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 172 is UC Santa Barbara 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 UC Santa Barbara basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 1
- Bids: 7
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 15.6
- Bids per season: 0.11
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 7
- Conference Players of the Year: 8
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 6
- Conference tournament titles: 5
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on UC Santa Barbara basketball
The Gauchos might win the rankings for best nickname in college hoops, but they don’t fare too badly either for top programs, especially in terms of mid-major teams.
Lately, UCSB has been a dominant team out West. Joe Pasternack has been the head coach for the last nine seasons, going 187-95 with zero losing records, two NCAA Tournament bids, and was named the 2020-21 Big West Coach of the Year. That season, UCSB nearly upset 5-seed Creighton in the first round of March Madness. He’s also produced some NBA talent, with current Oklahoma City Thunder player Ajay Mitchell.
But Pasternack hasn’t been the only coach of note in program history. Bob Williams went 313-260 from 1998-2017. He was a 3x Big West COY and also led UCSB to three tourneys – 2002, 2011, and 2012. His teams also won the Big West regular season chip four times.
And even before Williams, Jerry Pimm stayed 15 seasons, with an above .500 record all time and a pair of tourney bids. Pimm’s 1989-90 squad was a 9-seed and picked up a first round win over Houston, falling by just four to top-seed Michigan State.
From 1966-1978, Ralph Barkey was also a notable coach for the program, but never led them dancing. Still, a 169-144 record with UCSB is impressive.
One thing UCSB can be proud of is its four longtime coaches. To have just six coaches in 63 seasons and counting is an incredible feat for a mid-major. Bigger schools are always looking to hire the next great leader, but UCSB has found a way to hold on to its guys.
But they’ve also had seven players taken in the NBA Draft who went on to play. The most notable was Brian Shaw, who appeared in nearly 1,000 games in the league, retiring with nearly 4,000 career assists. He was a three-time NBA Champion.
Having coaches that don’t leave and producing pro talent. UCSB has long been a prototype for mid-major basketball!