First, I understand that the information in this post will not be helpful for some. My background is in data analysis and I wanted to approach Ohio State's general basketball relevance based on the AP Top 25 from the last ten years with extra consideration for Final Four appearances.
My methodology is as follows:
- Determine the count of times a team was unranked in the final AP poll (mid-March for reference).
- Determine a team's average rank, in the years in which a team is ranked in the final AP poll.
- Determine the count of Final Four Appearances by team (32 since the 4 are not present this year and 2020 was lost due to COVID).
- If a team made the Final Four, I deducted 2 points from the "Not Ranked" count for each Final Four appearance as I think many fans of schools may be fine with having two down years for each Final Four appearance (subjective determination).
- Sort teams according to:
- Weighted "Not Ranked" seasons
- Count of Final Four appearances (highest to lowest)
- Average rank when ranked in final AP poll (lowest to highest)
| Rank | Team | Weighted "Not Ranked" | # of Final Four | Avg When Ranked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Villanova | -3 | 2 | 8 |
| 2 | Gonzaga | -2 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Kansas | -2 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | Kentucky | -1 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | Michigan State | -1 | 2 | 9 |
| 6 | Wisconsin | -1 | 2 | 16 |
| 7 | Duke | -1 | 1 | 8 |
| 8 | UNC | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| 9 | Michigan | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 10 | Virginia | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 11 | Baylor | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 12 | Louisville | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| 13 | Houston | 3 | 1 | 15 |
| 14 | Arizona | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| 15 | Syracuse | 4 | 2 | 15 |
| 16 | Wichita State | 4 | 1 | 13 |
| 17 | Oregon | 4 | 1 | 13 |
| 18 | Texas Tech | 4 | 1 | 14 |
| 19 | Florida | 4 | 1 | 15 |
| 20 | Auburn | 4 | 1 | 15 |
| 21 | UCLA | 4 | 1 | 16 |
| 22 | Purdue | 4 | 0 | 14 |
| 23 | West Virginia | 4 | 0 | 16 |
| 24 | Oklahoma | 5 | 1 | 14 |
| 25 | Ohio State | 5 | 0 | 14 |
| 26 | Iowa State | 5 | 0 | 16 |
| 27 | UConn | 6 | 1 | 20 |
| 28 | Florida State | 6 | 0 | 11 |
| 29 | Cincinnati | 6 | 0 | 15 |
| 30 | Creighton | 6 | 0 | 16 |
| 31 | Iowa | 6 | 0 | 19 |
Here are some observations based on the data:
- It really sucks to be Arizona as they are generally ranked each year, and ranked high, but no Final Four appearances in the last 10 years.
- Based on performance, there is no discernible difference between Purdue, West Virginia, Ohio State, and Iowa State.
- Oklahoma would join the group above but they have one Final Four appearance, so I imagine their fanbase would feel better about that.
- Syracuse outperforms others as they were unranked in the final AP poll 8 times, but the other two years they went to the Final Four.
If those on this site want to discuss Ohio State's general relevance in the sport, I figured that data like this would help the conversation.
Sources:
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/seasons/2022-polls.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/seasons/2021-polls.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/seasons/2020-polls.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/seasons/2019-polls.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/seasons/2018-polls.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/seasons/2017-polls.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/seasons/2016-polls.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/seasons/2015-polls.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/seasons/2014-polls.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/seasons/2013-polls.html
