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 108 is Saint Louis 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 Saint Louis basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 1
- Sweet 16s: 2
- NCAA wins: 7
- Bids: 11
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 14.3
- Bids per season: 0.10
- AP Polls: 122
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 2
- NBA players drafted & played: 13
- Conference Players of the Year: 3
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 8
- Conference tournament titles: 3
- NIT titles: 1
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Saint Louis basketball
I’m honestly surprised Saint Louis basketball wasn’t a little bit higher, but it could be the recency bias of just going to the round of 32, led by “Cream Abdul-Jabbar,” Robbie Avila. Still, the Billikens are a program rich with history.
The program’s first notable coach was Eddie Hickey, who compiled a record of 211-89 from 1947-58. He led Saint Louis to an NIT Championship in 1948 – his first season as the head coach. That would be one of five 20-win seasons and, later on, two NCAA Tournaments, both counting as Sweet 16 appearances. In 1952, they won a game to move on to the Elite 8, their best “run” in program history.
But we also have to give props to the star of the NIT team, Ed Macauley, who was a 2x Consensus All-American and later inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the college AP Player of the Year in 1949.
Saint Louis would go through a couple of decades of not-so-great basketball until head coach Rich Grawer showed up. He would have a trio of 20-win seasons, and while his 10 seasons with Saint Louis didn’t end well, a foundation was built for the next coach, Charles Spoonhour. He would help maximize the winning seasons, taking them dancing in 1994, 1995, and 1998, with Lorenzo Romar taking over in 1999 and leading them straight to the tourney in his first year in town.
Lately, the program has continued to have lots of success despite lots of coaching changes. They’ve been to the NCAA Tournament five times since 2012, under Rick Majerus, Jim Crews, Travis Ford, and Josh Schertz. Currently, it doesn’t matter who is coaching the team; Saint Louis is a prime program to play at in the Atlantic 10.
Surprisingly, they haven’t had many household names make it to the pros. Obviously, Avila’s career is just getting started, but the most recognizable name might be Larry Hughes, who starred alongside LeBron James in his early years in Cleveland.
Overall, the Billikens have a lot of history, but it is a program that has picked up steam lately. They’re pushing toward that top 100!