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 139 is Columbia 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 Columbia basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 1
- Sweet 16s: 2
- NCAA wins: 2
- Bids: 3
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 10.9
- Bids per season: 0.03
- AP Polls: 31
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 19
- NBA players drafted & played: 4
- Conference Players of the Year: 2
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 13
- Conference tournament titles: 0
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 4
Overall scoop on Columbia basketball
Ivy League schools ranked very interestingly in our list, mostly thanks to playing so many seasons. Columbia has had 125 of them under their belt, and much like the other Ivies, benefitted from being one of the “Power 5” schools of the early 1900s.
Obviously, things have changed, but a good way to tell how different times were is a look at the Consensus All-Americans who played for the Lions:
- Harry Fisher (1905)
- Marcus Hurley (1905, 1906, & 1907)
- John Ryan (1907, 1908, & 1909)
- Ted Kiendl (1909, 1910, & 1911)
- Biaggio Cerussi (1909)
- AD Alexander (1911)
- WM Lee (1911)
- Bebe Benson (1912)
- Dan Meenan (1914)
- Charlie Lee (1915)
- John Lorch (1927)
- George Gregory (1931)
- Chet Forte (1957)
That makes up 19 times a Columbia player was named a Consensus AA, with most of them happening in the 1910s or before. And it made sense, because the Lions really were one of the top teams in the nation in those time periods. Head coach (and former player) Harry Fisher went 101-39 from 1906-10 and 1910-16, winning three regular season Ivy League titles. More impressively, they were named Pre-tournament Helms national champions in 1904, 1905, and 1910. While they aren’t really recognized officially when you talk about National Champions, they are in the Official NCAA Men’s Basketball Records Book.
While Columbia wouldn’t totally fall off the map, and had some great years in the 1930s, they did stumble once the game started to grow. Since the beginning of the NCAA Tournament in 1939, the Lions have only been dancing three times: 1948, 1951, and 1968. However, all three were very notable seasons.
In 1947-48, head coach George Ridings led them to a 20-3 record and a first round exit. However, a first round exit still meant an Elite 8, since only eight teams were in the tourney back then.
In the 1950-51 season, the tournament expanded to 16 teams, so another first round exit meant a Sweet 16 appearance. Their loss to Illinois was their first of the season, finishing 21-1, and still ranked third overall in the final AP Poll.
And then, in 1967-68, the Lions went 23-5 and made a real run to the Sweet 16, taking down La Salle before losing to Davidson. Jim McMillian and Dave Newmark starred in what was the last time they played in March Madness, nearly 60 seasons ago.
Head coach Jack Rohan would have a few more good seasons after that, where Columbia was ranked at times, but never went back to the tourney. Rohan’s tenure ended with some very bad losing seasons, and since then, the program has experienced ups and downs, but mostly downs. The last decent run was under Kyle Smith from 2010-16, as Columbia had just two losing records in his six seasons, ending with two straight 20-win campaigns. After Smith left, the Lions had a stretch of eight losing seasons in a row, before finally breaking that by going 16-12 last year.
I’d argue very few teams, if any, stack up to what Columbia basketball accomplished from about 1900 to 1915. It was an insane run of success in the early stages of college hoops. But since then, there have been very few great moments, especially in the last half-century and more. Maybe a winning season last year is the sign of great things to come!