Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Iona First To 300, Has MAAC's Top Winning Pct.

When the Iona men's basketball team earned a 79-71 victory over Loyola this past Sunday, it was widely reported to be the 300th victory in the program's history, the most of any MAAC program.

What exactly does that mean?

It means the Gaels have been around awhile, as an original league member when the conference was formed prior to the 1981-82 season.

But, only three other programs have been in the MAAC since its beginning. Comparing Iona's overall victory total against a 10-team league in which only three others have been around as long as the Gaels is like making the proverbial comparison between apples and oranges.

The better measure of how Iona's program measures up is overall winning percentage.

And, in that measurement, Iona comes out on top, too.

The Gaels have 202 losses against those 300 victories, a winning percentage of 59.76 percent, best of all the 10 current conference teams.

Siena, which joined the league in 1989, is next with a 233-165 record as a MAAC member, a winning percentage of 58.54%.

Here's how the rest of the MAAC's men's teams rank, in order, for winning percentage (league games only) over their respective time in the conference.

- Rider (157-123) 56.07%
- Niagara (218-180) 54.77%
- Fairfield (240-262) 47.81%
- Manhattan (238-264) 47.41%
- Saint Peter's (227-275) 45.22%
- Marist (123-157) 43.93%
- Canisius (158-240) 39.70%
- Loyola (144-254) 36.18%

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