The Real Prestige Rankings: Part VII

Temple is the highest rated team in the rankings that is not from one of the traditional power conferences.

18) Purdue Boilermakers – Total Points:  546

• two Elite Eight appearances, three Sweet Sixteen appearances, seven missed tournaments
• ESPN Rank: 29

Purdue has only lost three first round tournament games in their 17 tournament appearances, and has only lost one since 1987.  That came in 1994 when they lost as a No. 9 seed to No. 8-seeded Rhode Island.

Purdue also has two Elite Eight appearances.  One came in 1994 as a No. 1 seed and the other was in 2000 as a No. 6 seed.  They also made the Sweet Sixteen in 1988, 1998, and 1999.

While Purdue did miss five NCAA tournaments from 2001 to 2006, the Boilermakers have participated in the tournament each of the last two seasons.  They have won their first round games in each of those two appearances, but failed to win their second round match-ups.

17) Arkansas Razorbacks – Total Points:  563

• One NCAA Championship, one Championship Game appearance, one Final Four appearance, one Elite Eight appearance, two Sweet Sixteen appearances, seven missed tournaments
• ESPN Rank: T-14

All of the Razorbacks’ highlighted tournament finishes came between 1990 and 1996.  They only failed to reach at least the Sweet Sixteen one time in this period; they lost in the second round in 1992 as a No. 3 seed to No. 6-seeded Memphis.

Arkansas won the NCAA championship in 1994 as a No. 1 seed, lost in the 1995 NCAA Championship game as a No. 2 seed to No. 1-seeded UCLA, and also made the Final Four in 1990 as a No. 4 seed.

Unfortunately for Razorbacks fans, Arkansas has not returned to the elite level in college basketball since their 1996 Sweet Sixteen performance.  They have not reached the Sweet Sixteen since, and have missed the tournament five of the last twelve seasons. 

They have also lost their first round games four times when they did qualify for the NCAA tournament in the same time period.

16) Oklahoma Sooners – Total Points:  576

• One Championship Game appearance, one Final Four appearance, two Elite Eight appearances, three Sweet Sixteen appearances, five missed tournaments
• ESPN Rank:  12

The Sooners have been the most consistent basketball program we have seen so far in the team rankings.  They have made the NCAA tournament 19 of the last 24 seasons, only failing to qualify five times.

Oklahoma reached the final game of the NCAA tournament in 1988 as a No. 1 seed.  They lost by four points to No. 6-seed Kansas.

The Sooners only other Final Four appearance came in 2002 as a No. 2 seed.  They also reached the Elite Eight in 1985 as a No. 1 seed and in 2003 as a No. 1 seed.

The main negative for Oklahoma is that they do have seven first round losses.

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