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 116 is Charlotte 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 Charlotte basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 1
- Elite Eights: 1
- Sweet 16s: 1
- NCAA wins: 7
- Bids: 11
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 16.3
- Bids per season: 0.20
- AP Polls: 22
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 4
- Conference Players of the Year: 5
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 6
- Conference tournament titles: 5
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 1
Overall scoop on Charlotte basketball
We’ve had quite the string of mid-major programs here, as Charlotte is up next at No. 116.
The 49ers have done something a lot of mid-majors couldn’t dream of – 11 NCAA Tournaments despite just five conference tournament titles. They’ve actually made it more times as an at-large than as an automatic bid.
The first time they danced was in 1977, as head coach Lee Rose led them all the way to the Final Four. Star forward and future NBA player Cedric Maxwell led the way on the court, as the 49ers took down Central Michigan, Syracuse, and Michigan, falling to Marquette by two points in the semis. They also lost to UNLV in the third-place game.
Charlotte went through a rough decade, but upon hiring Jeff Mullins, going to March Madness became a yearly tradition. They went dancing 10 times in an 18-year stretch from 1988 to 2005. The 49ers often found themselves ranked in the AP Poll and went to the round of 32 twice under head coach Melvin Watkins in 1997 and 1998, and twice under Bobby Lutz in 1999 and 2001.
While Charlotte wasn’t necessarily producing NBA players left and right, they dominated the Sun Belt, Metro, and Conference USA. In fact, after getting a 13-seed in 1988, they never got worse than a 9-seed in their other nine bids in that span.
Charlotte hasn’t been back to the NCAA Tournament since, but they seem to have gotten back to some sort of winning basketball. The 49ers have had winning records in four of the last five seasons. In 2023, they won the CBI. It would take a lot to revisit their glory days, but they seem to be getting closer to at least being a more consistent mid-major team.