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 109 is Tulsa 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 Tulsa basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 1
- Sweet 16s: 4
- NCAA wins: 12
- Bids: 16
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 13.8
- Bids per season: 0.14
- AP Polls: 82
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 1
- NBA players drafted & played: 10
- Conference Players of the Year: 3
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 11
- Conference tournament titles: 6
- NIT titles: 2
- Other tournament titles: 1
Overall scoop on Tulsa basketball
Tulsa basketball has had some of the most impressive runs in the postseason. In March Madness, the Golden Hurricane has been to the NCAA Tournament 16 times with 12 wins. Their play has led to four Sweet 16s (1955, 1994, 1995, & 2000), with an Elite 8 in that 2000 tournament.
But outside of the NCAA Tournament, Tulsa has also done well. The program claims NIT Championships from 1981 and 2001, and a CBI title from 2008. Sure, they might not match up to the same level of an NCAA Tournament Championship, but they are still banners to hang!
And obviously, you can’t knock Tulsa’s March Madness history. Their first tourney in 1955 was thanks to head coach Clarence Iba, who helped to put a struggling Tulsa program on the map. In 11 seasons, he only went 137-147, but had a few special seasons to bring some attention to the program.
Pretty soon, Tulsa basketball became the place to be for legendary coaches. Nolan Richardson started his head coaching career there in 1980, going 119-37 with the NIT chip and three NCAA Tournaments, before taking the Arkansas job, where he would go on to win a national title.
Tubby Smith’s first head coaching job also came here. He went 79-43 and took them to back-to-back Sweet 16s, then bounced to Georgia.
Bill Self? Tulsa was actually his second head coaching gig, after Oral Roberts. In three seasons, he went 74-27, taking them all the way to the Elite 8 in a 32-5 season in 1999-00. That led him to Illinois.
And more recently, Danny Manning and former Missouri coach Frank Haith spent time with the Golden Hurricane. Each led them to the big dance once, with Haith’s being the most recent one for the program, in 2016.
Haith’s tenure ended with a pair of losing records, with Eric Konkol taking over. And last season, year four of Konkol was a special one, with Tulsa finishing 30-8 and losing in the NIT Championship to Auburn. It was nearly a third for the program. Obviously, Konkol seems to be building something positive yet again.
It’s pretty crazy how Tulsa has all this history, but has had very few recognizable players. Paul Pressey was probably the most, with Consensus AA honors in college, and serving as a reliable guard in the NBA. Bingo Smith also had a great NBA career, putting up nearly 11,000 career points. But the Golden Hurricane really just had some great coaches who made the most of their players and did wonders in March. They are pretty much the anti of our previous program, New Mexico, which has done everything Tulsa has, but with more pros, and no NCAA Tournament runs.
I’m pretty sure Tulsa would take its history!