With this being Championship Week and the tournament being right around the corner, I got to thinking about some of the great teams in NCAA history, and I’ve come to a decision:
The 1995-96 Kentucky Wildcats were the greatest college team ever. They were 34-2, winning 27 straight at one point and became the first team since Alabama in the 1950s to go undefeated in the SEC. Of the 15 players on the roster, 9 played in the NBA and 7 are still there: Ron Mercer, Antoine Walker, Tony Delk, Walter McCarty, Derek Anderson, Mark Pope and Nazr Mohammed.
The only two losses that season were to UMass and Mississippi State, both Final Four teams.
Jeff Sagarin’s ratings say that this was the best team ever, too. I realize I may be a bit biased, being a member of Big Blue Nation, but is there a better team than those 'Cats?
First off, this was the second year in a row of winning the whole thing; Kentucky was unable to repeat. Another reason is the same one that caused the Olympic team to be such a disaster. While I didn’t get a chance to see the dons play(obviously), I would immagine they played great small ball and knew the fundamentals better than any team in recent history. I don’t know though, just my choice.
As far as Kentucky not repeating, it took overtime for Arizona to narrowly beat what was left of this team after Walker, Delk and McCarty left and Derek Anderson blew his knee out. And the 1998 team did win, making it 2 championships in 3 years (and should have been 3 straight.)
UCLA Bruins 1967-69. Lost only three games in three years. Lou Alcindor, of course, plus Lynn Shackleford, Lucius Allen, Mike Warren, and Sidney Wicks.
Although they didn’t win and their rep has taken a pretty sever beating considering the pay-offs, money scandals, etc…I would still nominate the Michigan Fab Five from 1992 (and 1993) who lost the championship to UNC that year. Chris Webber, Jimmy King, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, and Ray Jackson.
See, now this is a matchup I’d have love to seen. Wooden vs. Pitino, old-school vs. new-school. I think Alcindor would have eaten Nazr Mohammed and Walter McCarty alive, but I don’t know that they could match up with Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer and Derek Anderson, plus Jeff Sheppard’s outside shooting would be a tough test.
The '76 Hoosiers? Looking at their roster, they don’t look that strong, but Sagarin has them at #2, so maybe.
The Fab Five are definitely tainted by the scandals that have come out. They were good, but I don’t know that they deserve to be called the best after all that.
brianjedi: Look, Guy: I’m an SEC fan and having Kentucky ancestors, I pull for the Wildcats when they’re not playing Auburn. But…
Did you ever SEE those UCLA teams with Alcindor, Walton or Wicks? Ten championships in twelve years.
Old school? Full court press for 40 minutes, and if you happened to break it, forget the basket anyway because your shot got swatted away.
No contest, pick one of the Wizard of Westwood’s teams from those years and lay this discussion to rest.
I’m willing to buy a Wooden UCLA team as a worthy challenger. I still say that would be one hell of a game. Remember, Pitinoball was all about pressing, too, but the 'Cats had the advantage of 3-point shooting, too.
I wonder if one of the NCAA basketball video games has the '96 Cats and one of the Alcindor UCLA teams. That would be an interesting matchup.
It’s interesting that you say you’d like to have seen that match-up. I had an idea for a fantasy NCAA tournament and ended up trying to find a mix between the best 65 (ended up eith 68) teams, the most interesting stories and a few of the best players/teams never to play in the tournament. I’ll be happy to send anyone the bracket as it stood before the first round of play-in games.
The four #1 seeds in my (seedings done by me, so there are bound to be strong disagreements, and some places where it just looks like I’m flat-out wrong) tournament were 1990 UNLV, who ran the table, 1967 UCLA, who have already been cited in this thread, 1979 Michigan State and 1956 San Francisco. Other notables (and from 64 remaining teams, this is going to be a relatively short list):
2 seeds 1957 Kansas 1991 Duke 1979 Indiana State 1982 North Carolina
What? You think those UCLA teams didn’t have outside shooters? Keith Wilkes, Henry Bibby and plenty of others whose names I’ve forgotten could shoot the long ball with anybody. Trying to zone them was folly.
If there had been a three-point line back then, they’d have drilled 'em because they were making the same shots, just not getting 3 points for them.
I just don’t think your Kentucky team dominated the opposition in anything like the manner that those UCLA teams did.
Would this matchup be played with freshman eligibility or without? If you play it with freshman eligibility, then the UCLA teams are enhanced beyond their already incredible capabilities. If you play it without, Kentucky loses the services of Mercer, Mohammed and Turner, among others.
