Busting Brackets
Fansided

Belmont Basketball: Are the Bruins the best program in the state of Tennessee?

By Jason Burgess

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 20: The cheerleaders of the Belmont Bruins watch on against the Virginia Cavaliers during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Time Warner Cable Arena on March 20, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Bob Leverone/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 20: The cheerleaders of the Belmont Bruins watch on against the Virginia Cavaliers during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Time Warner Cable Arena on March 20, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Bob Leverone/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

What Rick Byrd has been able to accomplish with Belmont Basketball makes the Bruins the top team in Tennessee.

There are 12 Division I institutions in the state of Tennessee, few if any have had a history of sustained success that can match that of Rick Byrd and Belmont University. Byrd has been the Bruins’ coach since the 1986-87 season and has seen them grow from an NAIA powerhouse to a perennial NCAA Tournament contender in one-bid leagues like the Atlantic Sun and Ohio Valley.

In 10 years heading Belmont as an NAIA school, Byrd compiled a record of 254-86 to go along with nine trips to the NAIA playoffs, including back-to-back trips to the NAIA semifinals. After those trips, Belmont began a five-year transition to Division I, competing as an independent. Getting acclimated to a higher level of competition proved difficult as the Bruins finished above .500 just twice.

In 2001 Byrd and the Bruins began its affiliation with the Atlantic Sun conference. They seemingly needed one more season of adjustment, because they finished just 11-17. 2002 is where the Bruin dominance truly began. In the 10 years that followed, Byrd has led Belmont to no worse than a 3rd place finish while compiling a record of 217-105, sending the team to five NCAA Tournaments, an NIT, and a CIT appearance. In 2012 Belmont moved from the Atlantic Sun to the Ohio Valley, different conference, same results. In their six seasons in the OVC the Bruins have five 1st place finishes and a 2nd last year despite finishing 15-3 in the conference. Those six seasons resulted in two trips to the NCAAs and three to the NIT.

More from Busting Brackets

That’s 12 post-season berths in 16 years. Parsing the Belmont basketball history even further, since 2005 the Bruins have had 13 straight seasons where they finished either first or second, including 10 first place finishes. The only schools in the state that can match those numbers are Memphis, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt who all have the luxury of playing in leagues that have a long history that are awarded multiple bids to the NCAA and NIT Tournaments.

Any of the other 11 teams in the state would gladly take those numbers. When taking into account the fact that year-in and year-out Byrd and the Bruins have the pressure of knowing that, if they don’t win a regular season or conference tournament title, there will likely be no national postseason. Add in the fact that rarely if ever does Belmont recruit the same type of student-athlete as the Memphises, Tennessees, and Vanderbilts of the world.

Next: Predicting 2K ratings for 2018 NBA Draft rookies

Byrd and Belmont have been a perfect match for 32 years now and he has shown no signs of slowing down. What Byrd has been able to accomplish over the past 17 seasons is remarkable, and in this writer’s opinion, puts them at the top of the in the Volunteer state over that time.