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 71 is Baylor 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 Baylor basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 1
- Finals appearances: 2
- Final Fours: 3
- Elite Eights: 5
- Sweet 16s: 5
- NCAA wins: 24
- Bids: 17
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 12.6
- Bids per season: 0.14
- AP Polls: 222
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 2
- NBA players drafted & played: 21
- Conference Players of the Year: 2
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 7
- Conference tournament titles: 0
- NIT titles: 1
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Baylor basketball
Baylor basketball comes in at No. 71, and that may be a big surprise to people who have been following them in the current era. Scott Drew came to town in 2003, and after a few rough seasons, picking up a program that had been struggling for a while and led them to 18 straight winning seasons. That streak just ended this past season as the Bears finished 17-17.
Along the way, Drew has led Baylor to 13 of their 17 NCAA Tournaments and has led them to many runs, including making the second weekend or further five times. In 2021, all of Drew’s work with the program came to fruition as the Bears won six games in March Madness, winning their first and only national championship. That team was loaded, featuring Jared Butler, MaCio Teague, Davion Mitchell, Adam Flagler, and more.
Obviously, looking at the Scott Drew era alone, you’d probably think Baylor deserved a top 40 spot if not better. But from 1948-49 to 2006-07, Baylor had exactly one 20-win season. It’s hard to imagine this program being so bad for so long, but that was the state of Baylor for decades. Sure, they had some winning seasons and their lone 20-win campaign did lead them to the big dance in 1988. But this was largely a program that often underperformed despite being a notable sports school.
But it wasn’t always this bad at Baylor. The program reached the NCAA Tournament in 1946, 1948, and 1950, going to the title game in ’48 and the Final Four in ’50. Head coach Bill Henderson actually finished with a record of below .500 with the Bears in 18 seasons, but had a very positive stretch there in the late 40s and into the 50s.
Even in the bad seasons, Baylor has had some talent go on to the NBA, with Vinnie Johnson as the most notable, starring for the Bears in the late 70s. But lately, they’ve had a factory of talent, with guys like Taurean Prince, Mitchell, Jeremy Sochan, Keyonte George, VJ Edgecombe, and more, recently coming out of the program.
Unfortunately, the handful of decades where the Bears were largely irrelevant really hurt them here, but they’ve had other history and a recent run of success to bring them into the top 75 all-time.