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 110 is New Mexico 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 New Mexico basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 2
- NCAA wins: 9
- Bids: 17
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 13.5
- Bids per season: 0.14
- AP Polls: 155
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 1
- NBA players drafted & played: 15
- Conference Players of the Year: 7
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 13
- Conference tournament titles: 7
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on New Mexico basketball
New Mexico probably has a good argument to be in the top 100, as the Lobos have had some great history since the 1960s.
From 1964-65 to 1977-78, New Mexico had a stretch of seasons where they made three NCAA Tournaments, two Sweet 16s, and were often ranked inside the AP Poll. That included being ranked inside the top five in three straight seasons from 1966-69. UNM can credit head coach Bob King for starting a run with the program.
But when Dave Bliss took over as head coach in 1988, New Mexico turned into a juggernaut. They proceeded to make March Madness in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999. Bliss went 246-108 as the Lobos’ head coach and had 20+ wins in every season but one. From 96-99, every time they made the big dance, they won one game to make it to the round of 32.
Bliss would leave for Baylor, with Fran Fraschilla taking over and doing solid, but with zero tourneys in three seasons. After him came Richie McKay, who was up-and-down, but the high being a 26-7 record and tourney appearance in 2005. But when Steve Alford got the post in 2007, the program got back to their dominant ways. Alford rattled off six straight 20-win seasons and three NCAA Tournaments, including two more round of 32s. The year after he left, new head coach Craig Neal was able to take UNM back to the big dance.
While the rest of the Neal era and time under Paul Weir was very rough, Richard Pitino would build them back up and take them to back-to-back tournaments in 2024 and 2025. Eric Olen took over last season and kept the streak going of four straight 20-win seasons and counting.
Over the last six decades or so, New Mexico has been as dominant a mid-major as any program out there. In the last 63 seasons, they’ve had 31 20-win seasons. That is a ridiculous number for a program that has never been in a Power Conference.
New Mexico has often done more with less, but they have had some players go on to have good NBA careers. Mel Daniels, Michael Cooper, Danny Granger, and Tony Snell all had notable careers in the league. Daniels was the only Consensus AA in New Mexico basketball history.
You could easily make the argument that New Mexico is the best team – not just mid-major – to not make the Sweet 16 in the modern-day 64-team bracket. They’ve gone to the round of 32 seven times since 1996, but have never been able to string together another win or more. Otherwise, UNM has accomplished just about everything else a mid-major team could wish for.