There are also nine conferences represented in the Empire State, ranging all the way from low-major to biggest of the big. Let's look at the breakdown:
Metro Atlantic - six schools
America East & NEC - three apiece
Big East, A-10, Patriot & Ivy - two each
Mid-American & CAA - solamente uno
It's not all about the Big Apple at this stage - that's why we call it the State project. Let's dive in and see what we can turn up. With this much to choose from, the superlatives ought to engender some healthy debate. Or name calling. Whichever is more fun.
It's a big state, so we expanded the historical categories a bit so everyone can celebrate their particular... idiom.
The 2008 Breakdown
State Winning Percentage: .466 (313-359)
Number of Teams: 22
NCAA Tournament Teams: 2 (Cornell, Siena)
Conference Champions: 2 (same)
Most Wins: Wagner & Siena (23)
Least Wins: Canisius (6)
Teams With Winning Records: 7
Teams with Single Digit Wins: 4
Historical Breakdown
Most Memorable Team - 2003 Syracuse Orange(men). Beat one-third of the Big 12 on their way to Jim Boeheim's long-awaited National Championship. Melo, Warrick, McNamara - what a team.
Top Player All-Time - Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse
Craziest Player All-Time - Ron Artest, St. John's
Greatest Dutch Player - Rik Smits, Marist
Favorite Coach - Lou Carnesecca, St. John's
Top Player 2008 - Antoine Agudio, Hofstra
Best On-Campus Venue - Rose Hill Gym, Fordham
Best NCAA Venue - Madison Square Garden (last hosted Final Four in 1950)
Best NIT Venue - Madison Square Garden
Most Prestigious Program (ESPN Style): #9 Syracuse
Best Nickname: Albany Great Danes (Long Island Blackbirds is also quite good)
Worst Nickname: St. Bonaventure Bonnies
STF’s Favorite Program: Syracuse. Because I think some of you know where I live. (I kid, Carrier Domers, I kid).
Most Impressive Turnaround: Cornell won all of five games in '01-'02. Last season, the Big Red were a perfect 14-0 in the Ivy and only lost one game at home, to Colgate, of all programs.
Favorite story: When Jim Valvano was head coach at Iona early in his career, he made his job sound more impressive by drawing it out a bit so it sounded like "I own a college".
[Get Acquainted with the STF State Project Concept]
Previous States:
#36 New Jersey
#35 Colorado
#34 Georgia
#33 South Carolina
#32 Louisiana
#31 Illinois
#30 Oregon
#29 Missouri
#28 Florida
11 comments:
Cuse Nation approves
And our main job here at STF is to gain the approval of Cuse Nation
Well, he might have a point. I DID email it to him.
/givemeyourbigorangelove
Ewing was better than Melo.
Anon -
We're doing players who came from one of the state's colleges - if we had to include people who grew up in a state but went to school somewhere else, or played pro, we'd lose our minds.
For the record, that Colgate loss was B.J.F. (Before Jeff Foote.)
And as for nicknames, what about the Canisius Golden Griffens?
I considered the Griffons, but for some reason I didn't like the "Golden" modifier. In other words, completely capricious and baseless decision.
Good analysis....but how is the Carrier Dome not the best on campus venue? We set a record for biggest on campus basketball crowd almost yearly.
Aw, I was hoping you'd give the "Best NIT Venue" to the Carrier Dome.
/go UConn!
+200 to Kevin
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