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 121 is Ohio 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 Ohio basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 1
- Sweet 16s: 3
- NCAA wins: 8
- Bids: 14
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 13.9
- Bids per season: 0.12
- AP Polls: 15
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 1
- NBA players drafted & played: 7
- Conference Players of the Year: 11
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 10
- Conference tournament titles: 7
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Ohio basketball
When you look at the current state of MAC basketball, I would argue that no program measures up to the Ohio Bobcats. And historically, that could also be true.
The Bobcats have virtually always had a winning culture, with a .571 all-time winning percentage over 119 seasons and counting. They had lots of success early on, including Consensus All-American Frank Baumholtz in 1941.
But the program started to make some history a few decades later. Head coach James Snyder took the job in 1949, holding the post until 1974. He built Ohio into a very tough mid-major team, leading them to seven MAC regular season titles and going to the NCAA Tournament each of those years.
The Bobcats would often have success in the tourney under Snyder. In 1960, they took down Notre Dame, losing to Georgia Tech in the Sweet 16. In 1964, the Bobcats went on their furthest run, defeating Louisville and Kentucky for a spot in the Elite 8.
In the 1980s, Ohio would go to the tourney twice, with another win in 1983 for a round of 32 spot. Head coach Danny Nee also took them back in 1985.
Ohio’s success wouldn’t fade, as Larry Hunter coached them from 1989 to 2001, with one NCAA Tournament bid in 1994, but 10 of his 12 seasons were winning records. He also coached future NBA vet Gary Trent Sr.
And since Hunter, virtually every Ohio basketball coach has upheld the standard:
- Tim O’Shea (2001-2008): 120-95, 1 NCAA Tournament appearance
- John Groce (2008-2012): 85-56, 2 NCAA Tournament appearances
- Jim Christian (2012-2014): 49-22, 1 MAC regular season title
- Saul Phillips (2014-2019): 81-77
- Jeff Boals (2019-present): 129-93, 1 NCAA Tournament appearance
In fact, here is a wild fact about Ohio basketball coaches. The past six, going back to Larry Hunter, all had above .500 records in their tenures. Ohio has been a place that is coach-friendly and continues to put winning seasons on the floor. There is a reason why they are tied for the most MAC Tournament Championships of all-time, with seven.
But we also can’t forget the recent storylines. In 2010, it was the 14-seed Bobcats upsetting 3-seed Georgetown. Two years later, 13-seed Ohio knocked off Michigan and South Florida for a Sweet 16 run. And in 2021, 13-seed Ohio upset Virginia, thanks to star Jason Preston, who got national attention after it was found out about his unfortunate life events and overlooked recruitment.
Ohio has just been a program about winning games and turning out great stories, and we as college basketball fans can’t get enough of that!