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 65 is St. Joe’s 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 St. Joe’s basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 1
- Elite Eights: 4
- Sweet 16s: 10
- NCAA wins: 19
- Bids: 21
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 15.0
- Bids per season: 0.18
- AP Polls: 65
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 3
- NBA players drafted & played: 13
- Conference Players of the Year: 11
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 20
- Conference tournament titles: 6
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on St. Joe’s basketball
We’ve had a string of great mid-major programs lately, and St. Joe’s is the latest. The Hawks have a rich history of hoops and have been no stranger to making March Madness and having success in the big dance.
The Hawks first made it to the NCAA Tournament in 1959, starting a stretch of five straight years getting there and 11 of 16 years. Head coaches Jack Ramsay and Jack McKinney had a great thing going in Philly as St. Joe’s was clearly a national brand. However, under McKinney, they never won a single game in March Madness. With Ramsay as the head coach, St. Joe’s went to seven Sweet 16s or further, with a Final Four in ’61. The Hawks were outclassed by Ohio State in the national semis, but did take down Utah for a third-place finish.
Ramsay would eventually coach in the NBA with the 76ers, Buffalo Braves, Portland, and Indiana. And despite McKinney’s efforts to make the tournament plenty of times, the program wouldn’t be the same for a little while.
St. Joe’s would finally make a run in 1981, heading to the Elite 8. That specific team had one of the stingiest defenses in the nation, allowing only 59 points per game. But the runs and bids weren’t a yearly thing anymore for a program that was once used to getting there year in and year out.
Things changed for the better under Phil Martelli, who went 444-328 at St. Joe’s from 1995-2019. He led the Hawks to the Sweet 16 in just his second season and notably took them to the Elite 8 as a 1-seed in 2004. That squad was led by future NBA guards Jameer Nelson and Delonte West and was easily one of the favorites to cut down the nets. That would be Martelli’s height with the team, but he did take them to seven NCAA Tournaments, which is no small feat in today’s college basketball environment.
Things have been on the rise once again for the Hawks, who haven’t been to the big dance since 2016, but have had three straight 20-win seasons. The program may never get back to the consistent success they saw back in the day, but Martelli had them as a dangerous program for a few decades. And being in the Philly market, St. Joe’s has always held their own in a competitive area.