Which College Teams Are Best Of All Time?
Debate Best NCAA Basketball Squads From Duke To UCLA
By Eric Fleming, Contributing Writer
Each Final Four not only gives college basketball fans a new champion but also a fresh contender for the title of best team of all time.
But deciding which team is worthy of laying claim to that title is anything but a slam dunk.
Some schools peak at the perfect time to win big and then fade away, while others, such as Kansas, Kentucky and Duke, seem to be in contention year after year.
To make our list, a team must have won at least one national title -- eliminating teams such as the Michigan Wolverines of 1992 and 1993, which made the finals both years but failed to win the whole thing.
So, sorry Chris Webber, you won't find your Fab Five team on the following list, but take a timeout to see which teams did make the cut.
The 1990 UNLV squad boasted future NBA players Stacey Augmon, Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony and Anderson Hunt. Ranked No. 1 at the beginning of the season, the Runnin' Rebels finished the season with a 35-5 record, but it was their work in the NCAA tournament that garnered their inclusion on this list.
Aside from a nail-biting two-point victory over Ball State in the third round, UNLV ran away with the tournament, winning their first-round game by 30 points over Arkansas Little Rock, trouncing Ohio State by 11 in the second round, then rebounding from the close victory by defeating Loyola Marymount by 30 to earn a spot in the Final Four.
They followed up that victory by beating Georgia Tech by nine points, then demolished the Duke Blue Devils -- who would go on to win back-to-back titles the next two years -- by 30 to capture their only national championship.
Since 1976, no team has gone undefeated for an entire season, including the NCAA tournament.
A few teams, such as UNLV in 1990-91 and St. Joseph's in 2003-04, have had perfect regular seasons, but have failed to win the title. Indiana, by virtue of an unblemished 1975-76 season, not to mention stars such as Scott May, Quinn Buckner and Bobby Wilkerson (and the always entertaining Bobby Knight as coach), earned a spot on this list.
Not only did they roll through the season undefeated, but they also were the first squad to ever defeat a conference opponent in the national title game.
Although teams since Indiana have boasted more star power in the NBA (the North Carolina teams from the early 1980s and Michigan squads of the early 1990s sent bigger names to the NBA), this Indiana Hoosiers squad has stood the test of time. Until some other team completes a perfect season, its spot on this list is safe.
In the '60s and '70s, if you were a basketball fan, you were used to dominate teams.
Whether it was the NBA's Boston Celtics -- winners of 11 titles between 1957 and 1969 -- or the UCLA Bruins in college -- which won 10 titles between 1964 and 1975, repeating as champion seemed, if not easy, then ridiculously commonplace.
But parity soon became the rule in basketball. In the NCAA, it took until 1992 for the next repeat champions.
The Blue Devils (dominated in the 1990 finals by UNLV, then victorious against Indiana in 1991) racked up an impressive 28-2 record going into the 1992 tournament.
The team's biggest stumbling block was in the tourney's regional finals, where it took a desperation pass by Grant Hill and a miracle shot by Christian Laettner to defeat Kentucky. Duke followed that win with a squeaker against Indiana, before defeating Michigan's Fab Five to finish off their back-to-back titles.
If it weren't for recruiting violations that kept North Carolina State out of the 1973 tournament despite a perfect 27-0 regular season, the Wolfpack could have likely won back-to-back titles of their own.
But, as it was, the Wolfpack bounced back the following year, thanks to the leadership of David Thompson, a high-flying forward considered among the greatest college basketball players ever -- who also happened to be the subject of those recruiting violations.
The team dropped only one game during the 1973-74 regular season, and that was to defending national champion UCLA.
The Wolfpack managed to avenge that lone loss with a 80-77 double-overtime win over UCLA in the national semifinals before going on to beat Marquette 76-64 for the national championship.
Cementing the team's spot on our list is its 103-100 overtime win over No. 4 Maryland in the 1974 ACC Tournament finale, considered one of the best college basketball games of all time.
In compiling this list, it became clear that anyone attempting to quantify greatness in college basketball must include multiple UCLA Bruins squads from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s.
As mentioned before, the Bruins won 10 titles in a span of 12 years, with a record-setting four of those teams completing undefeated seasons. Their regular-season winning streak at one point reached 88 games between 1971 and 1974.
These UCLA teams boasted such all-time greats as Lew Alcindor (later to become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Bill Walton, Sidney Wicks, Curtis Rowe, Keith Wilkes and others. In addition, leading these elite teams was John Wooden, to this day looked upon by many as the greatest coach in basketball history.
With such greatness, it's impossible to choose between the 1969 champions featuring Alcindor and the 1973 champions led by Bill Walton. But why choose? These teams were great enough that's there's room for both at the top.
Each Final Four not only gives college basketball fans a new champion but also a fresh contender for the title of best team of all time.
But deciding which team is worthy of laying claim to that title is anything but a slam dunk.
Some schools peak at the perfect time to win big and then fade away, while others, such as Kansas, Kentucky and Duke, seem to be in contention year after year.
To make our list, a team must have won at least one national title -- eliminating teams such as the Michigan Wolverines of 1992 and 1993, which made the finals both years but failed to win the whole thing.
So, sorry Chris Webber, you won't find your Fab Five team on the following list, but take a timeout to see which teams did make the cut.
No. 5: 1989-90 UNLV Runnin' Rebels
The 1990 UNLV squad boasted future NBA players Stacey Augmon, Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony and Anderson Hunt. Ranked No. 1 at the beginning of the season, the Runnin' Rebels finished the season with a 35-5 record, but it was their work in the NCAA tournament that garnered their inclusion on this list.
Aside from a nail-biting two-point victory over Ball State in the third round, UNLV ran away with the tournament, winning their first-round game by 30 points over Arkansas Little Rock, trouncing Ohio State by 11 in the second round, then rebounding from the close victory by defeating Loyola Marymount by 30 to earn a spot in the Final Four.
They followed up that victory by beating Georgia Tech by nine points, then demolished the Duke Blue Devils -- who would go on to win back-to-back titles the next two years -- by 30 to capture their only national championship.
No. 4: 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers
Since 1976, no team has gone undefeated for an entire season, including the NCAA tournament.
A few teams, such as UNLV in 1990-91 and St. Joseph's in 2003-04, have had perfect regular seasons, but have failed to win the title. Indiana, by virtue of an unblemished 1975-76 season, not to mention stars such as Scott May, Quinn Buckner and Bobby Wilkerson (and the always entertaining Bobby Knight as coach), earned a spot on this list.
Not only did they roll through the season undefeated, but they also were the first squad to ever defeat a conference opponent in the national title game.
Although teams since Indiana have boasted more star power in the NBA (the North Carolina teams from the early 1980s and Michigan squads of the early 1990s sent bigger names to the NBA), this Indiana Hoosiers squad has stood the test of time. Until some other team completes a perfect season, its spot on this list is safe.
No. 3: 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils
In the '60s and '70s, if you were a basketball fan, you were used to dominate teams.
Whether it was the NBA's Boston Celtics -- winners of 11 titles between 1957 and 1969 -- or the UCLA Bruins in college -- which won 10 titles between 1964 and 1975, repeating as champion seemed, if not easy, then ridiculously commonplace.
But parity soon became the rule in basketball. In the NCAA, it took until 1992 for the next repeat champions.
The Blue Devils (dominated in the 1990 finals by UNLV, then victorious against Indiana in 1991) racked up an impressive 28-2 record going into the 1992 tournament.
The team's biggest stumbling block was in the tourney's regional finals, where it took a desperation pass by Grant Hill and a miracle shot by Christian Laettner to defeat Kentucky. Duke followed that win with a squeaker against Indiana, before defeating Michigan's Fab Five to finish off their back-to-back titles.
No. 2: 1973-74 North Carolina State Wolfpack
If it weren't for recruiting violations that kept North Carolina State out of the 1973 tournament despite a perfect 27-0 regular season, the Wolfpack could have likely won back-to-back titles of their own.
But, as it was, the Wolfpack bounced back the following year, thanks to the leadership of David Thompson, a high-flying forward considered among the greatest college basketball players ever -- who also happened to be the subject of those recruiting violations.
The team dropped only one game during the 1973-74 regular season, and that was to defending national champion UCLA.
The Wolfpack managed to avenge that lone loss with a 80-77 double-overtime win over UCLA in the national semifinals before going on to beat Marquette 76-64 for the national championship.
Cementing the team's spot on our list is its 103-100 overtime win over No. 4 Maryland in the 1974 ACC Tournament finale, considered one of the best college basketball games of all time.
No. 1 (tie): UCLA Bruins -- 1968-69 And 1972-73
In compiling this list, it became clear that anyone attempting to quantify greatness in college basketball must include multiple UCLA Bruins squads from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s.
As mentioned before, the Bruins won 10 titles in a span of 12 years, with a record-setting four of those teams completing undefeated seasons. Their regular-season winning streak at one point reached 88 games between 1971 and 1974.
These UCLA teams boasted such all-time greats as Lew Alcindor (later to become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Bill Walton, Sidney Wicks, Curtis Rowe, Keith Wilkes and others. In addition, leading these elite teams was John Wooden, to this day looked upon by many as the greatest coach in basketball history.
With such greatness, it's impossible to choose between the 1969 champions featuring Alcindor and the 1973 champions led by Bill Walton. But why choose? These teams were great enough that's there's room for both at the top.
