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 93 is Louisiana 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 Louisiana basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 2
- NCAA wins: 4
- Bids: 11
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 16.8
- Bids per season: 0.20
- AP Polls: 32
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 2
- NBA players drafted & played: 7
- Conference Players of the Year: 6
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 10
- Conference tournament titles: 8
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Louisiana basketball
One of the most consistent mid-major programs of all-time is Louisiana. They may not jump off the page, with 11 NCAA Tournament bids in 55 seasons, largely because they’ve never gone on a big run. The Ragin’ Cajuns made the Sweet 16 in 1972 and 1973, their first two seasons considered Division I. They haven’t been back since.
But since then, they’ve been as consistent as a mid-major could hope to be. In 55 seasons, they’ve had 21 seasons of 20 wins or more. That’s a very hard feat to accomplish, especially for a program that hasn’t even competed in any of the top mid-major conferences in college basketball. And get this – they’ve only had three seasons with fewer than 10 wins.
They can really thank head coach Bob Marlin for keeping them relevant as of late. From 2010 to 2025, he went 269-198, with a pair of conference regular season titles and two tourney bids as well. But the bulk of Louisiana’s success came before that, with seven of its NCAA Tournaments coming between 1982 and 2005. Head coaches Bobby Paschal, Marty Fletcher, Jessie Evans, and Robert Lee helped to keep a winning tradition alive, where a lot of mid-majors may have fallen off because of all of the coaching changes.
You also have to give them credit for doing so well without being a hotbed for NBA players. Elfrid Payton is probably the most notable.
But the craziest thing is how this program stayed afloat after receiving the “1973 death penalty.” The NCAA had found out that Louisiana was guilty of a bunch of things, including breaking recruiting rules, academic rules, and even an assistant coach doctoring a high school transcript to help a player become eligible to play. The NCAA literally didn’t let them have a team for two seasons from 1973-75. But the program bounced back nearly right away, with a 21-8 record in the second season after the suspension.
It’s a program that has been through a lot and hasn’t had the resources other programs have had. But great coaching has kept Louisiana as a top mid-major for decades on end.