The Real Prestige Rankings: Part VI

• 1 NCAA Championship, 2 Championship Game Appearances, 1 Elite Eight Appearance, 1 Sweet 16 Appearance, 12 Missed Tournaments
• ESPN Rank: 22

The last time Michigan made the NCAA tournament was 1998. The last time Michigan made it to at least the Sweet 16 was 1994 (where they made the Elite Eight). That should give you an idea of how dominant Michigan was from 1985 to 1994.

Michigan won the National Championship in 1989 as a No. 3 seed by defeating Seton Hall by one point. They also lost the championship game in 1992 to Duke and again lost in the finals the next year to North Carolina.

The championship game loss to North Carolina was the famous game where Chris Webber took a timeout that Michigan did not have

There is another big negative for Michigan though. Several year ago, the University of Michigan self-imposed a sanction on its basketball team after an investigation revealed that a Michigan booster had given money to four of the basketball players, including Chris Webber.

They forfeited all of their tournament victories where players that had been paid participated. 

My rankings still give Michigan credit for the wins that they recorded. This is for simplicity, but also because Michigan still earned these wins on the court. As a basketball team, those victories still took place and fans will remember those teams as great basketball teams.

The repercussions of the sanctions can be seen in the fact that Michigan has not had a good basketball team in 10 years, so there is no need to further penalize the Wolverines.

23) Alabama Crimson Tide – Total Points: 484

• 1 Elite Eight Appearance, 5 Sweet 16 Appearances, 10 Missed Tournaments
• ESPN Rank: T-35

Alabama has only made it past the Sweet Sixteen round once in the last 24 years, but their consistency as a solid basketball team puts them in the top 25. Five Sweet 16 appearances are the most of any team outside the top 15 in the rankings.

Most of Alabama’s tournament success actually came from 1985-1991. They made the Sweet 16 in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, and 1991. 

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