Cal Basketball's 7-Win Improvement Is Best Among Teams From Major Conferences
Cal won’t fulfill first-year coach Mark Madsen’s stated goal of executing the biggest one-season turnaround in college basketball history.
But the Golden Bears, 10-14 so far this season after staggering to a three-win campaign a year ago, have made the biggest improvement of any program from a major conference that won fewer than 10 games in 2022-23.
At nearly three-quarters of the way through the schedule, the Bears are plus-7 for an impressive 233-percent improvement with seven regular-season Pac-12 games to play.
Here's a glance at how the six teams from major conferences who won fewer than 10 games a year ago have progressed. Their NCAA NET computer ranking is also provided:
Did we expect better than this? Maybe. Certainly Madsen did when he predicted Cal would engineer a record jump from one season to the next.
And yes, Cal has dropped a lot of close games. But the other way to look at this is the Bears had very few close games in recent years. Progress is undeniable.
At 15-8, Minnesota has the most victories this season of any major program that had single-digit wins a year ago. But the Golden Gophers were 9-22 last season, so they sit at plus-6.
Traditional hoops power Louisville, a stunning 4-28 last season, has doubled that total to eight wins for a plus-4 score.
Among programs in mid-major or small conferences, no one has enjoyed a bigger revival than Green Bay, which has improved from 3-29 to 17-9.
Here's a glance at how teams from mid-major or small conferences who won fewer than 10 games a year ago have progressed:
We split the teams into two groups because comparing teams from power leagues to those in the small conferences is apples and oranges. Provides no context to the competition level.
As evidence, Green Bay, despite its glowing record as a member of the Horizon League, is ranked No. 174 by the NCAA’s NET computer. Cal, still four games under .500, is at No. 124 because of a tougher schedule.
Likewise, Evansville, 15-10 and a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, has jumped from 5-27 to 15-10 and has a NET ranking of 178. Cal State Northridge of the Big West, which has flipped 7-25 to 16-9, is No. 204, according to the NET.
Cover photo of Mark Madsen by D. Ross Cameron, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
