What Really Were the Best 100 College Basketball Teams Ever?

 Yesterday we posted a fun list of the rankings of teams based on how they were playing in our Value Add Basketball Game. Obviously this was based on just a few games. However, it led to questions of which teams I really calculate as the top college basketball teams in history.

The following is that list with the caveat that I only included teams in our game, which is almost all the great teams EXCEPT that I try not to create more than a few teams from each school, and try to spread them out. I consider the 1972 and 1967 UCLA teams the greatest in history, but if I were including all teams then several others from the incredible UCLA run of titles from surrounding years would surround them. The other caveat is that as we tried to get as many schools as possible at least one team, we also were biased toward teams that also had one of the greatest players of all time. Therefore we took Dominique Wilkins Georgia team rather the the slightly better Georgia team the next season that made the surprise run to the Final Four.

Here is my actual all-time ranking followed by and explanation of the components used to determine these rankings. 

The first three columns are obviously the team's ranking, and the year in which they played. 

The fourth column can range from -5 to +4, if in doing this comprehensive look, we realized a team in the game had too good a dunk rating (a minus indicates it will be adjusted down that many on the cards while a positive indicates the cards will be adjusted up. 

The next three columns we put in the same form as the season overall, offensive and defensive ratings at www.kenpom.com.

Next we show you a bit of the calculations and work that went into the overall rating of each team in the game.

Factor 1 - Season SRS. The actual SRS ratings teams get are the best indicator going back to the 1950s of how good a team was. The ratings you will see if you look them up are much higher for two reasons. First, we adjusted them down enough so that the rating now indicates how many points better or worse the team is than the average great team in this game. The second adjustment we found necessary while playing teams against each other from different errors. We start with the SRS for teams that played when there were only 100 teams - but after that we subtract the 100th best team's SRS that year so it indicates how many points per game they would be better than the 100th best team that season.

Factor 2 - Post Season.

Because most fans consider teams great if they make a run in the tournament, if not actually win the whole thing, we then adjusted the SRS by post season play.

-8 is taken from the initial SRS if the team did not even make the tournament.

-6 if eliminated in the 1st round.

-4 if eliminated in the Round of 32.

-2 if eliminated in the Sweet 16.

No adjustment if eliminated in the Elite 8

+2 if they made the Final 4.

+4 if they were national runner up.

+6 if they won the national title.

In addition, if the team won both Final 4 games by double digits, they get at least 2 extra points based on total margin.

Lastly, teams get credit if the year in question was one of several years of showing they were elite. For example, Florida's SRS numbers were not that great 16 years ago, but they won consecutive national titles - so clearly they could ramp it up once it all mattered.

Therefore, we give a team half credit for any Final 4 runs the year before or after, and a one-third credit for a run two years before or after.

All of this rolls into the ratings above.

Updated All-Time Basketball Ratings with Some Corrected Formulas

With only a few teams that have not yet played their first Value Add Basketball Game against another great all-time team, we cleaned up a couple of items in our Ken Pomeroy like numbers and reran them. The AdjEM is calculated similar to how Ken Pomeroy does it with a couple of tweaks.

1. The starting AdjEM is the average points better or worse than the average great team in this game we would expect the team to perform based on the numbers on their cards.  If we calculated a number based on the average overall team rather than the average great team in this game, then these would be a little more than 20 points higher than what is listed. So Bill Walton's UCLA would be expected to beat the average team in the game by 14.7 points, but win by more than 35 against the average team.

2. While the starting number is how good the team calculates based on their cards, we count that starting number as three "game scores" and then every game we play we adjust by the result. teams can get upset with dice just as they can with a bad night in a real game, so teams move up and down based on their opponents AdjEM as reflected in their average SoS, and then the margin of the game. We did tweak to allow allow credit for up to a 20-point win. We also now give an extra 4 points for who actually won the game, which Pomeroy does not do. So in our games it is a much bigger deal to win by 1 point rather than lose by 1 point (a 10 point difference in the game score) while in Pomeroy's ratings that would just be a 2-point difference.

Obviously with only a few games played for each team, a couple of big upsets can put a team way above or below they would really rank all-time. The recent Colorado team pulled off two stunning upsets in my game so they shot into the top 40 as a prime example, but that's the fun of upsets. The teams rise or fall with every game result and we are on no deadline - just like seeing what made everyone of these teams great. Likely the two somewhat surprising under performances so far are for two of the teams we still believe could end up near the top if we get in enough games, Anthony Davis Kentucky and Kareem's UCLA.

Keep in mind we do put extra emphasis on how players performed in the tournament, so the complete dominance of UConn this year, Justise Winslow's Duke in 2015 and Villanova in 2018 make their stats for the overall season - as opposed to Statis-Pro and other baseball games when only regular season stats are factored.

Here are our current rankings of the great teams in the game, and this is also kept up along with all of our game scores on this google sheet.

Rnk	Team and Player You Might Know	Win	Loss	Score	Allow	SoS	AdjEM
1	UCLA - 1972 - Bill Walton	6	0	72.0	62.0	-0.5	14.7
2	Kansas - 1997 - Paul Pierce	5	0	76.8	62.4	-1.0	13.4
3	Kansas - 2008 - Mario Chalmers	5	1	74.7	56.0	-0.7	13.0
4	Duke - 2001 - Shane Battier	3	1	78.3	72.5	4.8	12.3
5	Indiana - 1976 - Scott May	3	1	71.3	59.8	-0.8	12.0
6	Duke - 2015 - Justise Winslow	0	0				10.2
7	North Carolina - 1982 - Michael Jordan	5	1	68.8	65.0	4.0	10.0
8	Ohio St. - 1960 - Jerry Lucas	2	1	84.0	76.3	4.7	9.3
9	North Carolina - 2005 - Sean May	3	2	72.2	64.4	2.0	9.1
10	Villanova - 2018 - Mikal Bridges	7	2	79.4	70.3	0.1	8.7
11	Kentucky - 1996 - Antoine Walker	2	1	72.0	69.3	3.3	8.7
12	Connecticut - 2023 - Adama Sanogo	0	0				8.5
13	Houston - 1968 - Elvin Hayes	3	1	73.0	63.8	1.3	8.4
14	Arkansas - 1994 - Corliss Williamson	1	2	75.3	70.3	8.0	8.2
15	Connecticut - 2004 - Ben Gordon	5	2	74.7	66.0	0.7	7.5
16	Gonzaga - 2017 - Nigel Williams-Goss	3	3	69.8	63.0	3.0	7.4
17	Baylor - 2021 - Jared Butler	2	2	86.0	78.5	4.8	7.4
18	Louisville - 2013 - Russ Smith	2	1	74.0	66.3	1.7	7.3
19	Virginia - 2019 - Kyle Guy	4	1	72.6	65.4	2.4	7.0
20	Duke - 2010 - Jon Scheyer	5	2	74.0	66.7	0.1	6.7
21	Kentucky - 2012 - Anthony Davis	4	2	72.2	65.7	-4.7	6.6
22	NC State - 1974 - David Thompson	2	1	72.0	72.7	4.3	6.5
23	Duke - 1992 - Christian Laettner	1	2	73.7	70.3	1.0	6.5
24	Kansas - 2022 - Ochai Agbaji	1	0	87.0	81.0	-7.9	6.1
25	UCLA - 1967 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	2	1	83.0	87.0	-2.0	5.7
26	Cincinnati - 1960 - Oscar Robertson	1	2	72.3	78.0	8.3	5.7
27	DePaul - 1980 - Mark Aguirre	3	1	76.8	68.8	3.5	5.1
28	Purdue - 2018 - Carsen Edwards	4	1	71.2	68.8	2.8	5.1
29	Wake Forest - 1996 - Tim Duncan	2	1	66.0	64.7	6.0	4.3
30	UNLV - 1991 - Larry Johnson	1	2	72.7	76.3	0.7	4.3
31	Michigan St. - 1979 - Magic Johnson	2	1	70.3	62.7	-2.3	4.3
32	Houston - 1983 - Hakeem Olajuwon	2	1	70.7	65.0	-0.3	4.3
33	Auburn - 2019 - Chuma Okeke	8	1	71.0	65.3	-2.6	4.2
34	Illinois - 2005 - Deron Williams	3	2	72.0	69.6	1.2	4.0
35	Michigan St. - 2000 - Mateen Cleaves	4	1	79.6	77.2	-1.6	3.5
36	Colorado - 2021 - McKinley Wright	3	0	82.3	78.0	-0.3	3.3
37	Wisconsin - 2015 - Frank Kaminsky	2	2	65.0	63.3	1.0	3.3
38	Alabama - 2023 - Brandon Miller	0	0				3.2
39	Rutgers - 1976 - Phil Sellers	1	0	97.0	77.0	-9.0	3.0
40	Michigan - 1965 - Cazzie Russell	2	1	85.7	79.0	-1.0	3.0
41	Oregon - 2017 - Dillon Brooks	4	3	71.9	69.9	1.6	2.9
42	Syracuse - 2003 - Carmelo Anthony	2	1	76.0	74.0	3.0	2.7
43	Gonzaga - 2023 - Drew Timme	1	0	86.0	74.0	-6.7	2.5
44	Memphis - 2008 - Derrick Rose	4	2	68.7	65.8	-0.3	2.4
45	Texas - 2023 - Marcus Carr	0	0				2.4
46	Iowa - 2021 - Luka Garza	1	1	79.5	70.5	-3.5	2.4
47	Oklahoma - 1985 - Wayman Tisdale	3	1	75.3	73.8	1.8	2.1
48	Arizona - 2015 - Stanley Johnson	3	1	75.3	70.5	-6.0	2.0
49	Loyola Marymount - 1990 - Bo Kimble	1	2	112.3	108.3	2.3	1.8
50	North Carolina - 1998 - Vince Carter	2	1	80.7	83.7	-3.0	1.7
51	Cincinnati - 2002 - Jason Maxiell	2	2	72.8	71.5	-1.5	1.6
52	Indiana - 1981 - Isaiah Thomas	2	1	72.7	72.3	0.0	1.3
53	Michigan St. - 2009 - Draymond Green	6	3	71.3	71.9	1.6	1.0
54	Illinois - 1989 - Nick Anderson	2	1	87.0	84.0	-5.3	0.8
55	Georgetown - 1984 - Patrick Ewing	2	1	67.3	65.3	0.0	0.7
56	Seton Hall - 1989 - John Morton	1	1	78.0	78.0	1.5	0.6
57	Michigan - 1989 - Glen Rice	0	2	70.5	78.5	3.0	0.6
58	Arizona - 1997 - Mike Bibby	2	1	68.7	71.0	-1.0	0.5
59	USC - 2021 - Evan Mobley	2	1	73.7	70.7	-4.3	0.3
60	Michigan - 2013 - Trey Burke	1	2	70.3	69.7	0.3	0.3
61	Houston - 2021 - Quentin Grimes	0	0				0.2
62	Duke - 2022 - Wendell Moore	0	0				0.2
63	Texas Tech - 2019 - Jarrett Culver	3	2	65.6	67.2	0.8	0.0
64	Syracuse - 1987 - Rony Seikaly	2	1	72.3	68.7	-2.0	0.0
65	Murray St. - 2019 - Ja Morant	0	0				0.0
66	Loyola-Chicago - 1963 - Jerry Harkness	0	1	62.0	68.0	-2.0	0.0
67	LSU - 1992 - Shaquille O'Neal	1	1	82.5	81.0	-5.0	-0.2
68	Jacksonville - 1970 - Artis Gilmore	1	1	78.0	75.0	-2.0	-0.2
69	San Francisco - 1956 - Bill Russell	0	1	67.0	74.0	4.0	-0.3
70	Ohio St. - 2007 - Greg Oden	2	3	70.2	71.4	0.6	-0.5
71	UTEP (Texas Western) - 1966 - Bobby Joe Hill	2	1	63.7	66.0	6.7	-0.7
72	Pittsburgh - 2009 - DeJuan Blair	1	3	60.0	62.3	2.3	-0.7
73	Marquette - 1977 - Butch Lee and Bo Ellis	1	1	66.0	61.5	-5.0	-0.8
74	Washington - 2006 - Brandon Roy	0	0				-0.8
75	Tennessee - 2023 - Santiago Vescovi	0	0				-0.8
76	Florida State - 1993 - Charlie Ward	0	0				-0.8
77	Marquette - 2003 - Dwyane Wade	2	2	73.3	74.0	0.0	-0.9
78	Florida - 2006 - Joakim Noah	5	3	74.4	72.0	-4.6	-0.9
79	Miami - 2013 - Shane Larkin	0	0				-1.0
80	Marquette - 1971 - Jim Chones	1	2	70.0	72.7	3.0	-1.0
81	Purdue - 1969 - Rick Mount	0	1	86.0	87.0	-2.0	-1.0
82	Connecticut - 1999 - Richard Hamilton	0	2	60.5	73.0	5.0	-1.0
83	Georgia Tech - 2004 - Jarrett Jack	2	3	62.6	67.4	3.8	-1.1
84	Georgetown - 2007 - Roy Hibbert	1	2	76.7	75.3	-1.7	-1.3
85	SMU - 2017 - Semi Ojeleye	0	0				-1.4
86	Duke - 1986 - Johnny Dawkins	0	1	106.0	108.0	-6.0	-1.5
87	Missouri - 1982 - Steve Stipanovich	2	1	73.7	73.3	-1.7	-1.7
88	Marquette - 2023 - Tyler Kolek	1	0	90.0	81.0	-1.8	-1.7
89	Kansas - 1957 - Wilt Chamberlain	1	1	67.5	74.0	2.0	-1.8
90	Creighton - 2023 - Ryan Kalkbrenner	0	0				-1.8
91	Boston College - 2006 - Jared Dudley	0	0				-1.8
92	Arkansas - 2021 - JD Notae	0	0				-1.9
93	San Diego St. - 2023 - Jaedon LeDee	0	0				-2.0
94	Iowa St. - 2014 - DeAndre Kane	0	0				-2.3
95	Miami - 2023 - Norchad Omier	0	0				-2.6
96	Maryland - 1984 - Len Bias	1	1	69.5	68.5	1.5	-2.6
97	St. John's - 1985 - Chris Mullin	0	1	75.0	76.0	0.0	-2.8
98	Stanford - 2008 - Brook Lopez	0	0				-2.8
99	Penn St. - 2018 - Tony Carr	0	0				-2.8
100	San Diego St. - 2011 - Kawhi Leonard	2	2	69.3	71.8	-0.3	-2.9
101	Kansas St. - 2023 - Markquis Nowell	0	0				-2.9
102	Kansas St. - 2008 - Michael Beasley	1	1	75.0	75.5	0.5	-3.0
103	Oklahoma St. - 2004 - John Lucas	1	3	68.8	71.0	-1.5	-3.3
104	St. Mary's - 2023 - Logan Johnson	0	0				-3.3
105	South Carolina - 2017 - Sindarius Thornwell	1	2	65.3	65.7	-2.0	-3.3
106	Marquette - 1994 - Jim McIlvaine	1	0	80.0	78.0	-1.4	-3.4
107	Seton Hall - 2020 - Myles Powell	0	1	78.0	80.0	-3.4	-3.4
108	Northwestern - 2017 - Vic Law	0	0				-3.8
109	Dayton - 2020 - Obi Toppin	1	1	81.5	80.5	-4.0	-3.8
110	Indiana - 2002 - Jared Jeffries	1	3	67.3	72.8	1.3	-4.0
111	Minnesota - 1977 - Kevin McHale	1	1	69.5	68.5	-3.0	-4.2
112	Kentucky - 1948 - Alex Groza	1	1	71.0	81.5	3.0	-4.2
113	Maryland - 2002 - Juan Dixon	1	3	67.0	76.3	0.8	-4.7
114	UNLV - 1987 - Armen Gilliam	0	1	64.0	82.0	-6.0	-4.8
115	DePaul - 1945 - George Mikan	0	1	51.0	55.0	7.0	-4.8
116	Central Florida - 2019 - Joey Graham	0	0				-4.8
117	West Virginia - 2010 - Kevin Jones	1	3	70.3	76.0	0.0	-4.9
118	Oklahoma - 2016 - Buddy Hield	1	3	60.3	67.3	1.3	-4.9
119	Florida Atlantic - 2023 - Johnell Davis	0	0				-4.9
120	Xavier - 2023 - Jack Nunge	0	0				-5.0
121	Iowa - 2002 - Reggie Evans	1	2	71.0	75.3	1.7	-5.0
122	Holy Cross - 1950 - Bob Cousy	1	1	88.0	89.5	-2.0	-5.0
123	St. Joe's - 2004 - Jameer Nelson	1	2	68.3	75.7	-1.7	-5.2
124	Utah - 1998 - Andre Miller	0	1	69.0	79.0	-4.0	-5.3
125	UCLA - 2021 - Jaime Jaquez	0	1	81.0	90.0	-2.9	-5.3
126	UCLA - 2006 - Jordan Farmar	2	3	66.0	72.4	0.4	-5.4
127	Oklahoma St. - 1946 - Bob Kurland	0	1	80.0	82.0	-10.0	-5.5
128	St. Bonaventure - 1970 - Bob Lanier	0	1	64.0	74.0	-6.0	-5.8
129	California - 1959 - Jack Grout	0	1	69.0	71.0	-2.0	-5.8
130	Virginia - 1981 - Ralph Sampson	0	1	61.0	72.0	-3.0	-6.0
131	Texas - 2003 - T.J. Ford	1	2	68.7	76.3	-1.0	-6.0
132	Tennessee - 1977 - Bernard King	1	1	76.0	83.0	1.0	-6.0
133	Seattle - 1958 - Elgin Baylor	0	1	62.0	64.0	0.0	-6.0
134	Georgia Tech - 1990 - Dennis Scott	0	1	64.0	82.0	1.0	-6.0
135	Wichita St. - 2013 - Fred VanVleet	1	2	64.3	71.3	1.7	-6.3
136	Davidson - 2008 - Stephen Curry	1	5	66.7	70.8	0.7	-6.4
137	Alabama - 1977 - Reggie King	0	1	70.0	71.0	-3.0	-6.5
138	TCU - 2023 - JaKobe Coles	0	0				-6.7
139	Notre Dame - 1981 - Orlando Woolridge	0	1	68.0	74.0	4.0	-6.8
140	North Carolina - 2022 - Armando Bacot	0	0				-6.8
141	LSU - 2006 - Glen Davis	1	2	66.3	75.0	-0.7	-6.8
142	Marquette - 2011 - Jimmy Butler	0	1	82.0	87.0	-1.0	-7.0
143	South Carolina - 1973 - Mike Dunleavy	0	1	66.0	72.0	6.0	-7.8
144	Stephen f austin - 2016 - Thomas Walkup	0	1	94.0	95.0	-2.0	-8.0
145	Kansas - 1988 - Danny Manning	0	1	58.0	67.0	-4.0	-8.0
146	Indiana St. - 1979 - Larry Bird	0	1	69.0	76.0	-3.0	-8.0
147	Notre Dame - 1970 - Austin Carr	1	1	67.0	76.5	1.0	-8.2
148	Auburn - 1984 - Charles Barkley	1	1	71.5	77.0	-3.5	-8.4
149	Wyoming - 1943 - Ken Sailors	0	1	60.0	73.0	1.0	-8.5
150	West Virginia - 1959 - Jerry West	0	1	68.0	69.0	-8.0	-8.5
151	La Salle - 1954 - Tom Gola	0	1	67.0	76.0	-3.0	-8.5
152	Brigham Young - 1981 - Danny Ainge	0	1	67.0	77.0	0.0	-8.8
153	Virginia Tech - 1986 - Dell Curry	0	1	81.0	87.0	7.4	-8.8
154	Nebraska - 2014 - Terran Petteway	0	0				-8.8
155	Marquette - 1955 - Terry Rand	0	1	74.0	86.0	0.2	-9.0
156	North Carolina - 1957 - Lennie Rosenbluth	0	1	76.0	89.0	-1.0	-9.0
157	Villanova - 1985 - Ed Pinckney	0	1	65.0	72.0	-2.0	-9.3
158	Navy - 1986 - David Robinson	0	1	61.0	77.0	4.0	-9.3
159	Georgia - 1982 - Dominique Wilkins	1	1	70.0	78.0	-1.0	-9.6
160	George Mason - 2006 - Jai Lewis	0	3	59.3	67.0	0.3	-9.7
161	Kentucky - 1970 - Dan Issel	0	1	116.0	138.0	-4.0	-9.8
162	Murray St. - 2019 - Ja Morant	0	0				-9.8
163	Arizona St. - 1980 - Byron Scott	0	1	64.0	79.0	2.0	-10.3
164	Wake Forest - 2005 - Chris Paul	0	3	64.3	85.3	4.3	-10.3
165	Creighton - 2014 - Doug McDermott	0	3	66.3	80.0	-1.3	-10.5
166	Arkansas - 1978 - Sidney Moncrief	0	1	58.0	79.0	-2.0	-10.5
167	Creighton - 2020 - Ty-Shon Alexander	0	1	72.0	106.0	8.0	-11.3
168	Louisville - 1980 - Darrell Griffith	0	1	52.0	82.0	3.0	-11.5
169	Dayton - 1967 - Don May	0	1	69.0	88.0	1.0	-11.5
170	LSU - 1970 - Pete Maravich	0	1	66.0	67.0	1.0	-12.3
171	VCU - 2011 - Bradford Burgess	0	3	60.3	71.3	1.0	-13.0
172	Clemson - 1987- Horace Grant	0	1	77.0	97.0	-1.0	-13.0
173	Princeton - 1965 - Bill Bradley	0	1	62.0	79.0	-3.0	-13.5
174	Butler - 2010 - Gordon Hayward	0	3	54.7	76.3	4.3	-13.7
175	Loyola-Chicago - 2018 - Cameron Krutwig	0	3	59.3	75.0	1.7	-14.0
176	Miami FL - 1965 - Rick Berry	0	1	104.0	108.0	-16.0	-15.0
177	Niagara - 1970 - Calvin Murphy	0	1	68.0	84.0	6.0	-16.3
178	Princeton - 2023 - Tosan Evbuomwan	0	0				-16.8
179	St. Peter's - 2022 - Doug Edert	0	0				-18.8

The Newest Marquette Team ... MU 2023 BE Champ 90, UCLA 2021 F4 Team 81

Scroll to the bottom for the account of the steals and 3-pointers that led to Marquette 2023 minor upset over UCLA 2021. The three paragraphs below were written before the game as a preview. The updated scores and rankings of the all-time great college basketball teams in the value add game appear here.

Fans who only watch March Madness would assume the UCLA 2021 team that took Gonzaga all the way to overtime in the Final Four would have much better player cards than the Marquette 2023 team that was frustrated by Tom Izzo in a second round loss. And because the Value Add Basketball Game weighs tournament performance disproportionately heavy compared to regular season games, the UCLA cards to appear slightly better. 

However, there is a reason www.kenpom.com still ranked the 2023 Marquette team as slightly better than the 2021 UCLA team. For starters, a very poor 13-14 Marquette 2021 team actually led at UCLA with less than 10 minutes to play in the game before losing. As of selection Sunday, Marquette 2023 was a much better team than UCLA 2021. The Bruins had lost four straight games to finish 4th in the Pac-12 and be eliminated in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament as barely snuck into the tournament as an 11-seed in the play-in game. Meanwhile Marquette had won nine straight to win the Big East Regular season and tournament, including a second win of the season against eventual champ UConn. 

It makes for an interesting game as we start with the blank box score that we will fill in after the game and then add details below.

Marquette 2023	PPG	Ht	Gets Ball	Pts	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fls
Tyler Kolek	13.1	6'3	PG-1&6	14	3	1	0	2
Stevie Mitchell	7.1	6'2	SG-2	8	4	5	0	4
Kam Jones	15.1	6'4	SF-3&7	19	3	0	0	1
Olivier-Maxence Prosper	12.4	6'8	PF-4&8	21	7	0	0	2
Oso Ighodaro	11.5	6'9	C-5	8	3	0	1	2
Sean Jones	3.7	5'10	PG-1&6	2	1	0	0	1
Chase Ross	4.7	6'4	SG-2	9	2	0	0	3
David Joplin	9.4	6'7	SF-3&7	7	2	0	0	1
Keeyan Itejere	0.8	6'9	PF-4	dnp
Ben Gold	2.7	6'11	C-5	2	1	0	0	1
Marquette 10 Turnovers				90	26	6	1	17
UCLA 2021	PPG		Gets Ball	Pts	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fls
Tyger Campbell	10.4	5'11	PG-1&6	13	2	1	0	2
Johnny Juzang	16.0	6'6	SG-2&7	23	3	1	0	2
Jules Bernard	10.3	6'6	SF-3	9	1	0	0	1
Jaime Jaquez	12.3	6'6	PF-4	16	4	0	0	2
Cody Riley	10.0	6'9	C-5&8	10	9	0	3	2
David Singleton	4.7	6'4	PG-1	4	1	0	0	1
Jake Kyman	3.0	6'6	C-5	2	1	0	0	2
Jalen Hill	6.5	6'10	C-5	dnp
Chris Smith	12.6	6'9	SG-2&6	dnp
Jaylen Clark	2.5	6'5	C-5	4	1	0	1	1
UCLA 12 Turnovers				81	22	2	4	13

Here are the actual cards

Marquette 2023 pulls off 90-81 win over UCLA 2021

Kam Jones had the best turnover rating and Marquette always has the best steal rating on the court whether it is Stevie Mitchell or Chase Ross, and that was the difference in Marquette pulling away after trailing 45-48 with 30 possessions (18:04) left to play.

Ross plays from possession 44-28 then Stevie Mitchell from 27-1 in our game, a key because both have the highest steal rating in the game of 11-16, 31 which means they can often steal the ball from anyone on the court. ross hit a 3-pointer to pull within 45-46 before turning it over to Mitchell for the duration.

A couple of possessions later Kam Jones combination of no turnovers on his card (the turnover range is 41-46 with the average player turning it over 41-43 but Mitchell with the rare NONE) and his big 3-pointer range of 1-4. With 27 possessions to go, a "41" would have been a turnover for 95% of all players, but Kam avoided the turnover and drained a 3-pointer to tie the game 50-50. He did the same thing later, meaning twice he turned what would be 0 points for almost every player to 3. 

With Marquette trailing 52-53 Kam missed a shot, but Kolak grabbed an offensive rebound and passed to Omax for a dunk. The next possession Omax hit a 3, and then on the following Mitchell had one of his 5 steals and passed ahead to Kolak who hit a 3-pointer to give Marquette a 60-55 lead they would not give up.

Marquette wins to advance to the round of 21 in our tournament of new teams.

As an alum, I did create seven Marquette teams, more than any other team. Here is their record to date in our game:

Marquette 1955 (Terry Rand)  lost to  Gonzaga  (Drew Timme) 2023 (74 to 86)

Marquette 1971 (Jim Chones)  lost to  Duke (Shane Battier) 2001 (69 to 80)

Marquette 1971 (Jim Chones)  beat  Kansas  (Danny Manning) 1988 (67 to 58)

Marquette 1971 (Jim Chones)  lost to  LSU  (Shaquille O'Neal) 1992 (74 to 80)

Marquette 1977 (Butch Lee)  beat  Utah  (Andre Miller) 1998 (79 to 69)

Marquette 1977 (Butch Lee)  lost to  UTEP-Texas Western  1966 (Bobby Joe Hill) 1966 (53 to 54)

Marquette 1994 (Jim McIlvaine)  will play  Seton Hall  2020 (Myles Powell) 2020

Marquette 2003 (Dwyane Wade)  beat  Creighton  (Doug McDermott) 2014 (84 to 83)

Marquette 2003 (Dwyane Wade)  lost to  Georgetown (Roy Hibbert) 2007 (62 to 74)

Marquette 2003 (Dwyane Wade)  lost to  West Virginia  (Kevin Jones) 2010 (74 to 77)

Marquette 2011 (Jimmy Butler)  lost to  Dayton  (Obi Toppin) 2020 (82 to 87)

Marquette 2023 (Tyler Kolak)  beat  UCLA  2021 (Jaime Jaquez) 2021 (90 to 81)

Overall Marquette 4-7 against all-time great teams

The oldest MU team ... Timme's Zags Hold Off Furious Rally by 1955 Marquette Squad

During Marquette star Terry Rand's one stretch resting on the bench, Drew Timme took full advantage to lead a 14-0 run. Timme started with a bucket and foul for a traditional 3-point play to give the Zags their first lead at 27-26. Malachi Smith then hit two 3-pointers, then Anton Watson followed with another traditional and one bucket and foul shot, and Timme finished with a dunk to make it 39-26.

Marquette's first team to make the Elite 8, in 1955, later put on a huge rally to cut the score to 62-58 but they could get no closer - eventually running out of steam to lose 86-74. 

The rally was started by a bucket and foul by Rand, a steal and fast break score by Russ Wittenberger, then Jerry Hopfensperger had both an offensive rebound and score and then a steal and pass to Rube Schulz for a basket. Rand grabbed two of his game high 13 rebounds and scored on the second one to cut the lead to 62-58, but the Zags eventually pulled away to advance in our tournament.

As a Marquette grad, I did create more Marquette teams than any other team in the Value Add Basketball Game, with the squad from 1955, 1971, 1977, 2003 and 2011 teams combining for a 4-7 record against some of the greatest teams of all time. Jim McIlvaine's 1994 squad will play Myles Powell and the 2020 Seton Hall team whose tournament was cancelled for Covid, and last year's 2023 Marquette squad led by Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek will face the 2021 UCLA Final Four team that actually barely beat a Marquette team with a losing record at UCLA early that season.

WE play matchups a bit, so we do not always have a player at the same position they played on the court. but they get the ball on the 1-5 roll that lines up with their position, plus a 6, 7 or 8 as appropriate.
 

Marquette 1955	PPG	Ht	Gets Ball	Pts	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fls
Don Bugalski	12.6	6'0	PG-1&6	11	2	2	0	2
Jerry Hopfensperger	9.3	6'4	SG-2	8	3	3	1	1
Russ Wittberger	10.1	6'6	SF-3	8	3	1	0	4
Rueben Schulz	14.5	6'6	PF-4&7	14	9	0	1	4
Terry Rand	15.9	6'9	C-5&8	15	13	0	1	4
Dennis Carroll	1.4	5'10	PG-1	2	1	0	0	1
Pat O'Keefe	7	5'10	SG-2	2	1	0	0	1
Bob Van Vooren	4.3	6'0	SF-3	2	2	0	0	1
Bob Walczak	9.5	6'0	PF-4&7	8	3	0	1	2
Dale Sevcik	2.3	6'5	C-5	4	2	1	1	1
MU Turnovers 12	86.9	72.1	sos 1.6	74	39	7	5	21
Gonzaga 2023	PPG	Ht	Gets Ball	Pts	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fls
Rasir Bolton	10.1	6'3	1-PG	11	2	2	0	4
Nolan Hickman	7.7	6'2	2-SG	3	1	1	0	1
Drew Timme	21.2	6'10	3-SF 6&7	24	5	0	1	2
Anton Watson	11.1	6'8	4-PF	9	8	1	0	4
Julian Strawther	15.2	6'7	5-C	20	12	0	1	2
Hunter Sallis	4.5	6'5	1-PG	2	1	0	2	1
Dominick Harris	1.5	6'3	2-SG 6	2	1	0	0	1
Malachi Smith	8.7	6'4	3-SF	11	2	0	0	1
Ben Gregg	5.1	6'10	4-PF 7	2	1	0	0	1
Efton Reid	2.1	6'11	5-C	2	1	0	0	1
Zags Turnovers 12	87.2	73.4	sos 8.1	86	34	4	4	18

for a traditional 3-point play to give the Zags their first lead at 27-26. Malachi Smith then hit two 3-pointers, then Anton Watson followed with another traditional and one bucket and foul shot, and Timme finished with a dunk to make it 39-26.

Marquette's first team to make the Elite 8, in 1955, later put on a huge rally to cut the score to 62-58 but they could get no closer - eventually running out of steam to lose 86-74. 

The rally was started by a bucket and foul by Rand, a steal and fast break score by Russ Wittenberger, then Jerry Hopfensperger had both an offensive rebound and score and then a steal and pass to Rube Schulz for a basket. Rand grabbed two of his game high 13 rebounds and scored on the second one to cut the lead to 62-58, but the Zags eventually pulled away to advance in our tournament.

As a Marquette grad, I did create more Marquette teams than any other team in the Value Add Basketball Game, with the squad from 1955, 1971, 1977, 2003 and 2011 teams combining for a 4-7 record against some of the greatest teams of all time. Jim McIlvaine's 1994 squad will play Myles Powell and the 2020 Seton Hall team whose tournament was cancelled for Covid, and last year's 2023 Marquette squad led by Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek will face the 2021 UCLA Final Four team that actually barely beat a Marquette team with a losing record at UCLA early that season.
 

Marquette 1955	PPG	Ht	Gets Ball	Pts	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fls
Don Bugalski	12.6	6'0	PG-1&6	11	2	2	0	2
Jerry Hopfensperger	9.3	6'4	SG-2	8	3	3	1	1
Russ Wittberger	10.1	6'6	SF-3	8	3	1	0	4
Rueben Schulz	14.5	6'6	PF-4&7	14	9	0	1	4
Terry Rand	15.9	6'9	C-5&8	15	13	0	1	4
Dennis Carroll	1.4	5'10	PG-1	2	1	0	0	1
Pat O'Keefe	7	5'10	SG-2	2	1	0	0	1
Bob Van Vooren	4.3	6'0	SF-3	2	2	0	0	1
Bob Walczak	9.5	6'0	PF-4&7	8	3	0	1	2
Dale Sevcik	2.3	6'5	C-5	4	2	1	1	1
MU Turnovers 12	86.9	72.1	sos 1.6	74	39	7	5	21
Gonzaga 2023	PPG	Ht	Gets Ball	Pts	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fls
Rasir Bolton	10.1	6'3	1-PG	11	2	2	0	4
Nolan Hickman	7.7	6'2	2-SG	3	1	1	0	1
Drew Timme	21.2	6'10	3-SF 6&7	24	5	0	1	2
Anton Watson	11.1	6'8	4-PF	9	8	1	0	4
Julian Strawther	15.2	6'7	5-C	20	12	0	1	2
Hunter Sallis	4.5	6'5	1-PG	2	1	0	2	1
Dominick Harris	1.5	6'3	2-SG 6	2	1	0	0	1
Malachi Smith	8.7	6'4	3-SF	11	2	0	0	1
Ben Gregg	5.1	6'10	4-PF 7	2	1	0	0	1
Efton Reid	2.1	6'11	5-C	2	1	0	0	1
Zags Turnovers 12	87.2	73.4	sos 8.1	86	34	4	4	18

Urias Suspended as Statis-Pro and MLB Playoffs Aligned Except for Cubs (in actual MLB) and Giants (in actual Statis-Pro)

The suspension of Julio Urias hurts the Dodgers Statis-Pro rotation, where he was the No. 2 starter as part of our only 4-man rotation of PB 2-8 starters. They still have two PB 2-8 starters going for their series with the Twins with Tony Gonsolin and Bobby Miller moving up from No. 3 and 4 to No. 2 and 3. However, in the next series against the Phillies it will hurt as Lance Lynn, only an average PB 4-7, will step into the No. 4 slot against the Phillies.

In our league, we use player cards unless a player is put on the 60-day DL, is dropped from the 40-man roster, or is unlikely to pitch again during the actual MLB season. Reports today are that Urias is not predicted to pitch again this year. All of our pitching match-ups for our last 13 series are listed below. The series do not need to be played in order, and it is fine if one team has played more games than another and is in a different part of their rotation since in such a case the match-up is still balanced because one team could be starting their 1st and 4th best pitcher while the other could be starting their 2nd and 3rd best pitcher.

The Urias suspension gives the Phillies a shot at our playoffs, with a better chance for a win in that game to follow the drubbing of the Marlins put our Statis-Pro standings in very close alignment with the actual Major League Baseball standings as most of our teams are through 60 of their 72 game season. The Padres were relegated after 48 games for missing the .400 mark, leaving nine Statis-Pro teams competing for six playoff spots. 

If both playoffs started today, we would have the same two byes in Statis-Pro and the MLB season (Braves and Dodgers) and three of the same four wildcard series (only the Giants would be in our Statis-Pro playoffs while the Cubs would be in the actual MLB playoffs).  The four teams in bold still have one series to finish their fifth time through their 4-man rotation. After that, each team has two more series, counting as 12 games total and going through their 4-man rotation one last time before our playoffs.

 

Seed	MLB Playoff Seeds Today	Statis-Pro Playoff Seeds Today	Wins	Losses	W%
1	Atlanta Braves	Los Angeles Dodgers (v. Det)	36	18	0.667
2	Los Angeles Dodgers	Atlanta Braves (v. Oak)	32	22	0.593
3	Milwaukee Brewers	Milwaukee Brewers	33	27	0.550
4	Philadelphia Phillies	Arizona Diamondbacks (v. SF)	28	26	0.519
5	Chicago Cubs	San Francisco Giants (v. AZ)	27	27	0.500
6	Arizona Diamondbacks	Philadelphia Phillies	30	30	0.500
	Next 4	Next 4	Wins	Losses	W%
7	Miami Marlins	Miami Marlins	30	30	0.500
8	Cincinnati Reds	Chicago Cubs	28	32	0.467
9	San Francisco Giants	Cincinnati Reds	27	33	0.450
10	San Diego Padres	SD Padres (relegated after 19-29)	19	29	0.395

Series 10 (No. 2 and No. 3 starters, next to last start) 

Ari vs. SF (Merrill Kelly and Tommy Henry vs. Alex Cobb and Alex Wood) 

Atl vs. zOak (Charlie Morton and Max Fried vs. Ken Waldichuk and Adrian Martinez) 

LAD vs. zmin (Tony Gonsolin and Bobby Miller vs. Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda) 

Series 11 (No. 1 and No. 4 starters for last appearance) 

ChC vs. Mia (Mark Leiter and Jameson Taillon vs. Sandy Alcantara and Johnny Cueto) 

Phi vs. LAD (Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sanchez vs. Clayton Kershaw and Lance Lynn) 

Series 11.5 (No. 1 and 4 starters for 1st team listed, No. 2 and 3 for 2nd team listed) 

Cin vs. zKC (Andrew Abbott and Brandon Williamson vs. Kris Bubic and Daniel Lynch) 

Atl vs. SF (Spencer Strider and Kyle Wright vs. Alex Cobb and Alex Wood) 

Mil vs. Mia (Corbin Burnes and Eric Lauer vs. Trevor Rogers and Johnny Cueto) 

Ari vs. zLAA (Zac Gallen and Brandon Pfaadt vs. Tyler Anderson and Patrick Sandoval) 

SF vs. ChC (Logan Webb and Sean Manaea vs. Justin Steele and Marcus Stroman) 

Series 12 (No. 2 and 3 starters for both teams) 

Ari vs. Atl (Merrill Kelly and Tommy Henry vs. Charlie Morton and Max Fried) 

Mil vs. Phi (Brendon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta vs. Aaron Nola and Michael Lorenzen) 

Cin vs. LAD (Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo vs. Tony Gonsolon and Bobby Miller) 

Teams' winning percentages average about .025 overall in our Statis-Pro season because they do not play the relegated teams as often as during the actual Major League system. From among our three .500 teams now, the Giants get the top (5th) spot due to being 9-3 against the Phillies and Marlins, then the Phillies get the 6th spot because of sweeping the Marlins. The Phillies do have to face the Brewers and Dodgers their last two series.

The Marlins challenge is I accidentally used up excellent rookie Perez' last start against the Phillies, meaning a much weaker Cueto card will need to start twice in the last four games. The Giants series against the Diamondbacks is obviously key.

Click for the free Statis-Pro Master Baseball Game. Click here for 60 of the all-time great MLB teams, or on teams of many of the all-time great players on teams by nation or state with one sheet for each team. Or click on the 2023 pitchers and 2023 batters in card form. You simply print two teams cards and then either print theaster link above and fast action cards in master link or buy the dice to start playing. 

If you are playing the current 2023 season, you can use these optional adjustments for 149 players who were playing much better or worse than than their projected 2023 pitchers or 2023 batters in card form.