BYU Ranked No. 41 All-Time by ESPN/Sagarin

PROVO -- BYU’s winning tradition that includes 28 regular season conference titles, 24 NCAA Tournament appearances and two NIT titles (1951 and 1966) has earned the program a No. 41 ranking out of 330 programs in the ESPN/Sagarin All-Time Rankings. Cougar basketball has an all-time record of 1,578-994—good for 21st all-time in total victories.

Including hall-of-famers Danny Ainge and Kresimir Cosic, 26 All-Americans have suited up for the Cougars. Ainge—a member of he GTE Academic All-America Hall of Fame—is the most decorated of the bunch, earning All-America honors in each of his four seasons while earning John Wooden and Eastman player of the year honors as a senior. In 1981 he hit the most memorable shot in BYU basketball history, a buzzer-beater against Notre Dame that sent the Cougars to the East Regionals.

Cosic has been described as the “first great international player to play college basketball in the United States” by former CBS analyst Billy Packer. He was an All-American while at BYU and played on four Olympic teams for Yugoslavia, winning a gold medal in 1980 and two silver medals in 1968 and 1976. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in 1996.

Stan Watts brought BYU basketball to national prominence in the 1950s and 1960s. During his 23 years at the helm of the Cougar basketball program, Watts led his teams to two NIT National Championships (1951, 1966) and oversaw the construction of the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse and the Marriott Center. He finished his career with an overall record of 371-254. Watts was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986.

Current head coach Dave Rose has added to BYU’s winning tradition in his first four seasons at the helm, leading the Cougars to an NIT appearance in year one and three-straight NCAA bids since then. He is 97-34 overall, on pace to be the fastest BYU coach to 100 career victories. Rose has led the Cougars to three-straight Mountain West Conference titles—BYU’s first string of three-straight league titles since 1932-34—and is 51-13 in league play (.797).

For the complete rankings, click here.

For more information on the rankings, click here for an article by ESPN.com's Andy Katz.