The University of Notre Dame boasts the most successful combined men’s and women’s basketball programs of any institution in the country-whether the teams are compared by combined Associated Press rankings, combined victories, combined winning percentage or combined NCAA graduation rates.
The numbers are based on the 21 programs that earned selection to both the men’s and women’s brackets in the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships. Five of those programs have both men’s and women’s teams alive for the NCAA Sweet 16 rounds this weekend.
Notre Dame ranks atop the standings in four combined categories:
- Associated Press poll rankings (based on March 16 poll): Notre Dame women were #2, men were #8.
- Victories: 64 (Notre Dame women have 33, men have 31). That qualifies as the all-time Irish combined record, topping the numbers from 2012-13 when the women finished 35-2 and the men ended up 25-10 (for a combined 60).
- Winning Percentage: .901, based on a combined 64-7 record for the two Notre Dame teams (women are 33-2, men are 31-5).
- Graduation Success Rate figures: Both the Notre Dame men’s and women’s programs featured perfect 100 figures in the combined four-year individual sport graduation rates released by the NCAA in October 2014.
There are only seven institutions that ranked in both the final regular-season Associated Press men’s and women’s basketball polls last week-and Notre Dame boasts the best combined rankings (four of the seven schools came from the Atlantic Coast Conference):
— Associated Press Poll Rankings
School | Men’s Rank | Women’s Rank | Combined Ranks |
1. Notre Dame | 8 | 2 | 10 |
2. Kentucky | 1 | 11 | 12 |
3. Maryland | 12 | 4 | 16 |
4. Duke | 4 | 16 | 20 |
5. Baylor | 16 | 5 | 21 |
6. Louisville | 17 | 8 | 25 |
7. North Carolina | 15 | 15 | 30 |
Italics indicate schools with both teams alive this week in the NCAA Sweet 16. All four compete in the ACC.
Here’s how the 21 programs with teams in both the men’s and women’s NCAA brackets rank in terms of combined wins, with Notre Dame at the top:
— Victories
School | Men’s Wins | Women’s Wins | Combined Wins |
1. Notre Dame | 31 | 33 | 64 |
2. (tie) Kentucky | 36 | 24 | 60 |
2. (tie) Maryland | 28 | 32 | 60 |
2. (tie) Gonzaga | 34 | 26 | 60 |
5. Wichita State | 30 | 29 | 59 |
6. Baylor | 24 | 32 | 56 |
7. (tie) Duke | 31 | 23 | 54 |
7. (tie) Dayton | 27 | 27 | 54 |
9. Louisville | 26 | 27 | 53 |
10. North Carolina | 26 | 26 | 52 |
11. (tie) Iowa | 22 | 26 | 48 |
11. (tie) BYU | 25 | 23 | 48 |
11. (tie) Ohio State | 24 | 24 | 48 |
14. Boise State | 25 | 22 | 47 |
15. (tie) Arkansas | 27 | 18 | 45 |
15. (tie) Oklahoma | 24 | 21 | 45 |
15. (tie) N.Mex. St. | 23 | 22 | 45 |
18. Texas | 20 | 24 | 44 |
19. Iowa State | 25 | 18 | 43 |
20. LSU | 22 | 17 | 39 |
21. Oklahoma State | 18 | 20 | 38 |
Italics indicate schools with both teams alive this week in the NCAA Sweet 16.
Here’s how the 21 schools with representatives in both NCAA brackets rank in terms of combined winning percentage, with Notre Dame again at the top:
— Winning Percentage
School | Men’s Record | Women’s Record | Combined Win % |
1. Notre Dame | 31-5 | 33-2 | .901 (64-7) |
2. (tie) Maryland | 28-7 | 32-2 | .869 (60-9) |
2. (tie) Gonzaga | 34-2 | 26-7 | .869 (60-9) |
4. Wichita State | 30-4 | 29-5 | .867 (59-9) |
5. Kentucky | 36-0 | 24-10 | .857 (60-10) |
6. Baylor | 24-10 | 32-3 | .811 (56-13) |
7. Duke | 31-4 | 23-10 | .794 (54-14) |
8. Louisville | 26-8 | 27-6 | .782 (54-15) |
9. Dayton | 27-9 | 27-6 | .782 (54-15) |
10. North Carolina | 26-11 | 26-8 | .732 (52-19) |
11. Iowa | 22-12 | 26-7 | .716 (48-19) |
12. BYU | 25-10 | 23-10 | .705 (48-20) |
13. New Mexico St. | 23-11 | 22-8 | .703 (45-19) |
14. Boise State | 25-9 | 22-11 | .701 (47-20) |
15. Ohio State | 24-11 | 24-11 | .685 (48-22) |
16. Oklahoma | 24-10 | 21-12 | .671 (45-22) |
17. Arkansas | 27-9 | 18-14 | .6617 (45-23) |
18. Iowa State | 25-9 | 18-13 | .6615 (43-22) |
19. Texas | 20-14 | 24-10 | .647 (44-24) |
20. LSU | 22-11 | 17-14 | .609 (39-25) |
21. Oklahoma State | 18-14 | 20-12 | .593 (38-26) |
Italics indicate schools with both teams alive this week in the NCAA Sweet16.
Here’s how the 21 schools with teams in both NCAA brackets rank in terms of combined GSR, with Notre Dame again at the top:
— Graduation Success Rate
School | Men’s GSR | Women’s GSR | Combined GSR |
1. (tie) Notre Dame | 100 | 100 | 200 |
1. (tie) Duke | 100 | 100 | 200 |
1. (tie) Dayton | 100 | 100 | 200 |
4. (tie) Iowa | 100 | 92 | 192 |
4. (tie) Maryland | 100 | 92 | 192 |
6. Texas | 100 | 90 | 190 |
7. Kentucky | 89 | 100 | 189 |
8. Gonzaga | 91 | 92 | 183 |
9. Oklahoma | 77 | 100 | 177 |
10. Baylor | 92 | 80 | 172 |
11. BYU | 82 | 86 | 168 |
12. Iowa State | 64 | 100 | 164 |
13. (tie) N.Carolina | 88 | 69 | 157 |
13. (tie) Wichita St. | 64 | 93 | 157 |
15. Boise State | 69 | 79 | 148 |
16. Louisville | 58 | 89 | 147 |
17. Ohio State | 53 | 92 | 145 |
18. LSU | 50 | 92 | 142 |
19. Arkansas | 55 | 75 | 130 |
20. Oklahoma State | 22 | 63 | 85 |
21. New Mexico St. | 13 | 63 | 76 |
Italics indicate schools with both teams live this week in the NCAA Sweet 16.
The 2014 GSR numbers cover grant-in-aid student-athletes who enrolled between 2004 and 2007 at all Division I institutions.
The Notre Dame men’s basketball team already has established a modern record for victories in a season with 31 to date. The previous high was a 27-7 mark in 2010-11. (The all-time record came in the 1908-09 season at 33-7.)
The Irish women’s team now has won at least 30 games in five straight seasons-including 31-8 in 2010-11, 35-4 in 2011-12, 35-2 in 2012-13 and 37-1 in 2013-14.
Both the Notre Dame men’s and women’s basketball teams won their respective 2015 ACC Championship titles in Greensboro. That marks the 13th time in ACC history that the same institution claimed both basketball championships in the same year–and the first time since 2011 when Duke did it. The only four ACC schools to accomplish that feat are Notre Dame, Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State.
The Notre Dame women’s team won both the ACC regular-season title and the ACC Championship crown in both 2014 and 2015.
In terms of NCAA seeding, the Irish women in 2015 received a #1 seed, while the men earned a #3 seed. That’s the best combined seeding at Notre Dame since 2011 when the women were #2 and the men were #2.
The only schools whose men’s and women’s teams both made it to the 2015 NCAA Sweet 16 bracket are Notre Dame, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina and Gonzaga-with four of the five coming from the ACC.
The ACC has five men’s teams (Notre Dame, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville and North Carolina State) and five women’s teams (Notre Dame, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville and Florida State) in the NCAA Sweet 16.
— by John Heisler, senior associate athletics director