March 17, 2015

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 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 upcoming NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships.

Notre Dame ranks atop the standings in four combined categories:

  • Associated Press poll rankings (based on March 16 poll): Notre Dame women are #2, men are #8.
  • Victories: 60 (Notre Dame women have 31, men have 29). That ties the all-time Irish combined record from 2012-13 when the women finished 35-2 and the men ended up 25-10.
  • Winning Percentage: .895, based on a combined 60-7 record for the two Notre Dame teams (women are 31-2, men are 29-5).
  • 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 rank in both the Associated Press men’s and women’s basketball polls this week – and Notre Dame boasts the best combined rankings (four of the seven schools come 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

Here’s how the 21 teams from both 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 29 31 60
2. (tie) Kentucky 34 23 57
2. (tie) Maryland 27 30 57
2. (tie) Wichita State 28 29 57
5. Gonzaga 32 24 56
6. Baylor 24 30 54
7. (tie) Duke 29 21 50
7. (tie) Dayton 25 25 50
9. Louisville 24 25 49
10. (tie) N. Carolina 24 24 48
10. (tie) BYU 25 23 48
12. Boise State 25 22 47
13. Ohio State 23 23 46
14. (tie) Iowa 21 24 45
14. (tie) N. Mexico State 23 22 45
16. (tie) Arkansas 26 17 43
16. (tie) Iowa State 25 18 43
18. (tie) Oklahoma 22 20 42
18. (tie) Texas 20 22 42
20. LSU 22 17 39
21. Oklahoma State 18 20 38

Here’s how the 21 teams from 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 29-5 31-2 .895 (60-7)
2. (tie) Maryland 27-6 30-2 .876 (57-8)
2. (tie) Wichita State 28-4 29-4 .876 (57-8)
4. Kentucky 34-0 23-9 .863 (57-9)
5. Gonzaga 32-2 24-7 .861 (56-9)
6. Baylor 24-9 30-3 .818 (54-12)
7. (tie) Duke 29-4 21-10 .781 (50-14)
7. (tie) Dayton 25-8 25-6 .781 (50-14)
9. Louisville 24-8 25-6 .777 (49-14)
10. BYU 25-9 23-9 .727 (48-18)
11. New Mexico State 23-10 22-7 .725 (45-17)
12. Boise State 25-8 22-10 .723 (47-18)
13. North Carolina 24-11 24-8 .716 (48-19)
14. Iowa 21-11 24-7 .714 (45-18)
15. Ohio State 23-10 23-10 .696 (46-20)
16. Iowa State 25-8 18-12 .682 (43-20)
17. Arkansas 26-8 17-13 .671 (43-21)
18. Oklahoma 22-10 20-11 .667 (42-21)
19. Texas 20-13 22-10 .646 (42-23)
20. LSU 22-10 17-13 .629 (39-23)
21. Oklahoma State 18-13 20-11 .612 (38-24)

Here’s how the 21 teams from 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 State 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

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 29 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 Tournament 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 Tournament 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.