Miami Hurricanes Basketball Ranked 87th All-Time
The Associated Press recently released a list of the top 100 basketball programs of all-time. Their formula was strictly based on the top 20 and then 25 that they release each week.
The formula they used specifically gave two points for each time a team was ranked the number one team in the country and one point for each time they were ranked in the top 25.
The AP explained their formula as”
"“The Associated Press has been ranking the best teams in college basketball since January 1949. Over 68 years and more than 1,100 polls, a total of 200 schools have been ranked and 59 of them have been ranked No. 1 (Saint Louis was the first No. 1).To determine the all-time Top 100, the AP formula counted poll appearances (one point each) to mark consistency and No. 1 rankings (two points each) to acknowledge elite programs.Keep in mind that AP doesn’t release a poll after the NCAA Tournament, so eventual national champions are not factored into these rankings. Instead, this list focuses more on those programs that consistently appear in the poll and/or at the top during the regular seasons.The poll started with 20 teams ranked each week until it was reduced to just the Top 10 midway through the 1960-1961 season. It then returned to a Top 20 format for the 1968-69 season. The poll expanded to 25 teams starting with the 1989-1990 and it has remained that size since then. The first preseason poll was introduced at the start of the 1961-1962 season.”"
Getting ranked 87 is a fairly remarkable for a Miami program that was dormant for 14 seasons. Miami dissolved their program after the 1970-71 season and didn’t return until the 1985-86 season.
Miami finished with 75 total points. That was two points behind Southern Methodist who finished 86th and one ahead of George Washington who finished 88th. The Hurricanes defeated the Colonials in December.
The Hurricanes were not ranked at all this past season. SMU was able to pass Miami in the rankings this season by being ranked for six weeks. The Mustangs were also ranked in every poll but the initial one in 2015-16.
The Hurricanes were also ranked in every poll but the initial one in 2015-16. That Miami team reached the Sweet 16 for the second time in school history.
Thirty of Miami’s 75 weeks in the poll have come under Jim Larranaga. There are dozens of schools on the list that would not currently be ahead of the Hurricanes if these rankings were indicative of the current landscape of college basketball.
It would also be interesting to see how well the schools have done in terms of overall points. The teams at the top are the ones that you would expect. How would giving more importance to being ranked second versus 25th change the rankings? How would the poll change if it took into account where teams were ranked after the Tournament?
Louisville has only been ranked number one twice, yet has three national championships. Judging the NCAA Tournament would likely hurt the Hurricanes. Miami did not earn an NCAA Tournament berth until their 13th season after the rebirth of their program.
The all-time top five is Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, UCLA and Kansas. The remainder of the top five was Indiana, Louisville, Arizona, Syracuse and Cincinnati.
Miami in a better place than many of the highly ranked schools. Indiana has made four of the last six NCAA Tournaments. Three of those years they advanced to the Sweet 16, but they never made it further under Tom Crean. Crean was just replaced with Archie Miller.
Some of the other highly ranked schools include Illinois, Ohio State. UConn and Georgetown. Miami is in a much better place than those teams. It would also be interesting to see where the Hurricanes rank in this decade.
The Hurricanes lack of history will limit how far they can move up in the All-Time rankings. They will have an opportunity to move up in the 70’s with a consistent season next year.
Miami’s incoming recruiting class is currently ranked sixth by ESPN. They are ahead of schools such as North Carolina, Louisville, Florida, Florida State and Oregon. Over the next three to four seasons the Hurricanes should be able to move up in the rankings fairly quickly.
Next: Miami Hurricanes Recruit Lonnie Walker Shines at McDonald’s All-America Game
Miami’s 2017-18 team will arguably be the most talented in school history. If Jim Larranaga can somehow keep his roster together for a season beyond ’17-’18 the Hurricanes could be one of the among the best teams in the country.