Which schools had the best and worst years in the two major sports? Ranked from 1 to 130, all college football and basketball combinations. Who had the most fun?
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On the field and court, whose fans had the most fun?
Other sports might be a big deal to certain schools. They might be great revenue generators that bring in plenty of attention, but when it comes to what athletic departments need, it’s really all about college football and men’s basketball.
One key part to this – football is a bigger deal than basketball. It drives the budgets.
Winning divisions and conference championships matter, but not as much as performances in the bowls and the NCAA Tournament. If a hoops team had a mediocre record but got to the Sweet 16, that makes a bigger difference than a team that had a big regular season and fizzled out fast.
130 schools played both FBS college football and D-I college basketball. Going from the ones that couldn’t come up with a winning season in either big sport, to the ones that didn’t make the post-seasons that matter, to the ones that were great in one and bad at another, to the ones that rocked in both, here they all are.
2018-2019 Hoops & Helmets
Losers in Both Sports | Good Hoops, No Gridiron
One Great Sport | Winners In Both Sports
Bowls & NCAAs | Top Ten
2017-2018 | CFN Spring Rankings
Losers In Both Sports
These schools suffered the indignity of failing to come up with a winning season in either of the two major sports. The fans didn’t get to have any fun.
130. San Jose State Spartans
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 128
Football: 1-11 overall, 1-7 in conference, 6th in M-West West
Basketball: 4-27 overall, 1-17 in conference, 11th in Mountain West
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? It doesn’t get a whole lot uglier than finishing the basketball season on a 1-21 run, except for the football program that one just one game. 121 of the team’s 255 points game in three games.
129. UTEP Miners
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 130
Football: 1-11 overall, 1-9 in conference, T6th in C-USA East
Basketball: 8-21 overall, 3-15 in conference, 14th in C-USA
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? Absolutely brutal in both sports, the Miners finished dead last in the Conference USA basketball standings and managed just one win in football – its first in two seasons. The hoops team lost its last six games and 12 of the last 14.
128. Rice Owls
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 127
Football: 2-11 overall, 1-7 in conference, T6th in C-USA West
Basketball: 13-19 overall, 8-10 in conference, T9th in C-USA
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? The Owls lost to UTEP in football. There were two wins, but it was still a brutally ugly season for a program that’s having a problem finding its way. The basketball team didn’t have a whole lot of fun, either, but it was at least competitive in conference play. It just couldn’t find anything that consistently worked, going 6-10 in the finishing kick.
127. East Carolina Pirates
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 126
Football: 3-9 overall, 1-7 in conference, in AAC East
Basketball: 10-21 overall, 3-15 in conference, 11th in AAC
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? The school should be a whole lot better in both sports. It died down the stretch in basketball, losing its last five games and 15 of the last 17. The football program had a few okay moments, but there weren’t enough of them winning just one game in conference play.
126. UMass Minutemen
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking:
Football: 4-8 overall
Basketball: 11-21 overall, 4-14 in conference, T12th in A-10
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? Brutal in basketball, the Minutemen lost 16 of their last 20 games and was a big dud in Atlantic-10 play. The football team at least had a fun offense, but the wins weren’t there, leading to a coaching change.
125. Navy Midshipmen
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 59
Football: 3-10 overall, 2-6 in conference, T5th in AAC West
Basketball: 12-19 overall, 8-10 in conference, T5th in Patriot
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? Can the football team get its groove back? It’s more than just losing to Army – the offense isn’t working in American Athletic play, either. There were some good basketball wins late, but not enough of them as the team couldn’t pull up out of the nosedive with 11 losses after the turn of the year.
124. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 124
Football: 1-11 overall, 0-9 in conference, 7th in Big Ten East
Basketball: 14-17 overall, 7-13 in conference, T10th in Big Ten
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? Can the Scarlet Knights ever turn this around in football? It’s in one of the toughest divisions in college football, but it was a punching bag in a 1-11 season. The basketball team didn’t do much, either, dropping eight of its last 11 games.
123. UConn Huskies
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 121
Football: 1-11 overall, 0-8 in conference, in AAC East
Basketball: 16-17 overall, 6-12 in conference, T9th in AAC
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? The basketball program is a hot mess. finishing ninth in the American Athletic Conference and getting bombed late in the year. Randy Edsall’s football program took the idea of a bad defense to another level in a disastrous one-win season.
122. Charlotte 49ers
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 129
Football: 5-7 overall, 4-4 in conference, 4th in C-USA East
Basketball: 8-21 overall, 5-13 in conference, 13th in C-USA
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? The 49ers collapsed in a big way late in the basketball season, losing 16 of 19 games during a brutal stretch to finish near the Conference USA basement. The football team kept fighting, but still had a losing year without two wins in a row.
121. Colorado State Rams
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 83
Football: 3-9 overall, 2-6 in conference, 5th in M-West Mountain
Basketball: 12-20 overall, 7-11 in conference, T7th in Mountain West
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? The year was a giant bag of ugh. The football team never got going despite a shocking win over Arkansas. It started 1-4 and lost its last five games. The basketball team had just as rough a time, losing its last four games with just eight wins in the final 27 games.
120. New Mexico Lobos
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 95
Football: 3-9 overall, 1-7 in conference, 6th in M-West Mountain
Basketball: 14-18 overall, 7-11 in conference, T7th in Mountain West
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? The football team never took off after an 0-4 start and with a slew of key injuries. Even so, the Lobos should’ve been better than a 1-5 finishing kick. The basketball side couldn’t get anything going, either, with a 2-10 late-season run that killed the campaign.
119. Illinois Fighting Illini
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 125
Football: 4-8 overall, 2-7 in conference, 7th in Big Ten West
Basketball: 12-21 overall, 7-13 in conference, T10th in Big Ten
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? The Illini had some hope as 2019 came around with a nice run of wins, but it dropped six of its last eight games in yet another losing season. The football team has been building under Lovie Smith. And building. And building. And losing.
118. Ball State Cardinals
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 99
Football: 4-8 overall, 3-5 in conference, 5th in MAC West
Basketball: 16-17 overall, 6-12 in conference, 5th in MAC West
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? The Cardinals got off to a nice start in basketball, and then the air went flying out of the balloon, losing 13 of the last 18 games. The football team couldn’t get going in a 4-8 year that didn’t go anywhere.
117. Air Force Falcons
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 115
Football: 5-7 overall, 3-5 in conference, 4th in M-West Mountain
Basketball: 14-18 overall, 8-10 in conference, 6th in Mountain West
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? The Falcons couldn’t get the basketball season going, with too many mini-losing streaks and a 3-7 finish to end with a sub-.500 campaign. The football team started 1-3 and never established any positive consistency.
116. South Alabama Jaguars
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 120
Football: 3-9 overall, 2-6 in conference, 4th in Sun Belt West
Basketball: 17-17 overall, 8-10 in conference, 8th in Sun Belt
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? It was a disappointing and rough year in football – the season never got going. The basketball team might have struggled in conference play, but it came on late to at least get to .500.
115. SMU Mustangs
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 57
Football: 5-7 overall, 4-4 in conference, 4th in AAC West
Basketball: 15-17 overall, 6-12 in conference, T9th in AAC
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? The Mustangs fell short in both sports. The hoops side died in the second half, losing nine games in ten late in the year, and the football team lost its last two games when it needed just one more win to go bowling.
114. Wyoming Cowboys
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 56
Football: 6-6 overall, 4-4 in conference, 3rd in M-West Mountain
Basketball: 8-24 overall, 4-14 in conference, 10th in Mountain West
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? The football team couldn’t score until it was too late. It went 6-6 and got bowl eligible, but it missed out on the post-season fun after a rough 2-6 start. The basketball team won two of its last three games, but it only won six in the previous 29.
113. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 123
Football: 5-7 overall, 2-6 in conference, 4th in Sun Belt East
Basketball: 17-17 overall, 9-9 in conference, T6th in Sun Belt
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? It was a strange season in both sports. The football team started 5-3, but lost its last four games to close out with a clunk. The basketball side lost seven of its last ten regular season games, but got into the CBI Tournament and won a few games.
112. Miami University RedHawks
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 110
Football: 6-6 overall, 6-2 in conference, T2nd in MAC East
Basketball: 15-17 overall, 7-11 in conference, 5th in MAC East
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? The football team caught a bad break. It won its final three games to became bowl eligible, but there weren’t enough MAC bowl spots. The basketball team was okay, right up until it hit a late-season wall – losing its last four games and six of its last eight – to finish with a losing record.
111. Arizona Wildcats
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 19
Football: 5-7 overall, 4-5 in conference, T3rd in Pac-12 South
Basketball: 16-17 overall, 8-10 in conference, T8th in Pac-12
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? After a great 2018 in both sports, the basketball team crashed with a losing season, and the football side started with a dud against BYU and ended with a loss to Arizona State to miss out on a bowl game.
110. USC Trojans
2018 Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 31
Football: 5-7 overall, 4-5 in conference, T3rd in Pac-12 South
Basketball: 16-17 overall, 8-10 in conference, T8th in Pac-12
How Were The Football/Basketball Seasons? What was that? The basketball team dropped five of its last six and eight of its last 11 games for a losing season, and the football team lost its last three games and five of its last six – including to UCLA – to finish with a loser of a season, too.
