ESPN's top 300 D-I basketball programs

**beamer_ball** · July 22nd, 2008, 11:34 PM

Countdown from 300 since '84, currently down to Nos. 31-40....

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/index

***UVA: T-70, ETSU: T-82, UT: 99, VT: 210

**Biggin** · July 23rd, 2008, 01:44 AM

35. ALABAMA

**titans_1_2005** · July 23rd, 2008, 09:06 PM

etsu ahead of ut and tech.. thats awesome and so funny

**gcdevil22** · July 23rd, 2008, 11:49 PM

and a big reason why lists like that don't have any substance

**1inStripes** · July 24th, 2008, 12:15 AM

Well they are just basing it on tournament experience over the past 20 years or so. ETSU probably has as many or more NCAA tourney appearances as VT and UT combined.

**gcdevil22** · July 24th, 2008, 12:57 AM

and if VT and UT played in the SoCon and Atlantic Sun, their numbers would be inflated too...

their logic is flawed...and if anyone believes that ETSU is 130 programs better than VT (or better than VT in general) then the argument ends here

VT basketball hasn't been worth anything on the national scene since 1985, but to pretend that ETSU is one of the top 1/3 of the college basketball world and better than half the ACC is ignorant...just plain ignorant

**1inStripes** · July 24th, 2008, 02:58 PM

Its just comparing tourney ratings, not overall. Besides, other than the past couple of seasons, theres generally not been a big difference between ETSU and VT. Late 80s, early 90s, ETSU would have controlled that series. VT did beat ETSU when they played from 94-99 or so, but ETSU would have taken them in the early part of this decade I would think. Since Bartows second year, I would have given VT the nod again. Not a lot of disparity over 20+ years really. ETSU has benefitted from being in a weaker conference, but they did what they had to to make the tourney and VT and UT have not as often in the past.

**aoa_stripes** · July 24th, 2008, 09:44 PM

I would say they`re about even to me as well

**gcdevil22** · July 24th, 2008, 09:52 PM

"doing what you have to do" is a lot easier in the SoCon than the Big East or ACC

you can't make an argument that ETSU "would have controlled the series in the earlier part of the decade" all you have to go by is when they did play and VT winning those...which wasn't exactly VT's brightest time in basketball

this ranking doesn't include the time VT made it to the Elite 8 or won the NIT in the 70's...so no, as a whole, the ETSU program cannot and should not be compared to VT...it's not close and the only people who would think so live within a 2 hour radius of the school

**Indian09** · July 24th, 2008, 09:57 PM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: vthokie22</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> all you have to go by is when they did play and VT winning those...which wasn't exactly VT's brightest time in basketball
</div></div>

Well if they didnt have a bright time, why should the be higher on the list? The numbers are set up fair and for the most part make sense.