NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Teams Rated and Ranked

Each team is rated and the ranking is based upon the teams' ratings. For more information on these ratings, see below. See my Basketball Stuff page for links to more pages and sites.

Ratings and Rankings

NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Ratings & Rankings
Based upon 4540 games.
Rated & Ranked by John Wobus, 3/24/98

Rnk Team                                    Rating (W-L)
--- ----                                    ------ -----
  1 North Carolina Tar Heels                 2.098 (30-3)
  2 Duke Blue Devils                         2.085 (29-3)
  3 Kentucky Wildcats                        1.912 (29-4)
  4 Kansas Jayhawks                          1.864 (34-3)
  5 Arizona Wildcats                         1.825 (27-4)
  6 Connecticut Huskies                      1.782 (29-4)
  7 Stanford Cardinal                        1.720 (26-4)
  8 Cincinnati Bearcats                      1.645 (26-5)
  9 Purdue Boilermakers                      1.639 (26-7)
 10 Princeton Tigers                         1.621 (26-1)
 11 South Carolina Gamecocks                 1.614 (23-7)
 12 Utah Utes                                1.591 (25-3)
 13 Maryland Terrapins                       1.568 (19-10)
 14 T-C-U Horned Frogs                       1.541 (27-5)
 15 U-C-L-A Bruins                           1.528 (22-8)
 16 Ole Miss Rebels                          1.516 (22-6)
 17 Michigan Wolverines                      1.515 (24-8)
 18 Syracuse Orangemen                       1.495 (24-8)
 19 Michigan State Spartans                  1.462 (20-7)
 20 New Mexico Lobos                         1.462 (23-7)
 21 Arkansas Razorbacks                      1.451 (23-8)
 22 Illinois Fighting Illini                 1.425 (22-9)
 23 Rhode Island Rams                        1.398 (22-8)
 24 Temple Owls                              1.395 (21-8)
 25 Tennessee Volunteers                     1.389 (20-8)
 26 Xavier Musketeers                        1.378 (22-7)
 27 Oklahoma State Cowboys                   1.374 (21-6)
 28 Clemson Tigers                           1.365 (18-13)
 29 St. John's Red Storm                     1.365 (22-9)
 30 George Washington Colonials              1.363 (24-8)
 31 West Virginia Mountaineers               1.343 (22-8)
 32 Massachusetts Minutemen                  1.328 (21-10)
 33 Detroit-Mercy Titans                     1.305 (24-5)
 34 Florida State Seminoles                  1.299 (17-13)
 35 Illinois-Chicago Flames                  1.295 (22-5)
 36 Indiana Hoosiers                         1.285 (19-11)
 37 Illinois State Redbirds                  1.271 (24-5)
 38 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets              1.266 (17-13)
 39 Miami-Florida Hurricanes                 1.259 (18-9)
 40 Washington Huskies                       1.257 (18-9)
 41 NC-Charlotte 49ers                       1.239 (19-10)
 42 Wake Forest Demon Deacons                1.226 (15-13)
 43 Saint Louis Billikens                    1.220 (21-10)
 44 Vanderbilt Commodores                    1.199 (18-12)
 45 Nebraska Cornhuskers                     1.184 (20-11)
 46 Hawaii Rainbows                          1.170 (19-8)
 47 U-N-L-V Runnin' Rebels                   1.167 (20-12)
 48 Georgia Bulldogs                         1.159 (16-14)
 49 North Carolina State Wolfpack            1.157 (16-14)
 50 Murray State Racers                      1.149 (29-3)
 51 Oklahoma Sooners                         1.138 (22-10)
 52 Colorado State Rams                      1.137 (20-8)
 53 Iowa Hawkeyes                            1.130 (20-10)
 54 Marquette Golden Eagles                  1.122 (18-10)
 55 Utah State Aggies                        1.122 (24-7)
 56 Wyoming Cowboys                          1.121 (19-8)
 57 Alabama-Birmingham Blazers               1.117 (20-11)
 58 Arizona State Sun Devils                 1.115 (18-13)
 59 Iona Gaels                               1.113 (27-5)
 60 Dayton Flyers                            1.098 (20-11)
 61 So Mississippi Golden Eagles             1.080 (22-10)
 62 Western Michigan Broncos                 1.077 (20-7)
 63 Missouri Tigers                          1.072 (17-14)
 64 Memphis Tigers                           1.068 (16-11)
 65 Butler Bulldogs                          1.037 (22-10)
 66 Gonzaga Bulldogs                         1.032 (23-9)
 67 Kansas State Wildcats                    1.017 (17-11)
 68 Pacific Tigers                           0.994 (24-9)
 69 Ball State Cardinals                     0.993 (21-7)
 70 Eastern Michigan Eagles                  0.990 (20-9)
 71 South Alabama Jaguars                    0.986 (21-6)
 72 Florida Gators                           0.985 (14-14)
 73 Auburn Tigers                            0.974 (15-13)
 74 Rutgers Scarlet Knights                  0.972 (14-15)
 75 Minnesota Golden Gophers                 0.968 (15-15)
 76 Fresno State Bulldogs                    0.967 (18-11)
 77 Richmond Spiders                         0.962 (22-7)
 78 Seton Hall Pirates                       0.959 (15-14)
 79 Providence Friars                        0.942 (13-16)
 80 Santa Clara Broncos                      0.933 (18-10)
 81 Tulsa Golden Hurricane                   0.912 (19-12)
 82 Georgetown Hoyas                         0.904 (14-14)
 83 Villanova Wildcats                       0.900 (12-17)
 84 Penn State Nittany Lions                 0.898 (15-12)
 85 San Francisco Dons                       0.892 (19-10)
 86 Notre Dame Fighting Irish                0.892 (13-14)
 87 Oregon Ducks                             0.888 (13-14)
 88 Creighton Blue Jays                      0.884 (18-9)
 89 NC-Wilmington Seahawks                   0.883 (20-10)
 90 Alabama Crimson Tide                     0.883 (15-16)
 91 Boston College Eagles                    0.880 (15-16)
 92 South Florida Bulls                      0.875 (17-13)
 93 Louisville Cardinals                     0.866 (12-20)
 94 S-M-U Mustangs                           0.851 (18-10)
 95 California Golden Bears                  0.850 (12-15)
 96 Baylor Bears                             0.846 (14-14)
 97 St. Bonaventure Bonnies                  0.841 (17-14)
 98 Texas Tech Red Raiders                   0.837 (13-14)
 99 Virginia Cavaliers                       0.832 (11-19)
100 Texas Longhorns                          0.827 (14-17)
101 Pepperdine Waves                         0.825 (17-10)
102 Mississippi State Bulldogs               0.807 (15-15)
103 William & Mary Tribe                     0.802 (20-7)
104 Fairleigh Dickinson Knights              0.801 (23-6)
105 Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix              0.779 (17-12)
106 Miami-Ohio RedHawks                      0.776 (17-12)
107 Arkansas State Indians                   0.773 (20-10)
108 Wisconsin Badgers                        0.765 (12-19)
109 Colorado Buffaloes                       0.763 (13-14)
110 Valparaiso Crusaders                     0.762 (21-9)
111 Nevada Wolfpack                          0.761 (16-12)
112 Florida International Golden Panthers    0.752 (21-8)
113 College of Charleston Cougars            0.749 (24-5)
114 Boston University Terriers               0.744 (19-11)
115 Indiana State Sycamores                  0.740 (16-11)
116 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks             0.739 (21-7)
117 Akron Zips                               0.730 (17-10)
118 Pittsburgh Panthers                      0.727 (11-16)
119 New Mexico State Aggies                  0.714 (19-12)
120 Delaware Blue Hens                       0.711 (20-9)
121 SW Missouri State Bears                  0.708 (16-16)
122 Rider Broncs                             0.700 (18-9)
123 Long Island Blackbirds                   0.694 (21-10)
124 St. Joseph's Hawks                       0.689 (11-17)
125 Davidson Wildcats                        0.688 (20-9)
126 Cleveland State Vikings                  0.684 (12-15)
127 Wichita State Shockers                   0.682 (16-15)
128 Appalachian State Mountaineers           0.665 (21-8)
129 SW Louisiana Ragin Cajuns                0.663 (18-13)
130 Oregon State Beavers                     0.655 (13-17)
131 Boise State Broncos                      0.642 (17-13)
132 Bradley Braves                           0.632 (15-14)
133 South Carolina State Bulldogs            0.631 (22-7)
134 Iowa State Cyclones                      0.627 (12-18)
135 Pennsylvania Quakers                     0.622 (17-12)
136 Coppin State Eagles                      0.619 (21-8)
137 San Diego State Aztecs                   0.616 (13-15)
138 Texas-El Paso Miners                     0.615 (12-14)
139 Siena Saints                             0.607 (17-12)
140 Toledo Rockets                           0.604 (15-12)
141 Idaho Vandals                            0.599 (15-13)
142 Southern California Trojans              0.596 (9-19)
143 Virginia Tech Hokies                     0.595 (10-17)
144 Nicholls State Colonels                  0.586 (19-9)
145 Hofstra Flying Dutchmen                  0.586 (19-12)
146 Niagara Purple Eagles                    0.568 (14-13)
147 Oral Roberts Golden Eagles               0.563 (19-12)
148 Duquesne Dukes                           0.561 (11-19)
149 Youngstown State Penguins                0.561 (20-9)
150 New Orleans Privateers                   0.559 (15-12)
151 Southern Illinois Salukis                0.544 (14-16)
152 Northwestern Wildcats                    0.534 (10-17)
153 Montana State Bobcats                    0.534 (19-11)
154 B-Y-U Cougars                            0.534 (9-21)
155 NC-Asheville Bulldogs                    0.534 (19-9)
156 Washington State Cougars                 0.530 (10-19)
157 Middle Tenn State Blue Raiders           0.521 (19-9)
158 Eastern Washington Eagles                0.511 (16-11)
159 L-S-U Tigers                             0.505 (9-18)
160 Canisius Golden Griffins                 0.504 (13-14)
161 Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans             0.488 (15-13)
162 Lafayette Leopards                       0.481 (19-9)
163 La Salle Explorers                       0.476 (9-18)
164 Weber State Wildcats                     0.475 (14-13)
165 San Diego University Toreros             0.470 (14-15)
166 Portland University Pilots               0.470 (14-13)
167 Evansville Purple Aces                   0.458 (15-15)
168 Lamar Cardinals                          0.451 (15-14)
169 Ohio State Buckeyes                      0.444 (8-22)
170 Loyola-Chicago Ramblers                  0.441 (15-15)
171 Eastern Illinois Panthers                0.440 (16-11)
172 Hartford Hawks                           0.433 (15-12)
173 Old Dominion Monarchs                    0.431 (12-16)
174 Southwest Texas State Bobcats            0.421 (17-11)
175 St. Mary's-CA Gaels                      0.420 (12-15)
176 Vermont Catamounts                       0.413 (16-11)
177 Drexel Dragons                           0.412 (13-15)
178 Austin Peay Governors                    0.412 (17-11)
179 DePaul Blue Demons                       0.406 (7-23)
180 Navy Midshipmen                          0.401 (19-10)
181 Wright State Raiders                     0.396 (10-18)
182 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs                  0.396 (12-15)
183 Portland State Vikings                   0.395 (14-12)
184 Western Illinois Leathernecks            0.392 (16-11)
185 Loyola-MD Greyhounds                     0.378 (12-16)
186 Fairfield Stags                          0.371 (12-15)
187 Manhattan Jaspers                        0.357 (12-17)
188 CS-Fullerton Titans                      0.356 (12-16)
189 Montana Grizzlies                        0.352 (16-14)
190 Northeastern Huskies                     0.343 (14-14)
191 Central Florida Golden Knights           0.335 (17-11)
192 Kent Golden Flash                        0.328 (13-17)
193 Bowling Green Falcons                    0.316 (10-16)
194 Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners            0.316 (16-11)
195 Houston Cougars                          0.313 (9-20)
196 Buffalo Bulls                            0.312 (15-13)
197 St. Francis (PA) Red Flash               0.310 (16-11)
198 James Madison Dukes                      0.306 (11-16)
199 St. Francis (NY) Terriers                0.306 (15-12)
200 Radford Highlanders                      0.305 (19-10)
201 Air Force Falcons                        0.291 (10-16)
202 Marshall Thundering Herd                 0.284 (11-16)
203 Cal Poly-SLO Mustangs                    0.282 (14-14)
204 Northern Iowa Panthers                   0.280 (10-17)
205 Northeast Louisiana Indians              0.260 (13-16)
206 Tulane Green Wave                        0.254 (7-22)
207 Southeast Missouri State Indians         0.254 (14-13)
208 Mt. St. Mary's Mountaineers              0.246 (14-14)
209 Texas A&M Aggies                         0.234 (7-20)
210 Fordham Rams                             0.230 (6-21)
211 Georgia State Panthers                   0.226 (16-12)
212 East Carolina Pirates                    0.222 (10-17)
213 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers             0.209 (10-19)
214 George Mason Patriots                    0.207 (9-18)
215 Virginia Military Keydets                0.196 (14-13)
216 Marist Red Foxes                         0.187 (11-17)
217 Northern Illinois Huskies                0.184 (10-16)
218 Cal-Irvine Anteaters                     0.166 (9-18)
219 CS-Northridge Matadors                   0.161 (12-16)
220 North Texas Eagles                       0.160 (5-21)
221 Tennessee State Tigers                   0.160 (13-16)
222 Long Beach State 49ers                   0.152 (10-19)
223 American University Eagles               0.150 (9-19)
224 Rice Owls                                0.142 (6-22)
225 Harvard Crimson                          0.141 (13-13)
226 Texas Southern Tigers                    0.132 (15-16)
227 Virginia Commonwealth Rams               0.132 (9-19)
228 Loyola-Marymount Lions                   0.129 (7-20)
229 Chattanooga Moccasins                    0.125 (13-15)
230 Citadel Bulldogs                         0.115 (15-13)
231 Jackson State Tigers                     0.115 (14-13)
232 Northwestern State (LA) Demons           0.114 (13-14)
233 Bucknell Bison                           0.107 (13-15)
234 Eastern Kentucky Colonels                0.078 (10-17)
235 Samford Bulldogs                         0.076 (14-13)
236 Grambling State Tigers                   0.074 (16-12)
237 Texas-Arlington Mavericks                0.073 (13-16)
238 Jacksonville Dolphins                    0.070 (8-19)
239 New Hampshire Wildcats                   0.069 (10-17)
240 Yale Bulldogs                            0.068 (12-14)
241 Hampton Pirates                          0.043 (13-13)
242 Western Carolina Catamounts              0.039 (12-15)
243 Wagner Seahawks                          0.037 (13-16)
244 St. Peter's Peacocks                     0.036 (8-19)
245 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks            0.031 (9-16)
246 Morgan State Bears                       0.008 (12-16)
247 Sam Houston State Bearkats               0.003 (9-17)
248 Towson Tigers                            0.002 (8-20)
249 Cal-Santa Barbara Gauchos               -0.020 (7-19)
250 Belmont University Bruins               -0.026 (9-18)
251 Stetson Hatters                         -0.029 (11-15)
252 Colgate Red Raiders                     -0.029 (10-18)
253 Ohio University Bobcats                 -0.030 (5-21)
254 Jacksonville State Gamecocks            -0.031 (13-13)
255 Columbia Lions                          -0.037 (11-15)
256 Missouri-KC Kangaroos                   -0.065 (9-18)
257 Southern University Jaguars             -0.074 (14-13)
258 San Jose State Spartans                 -0.077 (3-23)
259 NC-Greensboro Spartans                  -0.082 (9-19)
260 Central Michigan Chippewas              -0.086 (5-21)
261 Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers    -0.093 (14-14)
262 Prairie View A&M Panthers               -0.108 (12-16)
263 East Tennessee State Buccaneers         -0.123 (11-16)
264 Centenary Gents                         -0.124 (10-20)
265 Alcorn State Braves                     -0.127 (12-15)
266 Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers            -0.130 (3-24)
267 Texas-Pan American Broncs               -0.131 (4-24)
268 Liberty Flames                          -0.156 (11-17)
269 Maine Black Bears                       -0.172 (7-20)
270 Florida A&M Rattlers                    -0.176 (11-17)
271 Cornell Big Red                         -0.182 (9-17)
272 Lehigh Engineers                        -0.185 (10-17)
273 Wofford Terriers                        -0.205 (9-18)
274 Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks               -0.235 (7-20)
275 Southern Utah Thunderbirds              -0.242 (7-20)
276 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles            -0.245 (9-21)
277 Georgia Southern Eagles                 -0.247 (10-18)
278 MD-Eastern Shore Fighting Hawks         -0.248 (9-18)
279 Dartmouth Big Green                     -0.254 (7-19)
280 Idaho State Bengals                     -0.274 (6-20)
281 Robert Morris Colonials                 -0.277 (8-19)
282 McNeese State Cowboys                   -0.282 (7-19)
283 Campbell Fighting Camels                -0.286 (9-18)
284 Drake Bulldogs                          -0.292 (3-24)
285 Brown Bears                             -0.294 (6-20)
286 Norfolk State Spartans                  -0.302 (6-21)
287 Florida Atlantic Owls                   -0.311 (5-22)
288 Alabama State Hornets                   -0.317 (11-17)
289 Holy Cross Crusaders                    -0.322 (7-20)
290 Furman Paladins                         -0.323 (9-20)
291 Howard Bison                            -0.327 (9-19)
292 Army Black Knights                      -0.347 (8-19)
293 Delaware State Hornets                  -0.361 (9-18)
294 North Carolina A&T Aggies               -0.364 (8-19)
295 Northeastern Illinois Golden Eagles     -0.398 (6-19)
296 Monmouth Hawks                          -0.463 (4-23)
297 Southeastern Louisiana Lions            -0.480 (6-20)
298 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers           -0.489 (8-19)
299 Mississippi Valley Delta Devils         -0.493 (6-21)
300 Cntrl Connecticut St Blue Devils        -0.501 (4-22)
301 Morehead State Eagles                   -0.510 (3-23)
302 Troy State Trojans                      -0.513 (7-20)
303 CS-Sacramento Hornets                   -0.613 (1-25)
304 Charleston Southern Buccaneers          -0.614 (5-22)
305 Chicago State Cougars                   -0.620 (2-25)
306 Winthrop Eagles                         -0.625 (7-20)
307 Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions        -0.682 (4-23)
308 Mercer Bears                            -0.703 (5-21)
309 Bethune-Cookman Wildcats                -1.003 (1-26)
--- ----                                    ------ -----

About these rankings

These ratings are mine, and do not mimic or match any other ratings of which I am aware. I make no claim as to their value, nor make any claims about the statistical rightness or wrongness of the methods.

• Ratings (thus rankings) are based solely upon who beat whom.
  • The fact that a team beat another two or more times, or that they split, is taken into account: each game is treated separately.
  • Scores or winning margins are not taken into account.
  • Location (e.g. home vs away) is not taken into account.
  • The fact that a win or loss involved one or more overtime periods is not taken into account.
  • Injuries are not taken into account.
  • How the team looked or how the game went is not taken into account.
  • The ratings in no way predict scores or point spreads.
  • Previous seasons are not taken into account.
  • No ratings of individual players are taken into account nor factors such as depth, etc.
  • How recent the win/loss occurred is not taken into account.
• The data upon which the ratings are based has errors. It is what I could find online.
• Subject to that caveat, all games played by Division I men's basketball teams are taken into account.
• Ratings are derived using a least-squares fit, based upon the idea that we expect the winning team to be rated at least 1.00 higher than the losing team.
• A team's rating is not affected by a win against a team whose rating is more than 1.00 lower or a loss against a team whose rating is more than 1.00 higher.
• The set of all the ratings is normalized so they average zero.
• In addition to Division I teams, Division II teams that play them are rated based upon their games with Division I teams. The Division II teams are not listed or ranked, but their ratings do affect the normalization. In general, a Division II team that loses all its games to Division I teams will have little affect on the ratings, but if it beats some of its Division I opponents, then its games will be significant.
• One more factor is added to the "statistical soup" to keep undefeated teams from being rated too high: every team is assumed to have lost one game to a team rated "1.00" and won one game with a team rated "-1.00". I don't claim this is "the right thing to do", but it does factor in the assumption that a team that has won or lost every game is not really that good/bad, and this factor's effect upon the ratings becomes smaller as the season progresses.
• The ratings and rankings are performed automatically, nightly.

While such rankings will necessarily be no closer to the well-known polls than the infamous RPI, the resulting rankings seemed to stablize toward something arguable if not completely believable (e.g. most of this ranking's top ten teams are at minimum top twenty teams in the well-known polls). This ranking does share with the RPI the fact that it ignores scores, and it, in effect, takes into account schedule strength (and thus that a team's rating can be helped or hurt by the subsequent games of teams it has already played). However, I haven't noticed that it correlates well with the RPI.

Note: it has been pointed out to me that these ratings are calculated in a manner similar to that for David Wilson's NCAA Football ratings.

--John Wobus, 2/10/98

Wobus Sports: www.vaporia.com/sports