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 76 is Long Beach State 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 Long Beach State basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 2
- Sweet 16s: 4
- NCAA wins: 7
- Bids: 10
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 15.9
- Bids per season: 0.18
- AP Polls: 60
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 2
- NBA players drafted & played: 18
- Conference Players of the Year: 13
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 15
- Conference tournament titles: 6
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Long Beach State basketball
One of the greatest mid-major programs of all-time, Long Beach State basketball finds itself just outside the top 75.
The program emerged onto the scene under head coach Jerry Tarkanian. It was the Hall of Famer’s first head coaching gig in D1 and he proved what he was worth, leading them to four straight Sweet 16s from 1970-73, with Elite 8s in ’71 and ’72. The very next year, LBSU was ineligible for the NCAA Tournament, and it was the only season there for another future HOFer in Lute Olsen. Still, they went 24-2 and undefeated in conference play.
Needless to say, Long Beach was a bit of a dynasty in the 70s. Consensus All-American Ed Ratleff was arguably their best player in this era, but a few other players also made it to the pros, as LBSU was sort of the place to be.
The program would continue to have a knack for pumping out a solid amount of NBA talent. The most recognizable may be Bryon Russell, but there were a lot of other great NBA role players coming out of Long Beach State from the 70s to the 90s.
While they haven’t been back to dominating in college like they once did, they have had other good stints. Seth Greenberg led them dancing in 1993 and 1995, going 105-70 in six seasons. Recently, Dan Monson went 275-273 from 2007-24, with some really good highs of the tournament in 2012 and 2024.
In their 57 seasons, Sports Reference counts as D1, the 49ers have had 19 with at least 20 wins and 31 winning records. They have definitely had some lows too, but the highs have been some of the best a mid-major program could ask for. And the Jerry Tarkanian days were some of the best we’ve ever seen by a mid-major school.