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Mike Miller

Mike Miller has been NBCSports.com's college basketball editor since 2003. It's a position he relishes; no wonder considering he transferred to Kansas to watch Paul Pierce play. Most of his favorite sports memories involve college hoops, usually during March, when every waking moment is spent thinking about March Madness.



The greatest programs: A postmortem

Posted: Thursday, October 09, 2008 7:55 PM
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It feels like I’m a student again, sitting down to write a “How I spent my summer” essay.

The last 26 weeks of ranking the greatest college basketball programs was a fun, enriching and, at times, difficult experience that was one of the best ways to spend the summer doldrums of college hoops.

It certainly beats reading the endless glut of campaign stories…

The rankings, which started here and finished Tuesday with Kentucky assuming the No. 1 spot, probably weren’t perfect (what is?), but in the end, I hope everyone enjoyed my assessments and learned something about each school that they didn’t before.

(My favorite factoid: Sandy Koufax earned a hoops scholarship at Cincinnati. As if Koufax’s athletic career wasn’t impressive enough.)

As readers discussed here, sometimes I made some errors (thanks for the corrections, and your patience) or left out some good facts. Some disagreed with the methodology, and maybe they were correct. I’ll stick with the final results.

Ultimately, it was a ranking system that rewarded consistency and multiple periods of great basketball, not just one or two excellent eras. That’s how Illinois ended up ahead of Michigan State and UCLA behind Kansas and North Carolina, among others (and were the two most heavily discussed programs).

Next time, maybe it’ll just be ranking during the NCAA tournament era. But that’s for another summer season. For now, I’ll leave you with the top 50, including final point totals from the 11 categories. I’ve left notes besides each team indicating what their biggest factors were.

Keep reading!

1.    Kentucky, 64. ‘Cats among top 4 in 9 categories. Even if Billy Gillispie doesn’t reach a Final Four soon, UK isn’t dropping on this list anytime soon.

2.    North Carolina, 87. Heels 2nd or 3rd in six areas. Only hurt by NIT, though they fared better than KU or UCLA there.

3.    Kansas, 119. ‘Hawks were top 5 in 10 categories, including No. 1 in conference titles and recent dominant seasons. NIT showing kept it from No. 2.

4.    UCLA, 124. Bruins’ 11 titles, 18 Final Fours and 72 NBA players were tops. Recent seasons, NIT showings were significant factors for fourth.

5.    Duke, 127. Devils have best NCAA tourney win percentage. Speaks volumes for how dominant they’ve been lately. Need more conference crowns (21) to move up.

6.    Indiana, 156. Five NCAA titles are behind only UK and UCLA. But Hoosiers could fall behind Louisville overall due to recent slippage.

7.    Louisville, 166. Cards do it all well, ranking among top 30 in every category. Top 10 in five. Another Final Four or title would move them up.

8.    Arizona, 189. ‘Cats haven’t missed NCAAs since ’84. Also don’t have an NIT win. What happens when Olson leaves?

9.    Syracuse, 210. Overall consistency helps Orange. Recent NCAA misses and long run as independent (no conference titles) don’t.

10. Connecticut, 219. Multiple NCAA titles and recent excellence key to Huskies’ rise. So do 28 conference crowns.

11. Cincinnati, 239. ‘Bearcats’ multiple NCAA trophies and Huggins’ era were key here.

12. Utah, 250. Respect the Utes. They were great in ‘40s (NCAA and NIT title) and awesome under Majerus.

13. Villanova, 253. ‘Cats quietly snuck in here. Solid in everything, great in NBA players, recent success and NIT.

14. Illinois, 274. Illini here because of top 15 showings in wins, win percentage, recent success, Final Fours, Big Dance appearances and NBA players.

15. Michigan State, 279. Proud recent history (2 titles since ’79, awesome in NCAAs) can’t overcome poor overall mark (almost 60 teams have a better win percentage). They’ll likely pass Illinois this season.

16. Georgetown, 290. Hoyas weren’t a factor until mid-‘70s. Also could pass Illini this season.

17. Arkansas, 299. Six Final Fours, 29 tourney appearances and 26 conference titles. Lacking in NIT and recent success.

18. Ohio State, 312. One of two schools really hurt by NCAA sanctions. Lost 76 wins and a Final Four berth.

19. St. John’s, 324. Once-proud program (owns the NIT and is top 10 in wins, win percentage and NBA players) needs some recent success.

20. UNLV, 330. Tarkanian responsible for most of Rebels’ success (NCAA title, 4 Final Fours, 3rd-best win percentage), but Kruger is doing his part.

21. Texas, 338. Football scores scores behind Barnes’ and Penders’ recent success, conference crowns (25) and overall wins.

22. Notre Dame, 344. No conference titles? Make it up with overall wins, NCAA tourney appearances, NBA players and NIT success.

23. Temple, 352. Another Big Five school, which is 6th in wins, but lacking in Final Fours and conference titles.

24. Oklahoma, 364. Consistency – a top 30 mainstay in most areas – boosts Sooners.

25. N.C. State, 367. Two titles and plenty of wins, but nothing lately.

26. Marquette, 372. Been to Big Dance often, but could use some conference crowns.

27. Oklahoma State, 375. Two NCAA titles, but Cowboys have been up and down lately.

28. Purdue, 383. Somehow didn’t mention Boilermakers in initial post. An oversight. Two Final Fours and no NCAA titles kept them from top 25.

29. Michigan, 401. Another early omission. Wolverines’ NCAA penalties cost them more than 100 wins and two Final Fours. Otherwise, top 20 program.

30. Western Kentucky, 409. Lots of conference crowns (26) and 7th in win percentage.

31. Memphis, 417. As long as Calipari sticks around, Tigers will keep climbing.

32. Maryland, 428. Good in NCAA tourney (4 Final Fours, better win percentage than Louisville).

33. Wisconsin, 430. An NCAA title and haven’t missed Big Dance since ’98, 6th best current streak.

34. Florida, 440. This is what happens when you win back-to-back titles.

35. West Virginia, 448. Lots of wins.

36. Penn, 454. Quakers have wins (8th) and conference crowns (3rd most).

37. BYU, 461. Excellent in every but Big Dance.

38. Princeton, 469. Just like Penn, but without the Final Four.

39. St. Joe’s, 476. Fourth school from Big Five. Bravo, Philly.

40. Stanford, 480. If Montgomery had stayed, Cardinal may have been in top 25.

41. Bradley, 483. Once proud power has been to two Final Fours.

42. Kansas State, 489. Four Final Fours make up for pitiful ‘90s and 2000s.

43. Iowa, 510. Hawkeyes have wins, and 3 Final Fours.

44. Wake Forest, 518. Could be big year in Winston-Salem.

45. California, 521. Not much since Bears won NCAA title in ’59.

46. Xavier, 532. Musketeers rising behind recent tourney success.

47. LSU, 542. Four Final Fours and plenty of NBA players.

48. Missouri, 558. Stewart built a hoops school, but it didn’t last.

49. San Francisco, 563. Two NCAA titles won’t keep Russell’s alma mater in top 50 much longer.

50. Houston, 585. Cougars have five Final Fours.

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Comments

Overall your scoring system is simplistic but not a bad method.  However, three of the categories used are very questionable when ranking programs all-time.

NIT wins are relevant prior to the 1980s but since are only an indication that the program was mediocre in the year accumulated.  Wins prior to the 1980s should be judged on a sliding scale.  For example, Kentucky’s 1946 NIT title is certainly relevant and probably on par with an NCAA title.  Louisville’s 1956 title is probably on par with an NCAA Final Four.  North Carolina’s 1971 title is probably on par with a NCAA Sweet 16.  Also, some conferences used to prohibit their members from playing in post-season tournaments other than the NCAA.  For example, the Big Eight and ACC did not allow participation in the NIT until the late 1960’s.  All NIT wins can not be counted equally, and do not fairly conform to your ranking methodology.  It’s no coincidence that the top programs faired poorly in the NIT category.  Success in the NIT is not necessarily an indication of greatness.

If you are going to rank teams all-time, why give extra weight to recent performance?  Why should a 25-win season in the last 15 years be considered but a 30-win season in 1940s or early 1990s be ignored?  And why consider last NCAA tourney missed as a category?  Arizona is number one in this category but nearly missed the 2008 tourney.  If they had missed, how far down in your overall rankings would they have dropped (1 point vs 66 points) and does it seem fair that they may have dropped (or been as high as they are in the first place) based on a relatively obscure stat?

I think you should have just used the other eight categories as they have merit when talking about all-time great programs.

Mark, Kansas (Sent Monday, October 13, 2008 12:34 PM)

How can my #1 ranked Pitt Panthers, who have been in the top 3 in the Big East for 10 years now not even be mentioned?  The Panthers have been successful in the past as well.

Ry (Sent Monday, January 05, 2009 3:15 PM)

How can you have California, BYU, Utah, Kansas State, Xavier, and Bradley in your top 50 but not UTEP?  UTEP has a National Championship, and a much better resume than any of these other schools listed above.  (Certainly better than Utah and BYU.  We played in the same conference for years.  How can you not include a team that was coached by Hall of Fame Coach Don Haskins?  Rick Majerus had a few good years in Utah but he is no Don Haskins.  Ask him, he will agree.

Darryn Clark, El Paso, Texas (Sent Sunday, February 15, 2009 3:46 AM)

How about Duquesne University who integrated college basketball back in 1955 with Sihugo Green?  

TJ Morrill, The Hague, NL (Sent Monday, February 23, 2009 6:38 AM)

Darryn from El Paso,
Utah has been a solid basketball program since the 40's.  Even when Texas Western won NCAA in 66, Utah was there first game in final four.  They lost by six minus their second leading scored who was injured.  Jerry Chambers was the tournament MVP.  Utah has a winning record against UTEP.  They have only been domninated by 3 teams in College basketball, Kentucky (2-9), North Carolina (2-7), and Notre Dame (0-5).  Jack Gardner was actually a better coach than Majerus, he took Utah to final four twice, and is in the basketball Hall of Fame.  Utah has been to the final four, 4 times and won once. I do agree with you that UTEP should be up there close to Utah, but I think "Of all Time"  Utah has the much better program.  I love Haskins as a coach.

HL MCGee, Las Vegas,NV (Sent Thursday, March 26, 2009 5:57 PM)

In perusing your past blogs, I decided to re-read a few of your greatest teams posts, and I gotta say I’m impressed with the detailed analysis of each team.  Besides, the comments alone on UNC and Kansas were enough to make some good reading and an enjoyable summer.  I wonder if there will be a follow up modern era list, since IMO an all encompassing list never makes for a fair comparison.  I mean nobody besides a critic snob actually thinks Citizen Kane is the best movie of all time compared to many of the films we seen in the modern era, so how can we actuarially compare the performances of Kentucky or UCLA from a generation ago to the Duke’s and UNC’s of the modern era?  Are the 20’s Bears better than the 60’s Packers or Patriots in the first part of the decade - probably not if you put them on the same field with their era’s limitations.  So, with that said - when the readers get to see a follow up of the best teams in the modern era.  Just wondering.  

Steve, Houston TX (Sent Monday, October 05, 2009 11:17 AM)



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