re: All-Time NCAA Men’s Basketball Program Rankings

Florida had an elite AD in Jeremey Foley who really pushed them ahead in many sports. Now they have Strickland

Holy Shite. I went back to look at all-time appearances in the AP Poll between 1949-1974 to compare programs from the SEC and the Southwest Conference…

Kentucky (263 weekly appearances), Vanderbilt (115), Mississippi State (57), Tennessee (57), Alabama (56), LSU (30), and Auburn (29) all were ranked more often than ANY team from the Southwestern Conference.

SMU was ranked in the AP Poll 25 times between 1949-1974, by far the most of any SWC team during the period. Arkansas had just 4 weekly appearances between 1949-1974 and Texas had just one.

Yet all of these SWC programs were racking up Sweet 16 after Sweet 16 because they were essentially a mid-major who was guaranteed a spot in the small NCAA Tournament field, year after year.

This is why you have to discount those seasons compared to the modern era.

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Here's some all-time for you:

UF: 2 NCAA titles, 6 Final 4s, 53 NCAAT wins

Arky: 1 NCAA title, 6 Final 4s, 52 NCAAT wins

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Yes. Very close, with Florida slightly ahead.

So my rankings of Florida #13 and Arkansas #15 line up perfectly with those stats.

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SMU was ranked in the AP Poll 25 times between 1949-1974, by far the most of any SWC team during the period. Arkansas had just 4 weekly appearances between 1949-1974 and Texas had just one.

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Actually that’s pretty interesting. 1974 was when Frank Broyles decided to make basketball competitive and renovated Barnhill arena and hired Eddie Sutton. That was the point that the program took off. What happened before then was forgettable. In fact I was in high school in 74 and don’t remember watching any Arkansas basketball. I do remember the coaches name being Lanny van emon though. They weren’t good.

So just for kicks, here is what the rankings of just the modern era (1985-2025) look like, since the Tournament expanded to 64 teams.

Program Rankings in the Modern Era:

1. Duke- 264.0
2. North Carolina- 230.0
3. Kansas- 199.5
4. Kentucky- 188.5
5. UConn- 175.5
6. Michigan St- 148
7. Arizona- 123.5
8. Syracuse- 123.0
9. Florida- 122.0

***A win tonight moves Florida ahead of both Syracuse and Arizona into 7th place**

10. Villanova- 118.5
11. UCLA- 117.0
12. Indiana- 90.0
13. Michigan- 88.0
14. Arkansas- 87.0
15. Gonzaga- 85.5
16. Oklahoma- 80.5
17. Wisconsin- 75.5
18. Louisville- 75.5
18. Purdue- 75.5
20. Maryland- 72.0
21. Texas- 67.5
21. Illinois- 67.5
23. Georgetown- 64.5
24. UNLV- 61.5
25. Virginia- 58.5

Other SEC
27. Alabama- 52.0
35. LSU- 46.0
36. Tennessee- 45.0
39. Auburn. 44.0
51. Missouri- 34.5
64. Miss St- 26.0
68. Vanderbilt- 22.5
70. Texas A&M- 20.5
82. Georgia- 15.5
85. South Carolina- 15.0
89. Ole Miss- 14.0

SEC obviously looks a lot stronger since the field expanded.

Good stuff…