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 115 is Old Dominion 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 Old Dominion basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 3
- Bids: 12
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 18.4
- Bids per season: 0.24
- AP Polls: 1
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 8
- Conference Players of the Year: 8
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 9
- Conference tournament titles: 7
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 2
Overall scoop on Old Dominion basketball
Is Old Dominion basketball the best mid-major program to never reach the second weekend of March Madness? You could definitely make that argument, looking at their overall resume.
The Monarchs are easily one of the most accomplished teams in mid-major hoops history. 12 bids in a 50-year span is some great consistency over a long period of time. And it really has been spread out throughout their history, with ODU never going more than seven seasons without making it back to March Madness. That would technically put them at this upcoming NCAA Tournament as needing to get a bid to keep the streak going.
Their heyday came in the 1980s, as head coach Paul Webb went 177-87 in the DI ranks and took them to a trio of NCAA Tournaments, with one Sun Belt regular season title. Then, Tom Young took over and brought them to the big dance in his first season in 1986. They would knock off 9-seed West Virginia for a round of 32 appearance.
Young’s tenure didn’t end too hot, but the program bounced back under Oliver Purnell, with a bit of a surprise March Madness bid in 1992 with just 15 wins. However, they went for 20+ each of the next two seasons. Jeff Capel II (not the Pitt coach) would then take over for Purnell, and the Monarchs went back to the round of 32 in 1995 and to the big dance again in 1997. He went 122-98 with the program.
In 2001, the program got more stability as Blaine Taylor took over. He stayed until 2013, taking them dancing four times, with another second round appearance in 2010. The year prior, he led them to a CIT Championship – the first time the tournament was ever played.
Taylor was fired in the middle of the 2012-13 season, as ODU had an abysmal 2-20 record. But the following season, Jeff Jones got them to an even 18-18 record. He would go 203-131, fizzling out at the end, but leading ODU to one more NCAA Tournament and four 20-win seasons. He also led them to a Vegas 16 postseason championship in 2016. It was the first and only edition of the tournament.
The program’s last winning season was in 2022-23, so they have definitely not had the same consistency as of late. But the Monarchs have practically always been a winning program. They’ve gone .500 or better in 36 of their 50 seasons, a mark of a program with high standards of winning.