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 73 is Holy Cross 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 Holy Cross basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 1
- Finals appearances: 1
- Final Fours: 2
- Elite Eights: 4
- Sweet 16s: 1
- NCAA wins: 8
- Bids: 13
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 13.9
- Bids per season: 0.12
- AP Polls: 79
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 5
- NBA players drafted & played: 8
- Conference Players of the Year: 6
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 6
- Conference tournament titles: 7
- NIT titles: 1
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Holy Cross basketball
One of the coolest parts about this series is researching and then informing everyone about some of today’s worst programs that used to actually be pretty great. Holy Cross basketball is the perfect example.
In the modern era, the Crusaders have been very bad. They’ve had 12 straight losing seasons and haven’t put together two straight seasons with winning records since 2007-09. But even though the current times have been rough, it wasn’t always this way.
All the way back in the 1940s and 50s, Holy Cross was a dynasty. The Crusaders won it all in 1947, thanks to a great head coach in Doogie Julian and an even better point guard in Bob Cousy. They went 27-3, also thanks to George Kaftan, who was a 2x Consensus All-American himself. Cousy was a freshman and Kaftan was a sophomore, so they ran it back the following year, this time falling to Kentucky in the Final Four. Two years later in Cousy’s senior season, Holy Cross lost in the opening round, though counting as an Elite 8.
But the run didn’t stop there. In 1953, Togo Palazzi led the Crusaders back to the Elite 8 and the following season, Tommy Heinsohn joined him as they went 26-2 and were crowned NIT champs. Heinsohn would enjoy a fantastic senior year in 1955-56, averaging 27.4 points and 21.1 rebounds per game. So for a decade straight, Holy Cross hoops was practically always in the picture.
Their run would teeter off but it wouldn’t be totally over. From 1972 to 1994, George Blaney went 357-276 with the Crusaders, leading them to the NCAA Tournament in 1977, 1980, and 1993, with Patriot League regular season titles in 1990 and 1994. And from 2001-03, Ralph Willard took them to the big dance all three seasons, plus again in 2007. However, their surprise tourney bid in 2016 (finishing 15-20 that season yet winning the conference tournament) is the last time they’ve played in March Madness.
While the Crusaders aren’t close to a top 200 team, let alone top 75 in today’s era, a very strong history of winning plus college and NBA talent has them at No. 73.