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 166 is Austin Peay 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 Austin Peay basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 1
- NCAA wins: 2
- Bids: 7
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 14.5
- Bids per season: 0.11
- AP Polls: 3
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 6
- Conference Players of the Year: 8
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 9
- Conference tournament titles: 5
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Austin Peay basketball
The Governors come in at No. 166 as a program that is one of the best in OVC history.
Dave Loos coached the program from 1990 until 2017, picking up five OVC Coach of the Year awards and guiding his teams to four NCAA Tournaments. They also won five regular season titles while he was there. His 420 wins with the program is the most in OVC history.
Loos coached some notable players during his tenure, including Trenton Hassell, who was a nine-year NBA vet from 2001-10.
Despite his success, Austin Peay’s greatest March Madness claim was in 1973, when they went to the Sweet 16. They only had to win one game to get there, taking down Jacksonville. The Governors also won a game in 1987, as a 14-seed, upsetting Illinois. Both of the program’s tourney wins came under head coach Lake Kelly, who went 189-122 with them.
The Governors have had some bad seasons – that is for sure. But most of them were when the program first went DI. Since Kelly took over and onward (41 seasons), they have had 25 seasons of .500 records or better. And they are coming off a 22-9 campaign as Corey Gipson seems to have them in a great spot!