The Real Prestige Rankings: Part III

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->One Elite Eight Appearance, Two Sweet 16 Appearances, 14 Missed Tournaments
• ESPN Rank: T-70

The highlighted tournament finishes for Boston College do not appear as impressive as a lot of other teams inside the top 50.  However, what is very impressive is that Boston College has only lost one first round game in the past 24 seasons. 

A loss to No. 6-seeded Texas as a No. 11 seed in the 2002 tournament is the only first round blemish for the Eagles.  Since most of the teams by far are eliminated in the first round of the tournament, the biggest point jump is gained by winning the first round game.  This is why the Eagles are so high in the rankings. 

In 2008, Boston College missed the NCAA tournament for only the second time in the past eight years.  The Eagles still have a lot of talent, but as a program they may be starting to feel the effects of moving to a conference dominated by North Carolina and Duke every year.

T-37) Wisconsin Badgers – Total Points: 364

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->One Final Four Appearance, One Elite Eight Appearance, Two Sweet 16 Appearances, 12 Missed Tournaments
• ESPN Rank: T-43

For the first nine years of this 24-year time period, Wisconsin did not qualify for a single NCAA tournament.  Since then they have only missed three tournaments.  The Badgers have not been left out of the tournament since 1998. 

The recent success of Wisconsin can best be seen in that they finished tied for eighth place in the 2000-2008 Rankings.  The highlight for the team was making the Final Four as a No. 8 seed in 2000.  There they lost to conference foe and eventual champion Michigan State.

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