The Real Prestige Rankings: Part IV

The fact that they have zero Final Fours, never made the tournament for the first six years that these rankings cover, and have had a big letdown after Chris Paul’s departure and not made the NCAA tournament in the past three seasons is what keeps the Demon Deacons outside of the top 30.

Wake Forest’s best tournament finish came in 1996, when Tim Duncan led them to the Elite Eight.

32) Xavier Musketeers – Total Points: 418

• Two Elite Eight Appearances, One Sweet 16 Appearance, Seven Missed Tournaments
• ESPN Rank: 17

Seven missed tournaments for Xavier are the fewest out of any team outside the top 20 teams in my rankings.  The Musketeers have been one of the most consistently good basketball programs in the past 24 seasons, a very impressive feat for a team that is not in one of the power conferences.

Xavier has been making it further into the tournament lately, as both of their Elite Eight appearances have come within the past five seasons.  They made it as a No. 7 seed in 2004 and then again as a No. 3 seed in 2008.

The downside that keeps Xavier from being higher in the rankings is seven first round tournament losses in the time period.

31) Villanova Wildcats – Total Points: 425

• One NCAA Championship, Two Elite Eight Appearances, Two Sweet 16 Appearances, 11 Missed Tournaments
• ESPN Rank: T-30

Villanova is the lowest rated NCAA Champion in the rankings.  They also have many other impressive tournament highlights in the past 24 years.  However, the Wildcats have too many missed tournaments and too many first round exits to be any higher up in the rankings.

The Wildcats won the NCAA tournament in 1985 as a No. 8 seed after defeating their rival and defending national champion Georgetown in one of the most memorable championship games of all time.  With the win, Villanova became the highest (numerically) seeded team to win the tournament championship.

Villanova also had Elite Eight appearances in 1988 and 2006.  The 2006 Villanova team really signaled that the Wildcats were back as a top college basketball team after not advancing past the second round of the tournament for 16 years after their 1988 Elite Eight run (they finally made the Sweet 16 in 2005).

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