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Mike Lindsley’s Top 10 programs in men’s college basketball history:
1. UCLA
The dynasty built by John Wooden will never again be duplicated. The “Wizard of Westwood’s” club won 10 championships in 12 seasons from 1964 to 1975, including seven straight from 1967-73 (Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton helped). UCLA won 88 straight games from 1971-74. They’ve appeared in 13 NCAA title games, been to 18 Final Fours and have had 54 winning seasons. Their title in 1995 gave the program some modern success, as did three Final Four appearances from 2006-08 under Ben Howland. The Bruins will need to have some big time success in the next 10-20 years to keep this place, however.
2. Kentucky
Despite an average decade in the 2000s by Wildcat standards, Kentucky is #1 in wins and winning percentage. The Wildcats won their 2,000th game on December 19, 2009 with an 88-84 win over Drexel. UK has won seven national championships and been to 13 Final Fours. The school has had plenty of great eras, including the 1996-1998 dynasty that won two championships (lost to Arizona in 1997). Adolph Rupp and Rick Pitino are Hall of Fame coaches and Tubby Smith (1997-2007) had no problem handling the pressure after Pitino. Kentucky is probably the most attractive job when it opens in college basketball, even though the school hasn’t reached the Final Four since 1998. This program needs to get moving though, like UCLA, to stay ahead of the next few programs. An Elite 8 appearance was good in 2010, but not great because it’s Kentucky.
3. Kansas
The Jayhawks have been another golden standard of college basketball. From Phog Allen to Roy Williams as head coach and Wilt Chamberlain to Danny Manning as players, Kansas may just be the most consistent program over the longest time. 13 Final Fours. Three NCAA titles. Five NCAA Tournament runner-ups. Most recently, Kansas won it all in 2008 and has been one of the leaders in recruiting the last 20 years. They always get piles of All-Americans and can get any recruit in America. Don’t forget, the game of basketball was invented by its first coach, Dr. James Naismith.
4. North Carolina
11 Player of the Year winners have given the Tar Heels star power in college basketball. Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Phil Ford, Jerry Stackhouse and Tyler Hansbrough to name a few. Legends Dean Smith and Roy Williams have been stars on the Chapel Hill sidelines as well. These names and others have given UNC five national championships. The Heels have been the dominant team in the ACC as well, capturing 17 tournament titles and 27 regular season titles. Carolina has been to the NCAA Tournament 41 times. The two most impressive statistics? A record 31 20-win seasons at one point and 18 Final Four appearances.
5. Duke
You could make the argument that the single most important coach to a program outside of John Wooden at UCLA is Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K single-handedly turned the program into a power starting in the early 1980s. Duke had only been to four Final Fours (1963, 1964, 1966, 1978) and had never won a title. All of a sudden, Duke showed up in the Final Four 11 more times (11th in 2010) and won four titles in 1991, 1992, 2001 and 2010 and was runner-up four times under Coach K. As of the 2008-09 NBA season, Duke had more players on NBA rosters than any other school. 18 ACC tournament champions and 19 regular season titles don’t hurt either. People have hated Duke more out of jealousy than anything else, and that is a true accomplishment in sports because you know you’ve proved plenty.
6. Indiana
The Hoosiers are slightly behind Duke because players didn’t leave early when Indiana was dominating college hoops. History still places Indiana here and rightfully so. The Hoosiers are still the last team to go undefeated in a championship-winning season (32-0 in 1975-76). The program has five NCAA titles, three under Bobby Knight (1976, 1981 and 1987). They have reached the Final Four eight times, the last coming in 2002. Something needs to happen quickly though, because Indiana has been a non-factor since then. Guards Isiah Thomas and Steve Alford helped carry the program to the top years ago, and the Hoosiers need a few recruits to do the same today.
7. Syracuse
They have one title in 2003, but Syracuse is the 5th winningest team in history and the all-around success of this program validates its spot. They have done it for a long time with great players in the always tough Big East. Four Final Fours, seven Elite 8 appearances and a host of Sweet 16’s. SU was also the NCAA title runner-up in 1987 and 1996. Jim Boeheim, the former SU backcourt teammate of Dave Bing, is arguably the most loyal coach in the game and built the program starting with recruiting Louis Orr and Roosevelt Bouie. The names on the Hill since that time have been staggering: Pearl Washington, Derrick Coleman, Sherman Douglas, Billy Owens, Lawrence Moten, Etan Thomas, Carmelo Anthony. The Orange has won the Big East regular season seven times and the Big East Tournament five times. Finally, you have annual record-setting crowds at the famous Carrier Dome and the new Carmelo Anthony Basketball Center. This program has been a monster and will continue to be that way for years to come.
8. Michigan State
Toughness, rebounding and defense have created a winning mentality through the years for the Spartans. Two national championships in 1979 and 2000, eight Final Four appearances and 11 Elite 8 spots. You can’t say enough about the job Jud Heathcote did as coach from 1976-95 and Tom Izzo after that. Izzo does more with less better than any head man in America. Michigan State is the model program in the Big 10 and a team no one wants to ever face in March.
9. Connecticut
“People don't mention him that much when they talk about great coaches.” "He has done more in taking a program from the Yankee Conference to the top of college basketball than anybody else who has ever done it at any school. If you look at the other great programs, they were great before the coaches got there."
-Jim Boeheim, February 11, 2010, after Syracuse’s 72-67 win over UConn.
Boy is Boeheim right. UConn men’s basketball=Jim Calhoun. The Huskies joined the newly-created Big East Conference in 1979 but were nothing until Jim Calhoun arrived in 1986. Since then, Connecticut has had nothing but amazing success. Two championships in 1999 and 2004. Nine Elite 8 appearances. 15 Sweet 16’s. The players are endless. Cliff Robinson, Donyell Marshall, Tate George, Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton, Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor. Connecticut is the fourth best program of the last 25 years behind North Carolina, Kansas and Duke. That is how much success they’ve had in such a short time and why the Huskies needed to make this list.
10. Arizona
The Wildcats beat out Louisville, Georgetown, Villanova and Cincinnati for one simple reason: They have been consistently good to great for over two decades. As of 2009, Arizona had made the NCAA Tournament 25 straight times. In that span, the team has at times dominated the Pac-10 with 11 regular season titles and four tournament crowns. ‘Zona won it all in 1997 and was runner-up in 2001 (lost to Duke). Head coach Lute Olson recruited to his system as well as anyone over the years by grabbing a bunch of high-flying, athletic players like Sean Elliot, Richard Jefferson and Gilbert Arenas to go along with versatile guards like Mike Bibby and Miles Simon. It paid off. The Wildcats won a lot and round out the Top 10 programs in men’s college basketball history.
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