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 165 is UL-Monroe 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 UL-Monroe basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 0
- Bids: 7
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 14.6
- Bids per season: 0.13
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 1
- NBA players drafted & played: 5
- Conference Players of the Year: 8
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 10
- Conference tournament titles: 8
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on UL-Monroe basketball
Much like our previous program, Austin Peay, UL-Monroe had an all-time head coach in Mike Vining. Vining was at the helm from 1982 until 2005, and won 401 games. All seven of the Warhawks NCAA Tournaments came with Vining on the sidelines, and all of them were between a great stretch of just 15 seasons.
The program also had some stars earlier on in Calvin and Kenny Natt. Kenny had a very brief NBA career before playing and coaching around the country and even the world. Calvin saw a much better NBA career that included being named to the All-Star team in 1985. In college, he was a Consensus All-American.
The Warhawks made four straight March Madness appearances between 1990 and 1993, with stars like Anthony Jones, Carlos Funchess, Ryan Stuart, and Fred Thompson leading the way. Few mid-major programs have put together a run like that, with UL-Monroe completely dominating the Southland.
They moved to the Sun Belt in 2006 and, unfortunately, have dipped in their output. With just four winning seasons and zero trips to the big dance, moving up to a better mid-major conference hasn’t necessarily benefited the Warhawks. And coming off a four-win season, there really isn’t anything showing that they will turn it around soon.