
- Conference Players of the Year: 4
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 11
- Conference tournament titles: 5
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 1
Overall scoop on Montana State basketball
The history of Montana State basketball can be summed up simply – winning seasons. In 116 seasons counted as DI by Sports Reference, Montana State has had a winning record 65 times and a .500 record 6 times. That leaves 45 losing records as the minority of the bunch.
A lot of those winning records came right as the Bobcats started their program. Here are just some of the impressive campaigns they put together:
- 1916-17: 19-1
- 1919-20: 13-0
- 1922-23: 18-3
- 1923-24: 20-3
- 1924-25: 20-4
- 1926-27: 30-7
- 1972-28: 36-2
- 1928-29: 36-2
- 1937-38: 22-5
That success would continue into the 40s even as more schools started competing. But the late 1920s were arguably the peak of this program. From 1927-30, stars Cat Thompson, John Thompson, and Frank Ward made up five nods as Consensus All-Americans. Cat Thompson was a 4x AA in general, the Helms Player of the Year in 1929, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1962. And as the focal point, he led Montana State to the 1929 Helms National Championship (pre-NCAA Tournament). Head coach Ott Romeny would eventually leave for a job at BYU, but was also a key part of those runs.
In the 1940s and into the 50s, Montana State saw more success under head coach Brick Breeden, who went 174-110 in 12 seasons and brought them to their first-ever NCAA Tournament in 1951, also his last season as the coach. It was a first round loss, but it counts as a Sweet 16.
The next few decades wouldn’t be as great, as the Bobcats didn’t make it back to the big dance again until 1986 under Stu Starner. But in 1990, Mick Durham took over as head coach, staying in that position until 2006. He would take them dancing in 1996 and elevated their play overall, making Montana State a consistent team in the Big Sky.
And recently, it has been Danny Sprinkle’s work to bring the Bobcats back into the picture. Sprinkle did an excellent job, taking them dancing in 2022 and 2023, with Matt Logie taking over in 2024 and leading them to a third straight tourney in his first season as coach. Sprinkle’s job earned him the nod as 2022 Big Sky Coach of the Year, and Logie has kept Montana State as a force in the conference, going 12-6 in Big Sky play this past season.
While it’s interesting to rank a team this high based on their notable success happening in the pre-NCAA Tournament era, Montana State has had other great seasons and a current run to keep itself relevant.