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 160 is Oakland 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 Oakland basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 2
- Bids: 4
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 17.4
- Bids per season: 0.15
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 2
- Conference Players of the Year: 7
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 5
- Conference tournament titles: 4
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Oakland basketball
Another program with March Madness history! The Oakland Golden Grizzlies come in at No. 160, two spots ahead of George Mason. In 2024, head coach Greg Kampe finally had his moment, led by three-point sniper Jack Gohlke. Gohlke went berserk as Oakland knocked off 3-seed Kentucky, losing in the next round to NC State, which went on an unexpected Final Four run.
For Oakland, it was a cool moment, but it probably meant even more for Kampe, who has been the head coach since 1984. The program didn’t become DI until 1999, so while Kampe has 469 wins since they moved up a level, he has 731 overall with Oakland. He’s the only coach they’ve had since transitioning to Division I.
Kampe led Oakland to the big dance three other times, in 2005, 2010, and 2011. The ’05 appearance was unexpected, as they only had 13 wins going in. But the other two came along with some great overall seasons.
And that’s been the mark for Kampe. While they have had 13 losing seasons, they’ve had 13 winning seasons and one .500 record. But even more impressive is zero seasons of fewer than 10 wins. The worst was an 11-18 record in 2005-06.
Oakland has also has some great players besides Gohlke. Kay Felder (2016), Kendrick Nunn (2018), Jamal Cain (2022), and Trey Townsend (2024) all won Horizon League POY. In the Summit League, Mike Helms (2003) and Keith Benson (2010 & 2011) won the award. And while Gohlke’s shooting gets the praise, it is the 504 career threes from Travis Bader that rank fifth all-time.
Oakland hasn’t always had outstanding seasons, but they’ve certainly always been out of the basement of the mid-major talks and very often put together successful seasons. There is a reason Kampe has been there for so long.