ESPiN Sportsnation Rankings of Greatest BBall Programs Ever

[dsturdy5]

Not bad for the second best program in New England...right Mr. Amaker?

Amaker never said that, it was Goodman.

 

[dogfan96]

Do I think UCLA would have went on that same tournament run in a field of 64? No. Does that diminish their greatness and accomplishments? No.

But Sam Gilbert buying all those players, does.

 

[2Infinity]

Not bad for the second best program in New England...right Mr. Amaker?

He didn't say that, did he?? I hope I'm just misunderstanding what you meant, because how could anyone who wants to be respected in the game, possibly say that?? Then again, he went to Dook & he's now in the city where most everyone thinks they're at the center of the universe... never mind just New England.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

But Sam Gilbert buying all those players, does.

I agree on this. Even with Gilbert, UCLA would have won 4 to 6 Championships during that period, not 10, if they had to play a 64 game tournament. Look at some of their Final 8 opponents over that stretch.

 

[RabidHusky]

Amaker never said it. I used his name to hint at Harvard.

 

[epark88]

One of the sweetest things about our 4 championships is that 2 were taken from the grasp of Duke and 2 were taken from the grasp of Kentucky. Duke wins in 99 and 04 if not for UCONN and Kentucky IMO wins in 2011 and 2014 if not for UCONN.

Duke and Kentucky have a bad taste of UCONN in their mouth.

Edit: so does Calipari. Call it the Camby revenge.

Tweet of the year:
We took the stairs @NoEscalators
UConn has single-handedly stopped four Duke and Kentucky titles. YOU ARE WELCOME AMERICA.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

My ranking:

1) Kentucky - lots of titles by lots of different coaches.
2) Duke
3) UNC
4) UConn
5) Kansas - only 3 rings?
6) Louisville
7) Michigan State
8) UCLA - 1 championship in close to 40 years, they are on their way down this list
9) Indiana - trophy case is also getting a little dusty
10) Florida - Donovan has 2 rings, Boeheim has 1.

Syracuse - need to seal the deal more often
Arizona - Miller has to make a Final Four
Michigan - too many deep down years between good ones
Ohio State - need to win one to make the Top 15
Georgetown - JTIII's Final Four is fading in the rearview mirror
Villanova - I expected Wright to have a ring by now.
Cincinnati - Having one of the greatest players in basketball history, 53 years ago, does not make it a great program
Maryland and Arkansas - penthouse to outhouse does not take long. Mike Anderson will get Arkansas back to the top of the SEC in the next couple of years. Maryland is just another program now.

 

[phillionaire]

we don't have enough titles from the 50s when it was an 8 team tournament

 

[Tk79]

I wrote another post on this but looks like it might get lost. I created my own model to "analyze" this program rank question. I updated it this morning.

Results of the update: If you use my "tournament" weightings (50% # of chips, 25% # of FFs, 15% # of Sweet 16s, 10% # of tourney wins) then UConn ranks as the #3 program over the past 30 years, the #2 program over the past 20 years, and the #1 program for the past 11-17 years. Top 5 over 20 years are, in order - Kentucky, UConn, UNC, Duke, Kansas. Over 30 years the names stay the same but the order switches a little - Duke, UNC, UConn, Kentucky, Kansas.

Kansas is a distant 5th in both cases. For the other 4 programs, you can make a credible argument for any of them as the best just by changing timeframe, so it really is take your pick. Kentucky, Duke, UNC - that, ladies and gentlemen, is our peer set now. Nobody else. How 'bout that!

 

[TouchdownHusky]

I was thinking more about how the hell Syracuse is even on that list?

Who? I thought that was a football school. Don't they have Jim Brown, Larry Czonka and D. McNabb coming back this fall? Oh wait . . . . they are irrelevant even more so in football. Good thing they have a lock on broadcasters.

 

[Senore]

 

[zls44]

How is Arizona behind Georgetown and Syracuse?

WERENT THE 80S THE BEST THO