Beyond the Arc : Greatest hoops programs

Rankings guaranteed to infuriate/delight you

Mike Miller — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:25:00 GMT

Here’s a question: What has more than 1,000 pages and is guaranteed to both infuriate and delight readers?

OK, as a guy who took part in “Infinite Summer,” I realize there’s probably more than one answer to that question. But this is a college hoops blog. The correct answer is “ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men’s Game.”

That’s right, “Complete History.” In other words, the book that can sit on your coffee table for the next 20 years and you’ll always have something to read. And, thanks to the rankings in the back of the book, fans can argue for the next 20 years as well.

Check out the rankings here. Jeff Sagarin had his computer rank 330 D-I teams, using a couple of factors he calls CHESS (which considers only wins and losses) and PREDICTOR (which considers scoring margin). Combining the two produces the rating for all 330 schools.

(Seriously, it’s just those two factors. The recent Binghamton kerfuffle wasn’t why the Bearcats were No. 330.)

Some tidbits:

Illinois (6^th) is the highest ranked without an NCAA title. Holy Cross (101) is the lowest ranked champ.
Rutgers is the lowest BCS school (149). Utah (19) is the highest non-BCS program.
Oklahoma State, Kentucky, UCLA, North Carolina and Duke were deemed the top teams by decade, starting in the 1930s. (Bruins and Wildcats were tops twice.)
In just 32 seasons, UAB came in at No. 45. The rest of the top 50 has at least 70 D-I seasons.
Nos. 2 through 6 are separated by less than 1 point in his ratings. 1.

Like any greatest ever rankings, there are some puzzlers. But more puzzling? Pat Forde, ESPN’s lead basketball columnist, wrote about how crazy the rankings were. (Whoa. It’s a meta-rankings set-up.)

His gripes? Illinois is one spot ahead of Duke (7). Iowa (No. 10) and Minnesota (No. 14) are ahead of Michigan State (No. 15.) UConn at No. 54. Georgetown at No. 42. Kentucky at No. 1…wait, what?

Man, no matter how you feel about Kentucky, it’s impossible to deny the Wildcats are No. 1. Then again, that’s the beauty of these things. You never, never get to please everyone. Never.

The greatest programs: A postmortem

Mike Miller — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:55:00 GMT

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 2^nd or 3^rd 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, 3^rd-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 6^th 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 7^th 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, 6^th 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 (8^th) and conference crowns (3^rd 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.

The greatest programs: No. 1, Kentucky

Mike Miller — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:05:00 GMT

The greatest college basketball program has it all.

Kentucky has the titles, tradition, consistent success, iconic coaches and the passionate fan base to make it No. 1 on the list of greatest programs.

And really, there shouldn’t be much debate about No. 1. The Wildcats have a lengthy tradition to match North Carolina, Kansas and Indiana. Like Duke, they’re among the perennial title contenders. And if any school comes close to dominating the hoops landscape like UCLA did, it’s Kentucky, which won four NCAA titles and an NIT trophy between 1946 and 1958.

No matter how one measures success, Kentucky’s résumé has it.

Kentucky is No. 1 in wins (1,966), win percentage (75 percent), NCAA tournament appearances (50).
The Wildcats are 2^nd in NCAA championships (7) and regular-season conference titles (49).
Kentucky is tied for 4^th most Final Four appearances (13) and is sixth in NCAA tourney win percentage (.6897), though they do have the most victories in the Big Dance (100).
The ‘Cats haven’t missed an NCAA tournament since 1991. Only Arizona and Kansas have longer current streaks.
They’ve also won the NIT twice. They were 3^rd, 1^st and 2^nd in a 4-year span in the 40s when the NIT was perhaps the nation’s premier tournament.
Only UCLA and North Carolina have produced more NBA players.
Kentucky’s been dominant the last 15 years, including 9 seasons with at least 25 wins. Just Duke and Kansas have more.
The ‘Cats have had 15 players named consensus All-American 20 times (the most) and have been atop the AP poll 80 weeks (behind UCLA, Carolina and Duke). Oddly enough, no player has ever been AP player of the year, or won the Wooden or Naismith awards.

Perhaps the biggest testament to Kentucky’s overall dominance? They’re always a contender. Always.

No team won more games in the 1940s and ‘50s. The ‘Cats won the 2^nd most in the ‘30s and ‘90s, were fifth winningest team in the ‘60s and ‘70s and finished among the top 10 in the ‘80s and ‘2000s. That’s eight decades either leading or being among the best programs. No other school is close.

That’s not to say Kentucky’s hoops history is perfect.

The NCAA’s penalized the school three times for serious violations, including two instances where Kentucky was prohibited from playing games. (But the winning never stopped.)

College basketball’s point-shaving scandals from the early ‘50s affected Kentucky when three players, Ralph Beard, Alex Groza and Dale Barnstable, were arrested in the fall of 1951. They were barred for three years. In ’52, Bill Spivey, despite never being implicated in point shaving, also was barred. As a result, the NCAA suspended Kentucky’s 1952-53 season. (Amazingly, the ‘Cats went 25-0 in the ’53-’54 season, but declined an NCAA bid.)

In 1976, Kentucky was placed on two-year probation because of improper benefits to players. (Two years later, the ‘Cats won the NCAA title.)

In 1989, the NCAA gave Kentucky three years’ probation and barred it from postseason play for the 1990 and ’91 seasons for recruiting and academic violations. (The ‘Cats reached four Final Fours and won two NCAA titles between 1993 and 1998.)

This isn’t to hammer the ‘Cats. Nearly every program has been hit with some kind of NCAA probation. But it’s important in Kentucky’s history for when it occurred (during some of the ‘Cats’ best eras) and how Kentucky responded (by winning even more). Also, it’s fair to say that Kentucky has likely been under more scrutiny than most schools. Winning usually prompts more oversight from the NCAA.

Another issue Kentucky fights is Adolph Rupp’s legacy. Not his coaching legacy, but his social views.

Rupp is one of the game’s coaching legends. Over 41 seasons, he won 876 games (3^rd) at an astounding rate (.822 win percentage is 2^nd). His teams won four NCAA titles, an NIT title, an Olympic gold medal and turned Kentucky basketball into a national powerhouse.

Coaches regarded Rupp as a master instructor of fundamentals and discipline. His teams often lacked height, but compensated by utilizing the fast break and a stellar defense.

But Rupp also was a man of the era. Kentucky, like any other southern school until the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, didn’t recruit black players. Various reports indicate Rupp was entirely in favor of this un-written policy. (Kentucky’s first black player was Tom Payne, who did play under Rupp in 1970.)

The memorable 1966 NCAA championship game that featured Rupp’s Wildcats losing to Texas Western (now UTEP) has become a significant point in NCAA history because it featured an all-black starting five (Texas Western) beating an all-white starting five (Kentucky) on hoops’ biggest stage, during the heart of the civil rights movement.

Was it seen as a watershed moment in 1966? Some associated with that game disagree, pointing out that other champions, starting with San Francisco in 1955 and onto Loyola (Ill.) in 1963 featured four black starters. College hoops was already moving toward integration, the reasoning goes.

Perhaps Kentucky’s loss cemented it. Perhaps it was inevitable. But in the 40 years since that game, it’s become the focal point for the game’s race relations and how they progressed, spawning countless articles, interviews and even a movie.

Rupp may have been a racist. He may not have been. There’s a comprehensive rundown of his career available here, which includes reasons why he was and was not a racist.

All of this isn’t meant to defend or castigate Rupp, but to raise points why Kentucky has its share of detractors -- and to be somewhat amazed that through the NCAA issues and racial tension that Kentucky is still No. 1 on this list.

Frankly, it’s because Rupp began an amazing trend of winning at Kentucky that’s lasted to this day. Rupp’s first team finished 15-3 in 1931. The ‘Cats have had ~~zero~~ one losing season since. (To be fair, John Mauer was 40-14 in three seasons before Rupp, but Rupp elevated the program.)

His teams hit their zenith in the ‘40s and ‘50s. The NIT saw the ‘Cats place 3rd in ’44, win in ’46 and finish as runner-up in ’47, when it vied with the NCAAs as the nation’s preeminent tourney. They won the NCAAs in ’48, ’49 and ’51. They were 25-0 in ’54, but declined an NCAA bid. They won NCAAs again in ’58.

But it didn’t stop when Rupp reached mandatory retirement age in 1972.

Longtime assistant Joe B. Hall coached for the next 13 years, reaching three Final Fours and winning a title in 1978. That title not only gave Big Blue Nation a long-awaited championship, but featured one of the sport’s most memorable title-game performances when Jack Givens torched Duke for 41 points.

Hall, who won 75 percent of his games and eight regular-season SEC titles, was replaced by Eddie Sutton in 1985. He never matched Rupp’s legacy – who could? – but thrived in his own right. Kentucky’s upset of previously unbeaten Indiana in the 1975 signaled his teams were capable of big things. The NCAA title sealed it.

Sutton lasted just four seasons, winning a couple of SEC titles and nearly 70 percent of his games, but his tenure ended with NCAA violations – and ushered in the Rick Pitino era, which effectively cemented Kentucky’s status as the all-time elite program.

Coming off a failed stint as the Knicks coach, Pitino settled right in at Kentucky. He opened up the Wildcats’ offense by embracing the three-pointer and used a full-court press to create easier scoring opportunities.

Jamal Mashburn’s arrival during Pitino’s second season gave the ‘Cats a superstar player that Pitino could build around and eventually ride to the ’93 Final Four. Mashburn also signaled an accumulation of NBA talent in Kentucky few teams had seen before.

Kentucky’s 1995-96 squad was so loaded (five first-round NBA draft picks), it ran away with the NCAA title and is often on the short list of the sport’s greatest teams. Only a stunning OT loss to Arizona kept the ‘Cats from back-to-back titles.

In the end, Pitino’s 8-year tenure saw Kentucky win ~~250~~ 219 games, reach three Final Fours and win another title (and set the stage for Tubby Smith to win in ’98). As if that wasn’t enough, the ‘Cats played in perhaps the best game ever seen in college hoops, if not the most replayed.

Smith replaced Pitino, but fans never fully embraced him, despite an NCAA title and seven SEC titles in 10 seasons, including a 16-0 SEC run in 2003.

Part of that stems from Smith never taking Kentucky back to the Final Four after that initial trip. Part of it comes from replacing a legend like Pitino. And part of it comes from Kentucky backers’ sky-high expectations for their school.

Is it fair? Probably not. But that’s part of coaching at Kentucky. Even if one wins 76 percent of the time (as Smith did), the ultimate goals are NCAA titles and Final Fours.

Such is life at the greatest college basketball program of all time. Kentucky's not perfect, just the best.

The greatest programs: No. 2, North Carolina

Mike Miller — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:42:00 GMT

North Carolina’s all-time hoops roster reads like a who’s who in college basketball. Michael Jordan. Phil Ford. Walter Davis. Jerry Stackhouse. James Worthy. Bob McAdoo. Len Rosenbluth. Vince Carter.

In Dean Smith, the Tar Heels have one of the game’s coaching icons.

And that’s just for starters.

After nearly 100 years of hoops, the Heels have had just 10 losing seasons (three came in their first five seasons). They’ve won titles (NCAA, ACC, NIT, Helms), produced NBA talent and been a NCAA tournament contender every decade. They’re the only school to play in the title game in the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and 2000s.

That lasting excellence and periods of dominance make Carolina No. 2 on the list of greatest programs.

It’s essentially a testimony to the Heels’ overall résumé. They rank among the best teams in nearly every measure of success.

UNC has four NCAA titles (4^th), been to 17 Final Fours (2^nd) and has won 71 percent of its NCAA tournament games (3^rd). Those 40 berths to the Big Dance? Third.
The Heels’ 1,950 wins are just 16 behind Kentucky. The .7361 overall win percentage also is right on the Wildcats.
UNC has won 33 regular-season conference titles (4^th), and at least two a decade since 1920. Only Kansas and Kentucky have done better.
Carolina has won at least 25 games 8 times in the last 15 years, and at least 30 four times. Maybe that’s why they’ve been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament 12 times, best in tourney history.
The Heels have sent 70 players to the NBA, according to basketballreference.com. Only UCLA has sent more.
Fourteen Heels have been consensus All-Americans 19 times. Four players (Ford, Jordan, Jamison and Tyler Hansbrough) have won the Wooden Award.
The most impressive statline? North Carolina didn’t miss the NCAA tourney between 1975 and 2001, a streak of 27 years and the NCAA record.

Essentially, those stats are ever so slightly better than Kansas, which is No. 3 on this list. The Heels nearly match Kansas’ overall success, and are better in the NCAA tournament and NBA player production. Those are ever-so-slight distinctions, but serve as the deciding factors here.

No, the 1957 NCAA title game isn’t the deciding factor, but it’s a good place to start.

Kansas featured Wilt Chamberlain, the game’s most dominant player in his day. The Heels were the No. 1 ranked team and hadn’t lost all season. Perhaps the ensuring 54-53 triple overtime Tar Heel victory wasn’t what some expected, but it remains one of the game’s most exciting and memorable finishes.

(To underscore UNC’s rich hoops history, the 32-0 season broke the school record for wins – Heels were 30-5 about a decade before – and was the second undefeated season, matching the 1924’s squad’s 26-0 mark.)

The title also established Frank McGuire as a larger-than-life figure in Chapel Hill. He’d left St. John’s in 1952 to come to UNC and had trouble convincing recruits to leave the New York area, but by 1955, McGuire had finally gathered enough talent to compete with N.C. State in the powerhouse ACC. The NCAA title was his crowning achievement.

His Heels won three more ACC regular-season titles in the next four years, but left after allegations of minor NCAA violations.

Those allegations turned out to be gift for Carolina.

In 1961, Dean Smith was promoted from assistant to head coach and had an inauspicious start, going 8-9 in his first season. It also was his only losing season.

Smith is the backbone of Carolina basketball. His record (879 wins, 11 Final Fours, 2 titles, 17 ACC crowns) speaks for itself, while Smith’s coaching tree and dignified, humble manner only serve to enhance his stature. He and John Wooden continue to be the examples for all coaches today.

(Amazingly enough, Carolina has excelled even without Smith. If one discounts Smith’s tenure, the Heels have still won more than 70 percent of their games, which is better than four teams in NCAA history. They’ve also won titles without Smith, coming under McGuire and Roy Williams. That’s an impressive winning tradition.)

It took Smith six years to finally win an ACC title, but once it began, it rarely stopped. Between 1965 and 1986, UNC never finished worse than tied for 2^nd in the ACC.

His 1966-67 squad stormed through the ACC and reached the Final Four, the first of three straight. Smith’s squad reached the Final Four again in 1972 (a year after winning the NIT).

A year after leading the U.S. to Olympic gold, Smith’s Heels reached the NCAA title game, but couldn’t get past Marquette. Butch Lee’s Warriors ripped through the Heels’ four corners offense, but Smith’s style had more lasting influence. The four corners soon had imitators throughout the game. Enough teams started using the slow-down, clock-eating style that it eventually helped bring about the shot clock.

Still, after another trip to the NCAA title game in 1981 (this time losing to Indiana), Smith, like most coaches who win but haven’t won a title, endured criticism about his methods. He always had great talent – most recently Ford and Davis – but why couldn’t UNC win?

That talk ended in 1982.

Jordan’s shot helped beat Georgetown for Smith’s first NCAA title, but it wasn’t a shot that made Smith’s career. He’s always held himself to a different standard than his critics, which is partly why he’s been so successful. It also started off another ridiculous streak for UNC.

The Heels won more games than any other school during the 1980s, arguably college basketball’s most competitive and most outstanding era. That carried into the ‘90s, when only four teams won more games, but the Heels went to five Final Fours and won another title in 1993.

Sure, some of Carolina’s teams were upset – the ’84 squad with Jordan and Sam Perkins the defending champs in ’94 both failed to reach the Elite Eight, let alone the Final Four – but that underscored just how good Carolina was. Even when the Heels thrived in the regular-season, anything less than a title was considered a failure.

When longtime assistant Bill Guthridge took over, the Heels didn’t miss a beat. (Having Carter and player of the year Antawn Jamison helps.) But after just three seasons – and two Final Fours – Guthridge had enough.

New coach and ex-Heel Matt Doherty took Carolina to No. 1 in just his first season, but his eventual demise has become a cautionary tale for how to handle star players. An 8-20 season followed by an NIT berth? Unacceptable.

Maybe that’s why Carolina couldn’t help but bring ex-assistant and Smith disciple Roy Williams home to Carolina. In five seasons, Williams has UNC in places only Smith did before, winning a title and reaching two Final Fours.

This season, his team, led by reigning player of the year Tyler Hansbrough, is expected to be among Carolina’s most talented ever. Another Final Four – and a national title – will be expected.

And it seems that for as long as Williams remains in Chapel Hill, the Heels will remain on the short list of annual contenders. And they’ll certainly remain among the top 5 on this list.

After all of this, surely you’ve guessed No. 1. If this wasn’t a ridiculous week at work, I’d move up the post for No. 1. But why mess with routine? Look for No. 1 next Tuesday.

No. 15: Michigan State.

The greatest programs: No. 3, Kansas

Mike Miller — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:16:00 GMT

If there’s a cradle of college basketball, it may be the University of Kansas.

James Naismith, the game’s inventor, coached there. As a coach, Phog Allen influenced two of the game’s winningest coaches, Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp, and was a driving force behind the NCAA tournament. Wilt Chamberlain was a Jayhawk. Few schools boast that kind of history.

Beyond the lore, Kansas is one of today’s preeminent programs. It’s one of six schools with at least 2 NCAA titles in the last 20 years, and no team has won more games since 1990. (Kansas also had its share of NCAA disappointments. More on that later.)

That tradition, mixed with consistent excellence and modern prosperity makes Kansas No. 3 on the list of greatest programs.

It begins with coaching.

Kansas has had eight coaches in 110 seasons. Only one (Naismith) sports a losing record. Three (Larry Brown, Roy Williams and Bill Self) won at least 75 percent of their games. Even Ted Owens, a coach fired because his teams failed to thrive, reached two Final Fours, won 348 games in 19 years and claimed seven conference crowns. Most schools would envy those results.

But that’s how it goes at one of the elite programs. Winning is paramount.

Kansas’ 1,943 wins are behind only Kentucky (1,966) and North Carolina (1,950) in NCAA history, while its .7122 win percentage is 4^th best.
The Jayhawks have won 3 NCAA tournaments (tied for 5^th) and have been to 13 Final Fours (tied for 5^th); one in every decade except the ‘60s. Only UNC can top that.
In 37 appearances in the Big Dance, KU has won 70 percent of its games. It hasn’t missed the big show since 1989, the third-best streak in NCAA history.
The Jayhawks have dominated lately, winning at least 25 games 10 times in the last 15 years and at least 30 six times. Only Duke has more.
Eleven Kansas players have been consensus All-Americans 15 times, five in the last 10 years.
Kansas’ most impressive area? No team can match its 51 regular-season conference titles. Only three teams have more than 34.

Those conference crowns are the best indicator of Kansas’ success through the years. Starting in 1910, the Jayhawks have won at least 3 times in each decade except the 1980s (when they won a national title and 3 Big 8 tournament titles). Every coach has at least two. The longest KU went without a conference crown? Six years. Lest one thinks it’s all ancient history, 21 have come since 1960.

Simply put, Kansas was a national power before some programs even existed.

Most of the early history (after Naismith and before Chamberlain) revolves around Allen’s time at Kansas. He took over for Naismith in 1907, won 43 games in two years at Lawrence before a 10-year hiatus in Missouri. His successor, William Hamilton, helped establish Kansas as the team to beat in the Missouri Valley Conference, winning five titles in six years.

Allen returned in 1919. Two years later, he guided Kansas to a 16-2 record and the first of six consecutive conference titles. Though it wasn’t clear at the time, two things were significant about that season: Junior Adolph Rupp was on the roster and Kansas emerged as the nation’s best team.

Rupp, of course, went onto fame as Kentucky’s coach, winning 876 games and four NCAA titles. He’s ~~second~~ third all-time in wins and second in win percentage.

The Helms Foundation – a panel of experts that determined champions retroactively -- bestowed titles on Kansas’ 1922 and 1923 teams. Helms titles weren’t considered in this list, but serves as an important reference points for how good a team was compared to the competition.

For the next 30 years, Allen ensured the Jayhawks kept winning (4^th winningest team of the ‘30s and an NCAA championship game in 1940 showed as much). By 1952, he had one of his best teams, featuring the nation’s best player, Clyde Lovellete, and another future coaching star, Dean Smith.

Lovellette, a 6-10 center who led the nation in scoring and rebounding, carried Kansas to its first NCAA title, dominating St. John’s in the title game. It was sweet for Allen, who refused to let Kansas participate in the NIT because he viewed the tournament as a hotbed for gamblers to fix games. He helped push the NCAA into the big time, both as a backer and with his teams’ success.

Smith played sparingly on that ’52 team, but he, like Rupp, went onto greater coaching endeavors. He won 879 games and two NCAA titles at UNC. Is it a coincidence UNC and Kentucky are the only schools with more wins than Kansas?

(Ralph Miller, who played on Kansas’ 1940 runner-up squad, also became another great coach who played under Allen. Only in a group like this would Miller, who won 657 games, be overshadowed.)

Allen was 66 years old when KU won in ’52. Froced into retirement at 70, he never got to coach Chamberlain, his prize recruit. That fell to new coach Dick Harp, who tried to capitalize on the greatest talent the game had ever seen.

Kansas reached the national title game in 1957 against unbeaten North Carolina, but ultimately fell short, losing in triple overtime, 54-53, holding Chamberlain to 23 points, six below his average.

Harp coached another seven years, reaching the 1960 regional finals, but never seemed to recover from losing that title game. He only got to coach Chamberlain for another season, who was even better as a junior, averaging 30.1 points a game and grabbing 17.5 rebounds, often out of double and triple teams. But Kansas finished 18-5 and missed the NCAA tourney. Chamberlain left KU after that school year.

Kansas had the nation’s most dominant player for two season but couldn’t claim a title. It wasn’t the last time failure to fulfill expectations would dog the program.

Owens took over in 1964. He logged back-to-back 23-4 seasons in ’66 and ’67, but never broke through to the Final Four, just missing a chance against Texas Western with future Boston Celtics star Jo Jo White running the show.

But he re-tooled and by ’71 had the strongest team of his tenure. The Jayhawks would finish 27-3 and go unbeaten in the Big 8, but an 8-point loss to UCLA in the Final Four prevented a title shot. Three years later, Marquette upended KU in the Final Four.

Owens’ teams weren’t as consistently good as Allen’s, recording an occasional sub-.500 season. Still, the fans loved their Jayahwks, and Allen Fieldhouse, build in ’55 to honor their legendary coach, remained one of college hoops’ holy spots.

Owens, however, eventually ran out of support, prompting his firing after the 1982-83 season. Kansas turned to Larry Brown, a UNC grad and ex-UCLA coach, who promptly delivered the desired results.

The Jayhawks won the Big 8 tournament title in his first season and reached the Final Four in his third. But few would’ve predicted the miracle in ’88.

Danny Manning, a two-time consensus All-American who came to Kansas as the most heralded recruit since Chamberlain, was long thought to be the player who could carry the Jayhawks to a title. A 6-10 forward who do it all, with or without the ball, Manning couldn’t carry the team on his own during the regular season, when KU finished third in the Big 8 and entered the Big Dance 21-11 overall.

So when Kansas reached the Final Four, then upset Duke, then Oklahoma for the title, it was a both a big surprise and a big relief. The downside? Kansas missed the 1989 tournament due to NCAA probation and couldn’t defend its title. Brown jumped to the pros and Kansas turned to Williams, a UNC assistant to ensure the program’s continued success.

His first team started 19-12, but the next season, Kansas took off. It won the preseason NIT, went from unranked to 4^th in the AP poll (still the biggest jump in the poll’s history), won 30 games and finished second in a brutal Big 8.

The next season, Kansas was in the national title game, beating Carolina and Williams’ mentor, Smith in the process. Another Final Four followed in 1993, which cemented Williams as one of the game’s best coaches.

Kansas thrived under Williams, averaging nearly 29 wins a season in the ‘90s and claiming seven conference crowns. But it wasn’t all good. Kansas was a No. 1 seed four times in the ‘90s, but never reached the Final Four as a top seed in that span. The 1996-97 team entered the Big Dance 34-1, but lost in the Sweet 16.

Was Kansas an underachiever? It didn’t claim a NCAA tournament trophy, but few would say the program wasn’t one of the nation’s best. Yet in a winner-take-all world, the Jayhawks and Williams weren’t seen as good enough.

Kansas dealt with more of the same when it reached the Final Four in 2003, but lost to Syracuse in the title game. When Williams left for UNC after that season, more NCAA heartbreak followed under new coach Bill Self. Kansas lost first-round games in back-to-back seasons in ’05 and ’06. Call it a March backlash.

But now, after a 37-3 season that culminated with an NCAA title, there aren’t any doubters left. Self’s winning percentage (.816) is the best of any Kansas coach and the school has swept Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles the last three seasons. The winning tradition is still in full swing.

It’s no different than when Allen was coaching – the Jayhawks are among the teams to beat, just like in every other decade since 1910. And that’s something only two other programs can boast.

Next Tuesday: No. 2 on the list of greatest programs.

No. 15: Michigan State.

The greatest programs: No. 4, UCLA

Mike Miller — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:28:00 GMT

No school can match UCLA’s 11 NCAA tournament titles and 18 Final Fours.

The Bruins won 10 of those championships between 1964 and 1975 and established one of sports’ most celebrated dynasties when John Wooden coached legendary players like Lew Alcindor, Bill Walton, Sidney Wicks and Gail Goodrich.

So a simple question remains: How did the celebrated Bruins only land at No. 4 on the list of greatest college basketball programs? In a word, consistency.

UCLA’s place among the elite – college basketball’s elite of Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Indiana – was assured thanks to those titles, but it never again equaled that run under Wooden (who could?). Its basketball fortunes have been uneven ever since, to say nothing of when Wooden first started at UCLA or before him.

The Bruins haven’t suffered in the post-Wooden era. They won it all in ’95 and have been to the last three Final Fours. But that isn’t the same consistency shown by North Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas.

To be clear:

Between the 1963-64 and the 1974-75 seasons, UCLA was 335-14 (.9599 win percentage), with 10 titles and 11 final fours.

The rest of the time: the Bruins’ record is 1,311-705 (.6463), with 1 title and 7 final fours. That’s still impressive, but it’s a record more on par with Arkansas (1,473 wins, .6463 %, 1 title and 6 Final Fours), which is a top 20, but not top 5 program.

UCLA’s overall résumé looks like this:

Its 1,646 victories are 9^th most, while its .6955 win percentage is sixth, better than Duke’s. Its 11 titles are four more than anyone else, and its 18 Final Fours are one more than UNC.
Oddly enough, UCLA is second in NCAA tourney win percentage, just behind Duke at .7368. It’s also second in total tourney appearances (42).
The Bruins’ 30 conference titles are 6^th (more than Duke or Louisville).
They’ve spent an NCAA best 134 weeks atop the AP poll, including four seasons in which they went wire-to-wire.

UCLA owns three of the longest win streaks in NCAA history, including an amazing 88-game run from 1971-1974.
Thirteen Bruins have been All-Americans 19 times. Only Kentucky has more.

This also includes five seasons in the 1980s when UCLA missed the NCAA tournament; when the Bruins had back-to-back losing seasons in 2003 and 2004; and when they lost in the Big Dance’s first round three times in six seasons in the ‘90s.

None of this is meant to overly criticize the Bruins. They’re one of today’s elite teams and one of the all-time great programs. But rankings like there reflect an overall program, not just how it performed in March.

Besides there’s plenty to celebrate in UCLA’s history. And it begins with Wooden.

He coached 27 years at UCLA, starting in 1948 when the Bruins went from 12-13 to 22-7. The Bruins were solid in the ‘50s, yet when Wooden made some small adjustments in the early ‘60s UCLA took off.

Starting with an undersized, up-tempo squad in 1964, the Bruins overwhelmed foes by running them into the ground. Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich led the way to an unbeaten 1964 season, while Goodrich’s marvelous 42-point performance in ’65 against Michigan capped back-to-back titles.

The Bruins’ unrelenting press made them tough to stop. When the nation’s best recruit came to town, they became unbeatable.

Lew Alcindor, who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, spearheaded the truly dominant UCLA era. As a sophomore, he led the Bruins to a 30-0 season, though he was far from the only great player on the roster, which also featured standouts like Lynn Shackleford, Lucius Allen and Mike Warren.

Even when teams managed to beat UCLA, the Bruins always won when it mattered most. By the time Alcindor was a senior, he had put his stamp on college hoops as a three-time MOP of the Final Four and perhaps the best the game would ever see.

He was a breathtaking mix of size, speed, strength and agility, with a devastating hook shot and an intimidating defensive presence. He wasn’t explicitly why the dunk was once banned, but most accounts point to him as the reason. It’s as if people tried to halt UCLA’s dominance, but couldn’t.

Even when Alcindor graduated, the Bruins still beat down foes in the NCAA tourney. Whether it was Sidney Wicks outplaying Artis Gilmore or getting 29 points from Steve Patterson to outlast Villanova in ’71, the Bruins wouldn’t be denied.

And things only got tougher for foes starting the next year when Bill Walton arrived. Behind their star sophomore center and Wilkes, UCLA won its 8^th title and sixth straight. Like death and taxes, the Bruins were the best in March every season.

Walton, like Alcindor, was a singular talent, the kind of player that made everyone around him better behind his defense, passing and stellar low-post game. Leave it to UCLA to bring in players this good nearly every season.

Attracting once-in-a-generation players like Walton and Alcindor ensured the Bruins remained the team to beat and a program unlike anyone’d ever seen in the college game. Most teams hoped for winning streaks. UCLA aimed for unbeaten seasons.

In a way, the Bruins’ era of dominance was capped by Walton’s remarkable performance in the 1973 championship game against Memphis. His 21-of-22 shooting performance (and 13 rebounds) was as close to perfection people had ever seen on the grand stage. Who else but a Bruin?

When the Bruins’ NCAA run ended to David Thompson’s N.C. State Wolfpack in the 1974 Final Four, few knew that just one UCLA title remained. Wooden went out a winner the next season, after beating Kentucky in the title game.

He left a legacy that was impossible to match, though.

Gene Bartow was the first to try. In two years, UCLA went 52-9, won two conference titles and reached a Final Four, but it wasn’t good enough. He left for UAB.

Next was former player and Wooden assistant Gary Cunningham. In two seasons, UCLA was 50-8, won two conference titles and reached an Elite Eight, but it wasn’t enough.

Larry Brown followed. Brown didn’t have the same sterling record (42-17 in two season), but took the Bruins to the 1980 championship game where they almost upset Louisville.

From there it was seven more seasons with ex-players leading the way. Larry Farmer (61-23 overall, but only 1 NCAA tourney berth) and Walt Hazzard (77-47, one NCAA tourney berth) turned what may have been respectable seasons for other schools, but neither lasted in Westwood.

In came Jim Harrick, who put together solid and occasionally great teams. In four years, the Bruins were a contender, grabbing a No. 1 seed in the 1992 tournament before losing to Indiana in the Elite Eight.

By ’95, the Bruins had a balanced, experienced team led by seniors Ed O’Bannon and Tyus Edney. With a little luck (Edney’s full-court scamper against Missouri remains the stuff of March lore) and a lot of O’Bannon, UCLA upended defending champions Arkansas for its first title in 20 years.

Not that it lasted. Princeton ousted the defending champs in the first round the next season, and Harrick was fired for NCAA recruiting violations. UCLA hired assistant Steve Lavin, who could recruit, but wasn’t an accomplished coach. After seven seasons, including a 10-19 campaign in 2002-03, UCLA hired its eight coach since Wooden’s retirement.

And it finally proved to be a stellar hire.

Ben Howland stumbled to start (29-28 in his first two seasons), but hasn’t missed a Final Four in three years. He’s made UCLA one of March’s most dangerous teams and a threat to win a title each season. He may never match Wooden’s team in terms of titles (who could?), but the Bruins are once again one of college basketball’s elite.

It also gives UCLA that rare feat in college hoops – a school that found a worthy successor to the legend that established the program.

Next Tuesday: No. 3 on the list of greatest programs.

No. 15: Michigan State.

The greatest programs: No. 5, Duke

Mike Miller — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 03:29:00 GMT

No matter what your feelings are about the Blue Devils, it’s impossible to ignore their success in every aspect: titles, Final Fours, wins, conference championships, NBA players, etc.

It’s all a huge reason why people love to hate Duke. The Devils are the envy of just about every program. Almost.

Duke may dominate the recent results, but it’s No. 5 on the list of greatest college programs. Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA all have more consistent, longer winning traditions or have more championships. Or both.

Before Mike Krzyzewski arrived in 1980, Duke was a good basketball program. Four Final Fours, 10 regular-season conference championships and a national player of the year attest to as much.

It’s Coach K’s tenure that has elevated the Devils to an elite program, which they’re still building on. When he retires, that’s the test for Duke’s standing among the all-time programs.

Still, it’s not like the Devils are going to drop in these rankings anytime soon.

Duke’s 1,846 wins are the fourth most all time (100 behind Kansas, 100 more than Syracuse), while it’s win percentage (.6956) is sixth best.
The Devils own three NCAA championships (tied with Kansas for 5^th), have been to 14 Final Fours (behind just UNC and UCLA) and have the best winning percentage in the Big Dance (.7478). Yes, better than even the Bruins.
They’ve been to the NCAAs 32 times and haven’t missed ‘em since 1995, the fourth-longest active streak.
Duke’s won 21 regular-season conference titles, won at least 25 games 11 times in the last 15 years (best in the nation) and have had 14 players be named consensus All-Americans 18 times. Art Heyman, Danny Ferry, Christian Laettner, Elton Brand, Shane Battier, Jason Williams and J.J. Redick have all won national player of the year honors.
The Devils have been atop the AP rankings for 110 weeks (only UCLA has more) and are the last team to do it for an entire season, in 1992.

And the current dominance? It can be summed up like this: Between ’98 and 2004, Duke was 221-32, (.874) with four final fours and a title. Between ‘86 and ‘94 Duke was 264-59, (.817) with 7 final fours and 2 titles. Take your pick for measuring success. Duke’s done it.

Coach K’s responsible for the biggest highlights, but Duke’s hoops tradition started with Eddie Cameron. His name happens to be on the arena, probably the toughest NCAA venue for opponents to play.

In 14 seasons, Cameron’s Devils won 226 games, claimed Southern Conference championships twice and three tourney titles. Because of that success, the school built their indoor stadium in 1940, which was the largest basketball arena south of Philly’s Palestra.

Duke had more success under Gerry Gerrard in the ‘40s and Harold Bradley in the ‘50s (conference titles were won and there were no losing records), but the occasional .500 mark popped up, while North Carolina and North Carolina State emerged as the region’s national powers. Dick Groat was a sensational player, but he couldn’t do it all for Duke.

That changed in 1959 when Vic Bubas arrived in Durham. He ushered in the first truly great era for the Devils, winning the ACC tournament in 1960, his first season.

More importantly, Bubas recruited Art Heyman, which opened the doors for Duke’s national recruiting. Heyman, with his non-stop motor, is still regarded as one of the Devils’ all-time greats. A ferocious rebounder and determined scorer, the New York native bulled Duke into the national spotlight.

Kick-starting the local rivalry with UNC into a national one helped, too.

Both Duke and UNC were ranked in the top five when they met in the 1961 season. Both had sparkling records and both had designs on the ACC crown. Duke won the game, but it ended with brawl, which served to fan the flames of what’s become sport’s greatest rivalry.

The rivalry has seen other highlights and lowlights through the years, but there’s little doubt both teams’ success and the rivalry’s intensity has only served to raise both program’s profiles. The immediate aftermath of the brawl seemed to have Duke come out on top, though.

The Devils reached three Final Fours in four years from 1963-66, and reaching were in the '64 title game. That’s a run only accomplished only by Kentucky, Cincinnati, Ohio State and San Francisco until then. Yet Bubas was done by ’69, worn out by the job's demands.

That brought on the mediocre seasons. Duke hovered around or below .500 for six seasons until Bill Foster’s 1977-78 squad emerged as a surprise contender and reinvigorated the program.

The Devils lost to Kentucky in the NCAA title game that season, and had a taste of success it never wanted to lose again. When Foster left for South Carolina in 1980, it opened the door for the Coach K. Things haven’t been the same since.

Sure, things started slow (a 17-13 season to begin, followed by two losing seasons didn’t ease the boosters’ concerns), but the Devils were back in the Big Dance by ’84, and by ’85 they finally ended a brutal losing streak to North Carolina.

The next season showcased Coach K’s first great team. That 37-3 squad had a star player (Johnny Dawkins), steady point guard (Tommy Amaker) and solid big men (Mark Alarie, Jay Bilas and Danny Ferry) who won swept the ACC regular-season and tourney titles and came up just short of the school’s first NCAA title.

Since then, Duke has had dominant teams, but that group established the Devils as a perennial contender. It also began a Final Four run not seen since the days of John Wooden’s Bruins.

From 1986 to 1992, Duke played in six of college hoops’ final weekends seven ~~weekends~~times. It was like clockwork: when the Big Dance began, Duke, behind all-around stars like Ferry, would be in the Final Four.

Slowly, the hate began to build. Winning does that. Naysayers talked about the Devils coming up short, especially after losing the 1990 title game to UNLV by a record 30 points.

Then, just like that, Duke silenced everyone. It beat UNLV in the ’91 Final Four – perhaps the most significant win of the last 20 years – and repeated as champs in 1992.

Along the way, the Devils played in one of college basketball’s most memorable games, the ’92 East Regional final against Kentucky, that featured the best finish anyone had ever seen. People hated the Devils even more – especially Laettner – but it didn’t stop their success.

They developed more stars in Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill, and reached another title game in 1994. Coach K was on top of the coaching profession, and rightfully so. This was success in the modern game unlike any program had seen.

The slight dip didn't seem possibly, but maybe it couldn't be helped. How does one stay so good for so long?

In the 1994-95 season, Krzyzewski never recovered from offseason back surgery and was forced to sit out midway through the year. As a result, Duke finished 12-18 and missed the Big Dance. The Duke haters loved it.

It didn’t last, though.

After a season of rebuilding, the Devils grabbed a No. 2 seed in the ’97 tournament, then assumed their place as a No. 1 seed for the next five years. It sparked more talk of Duke bias -- another 1 seed? -- but the Devils’ record reflected just how good they were each season (133-15 from '98 to '01, better than any team in NCAA history).

By 1999, Duke was taking a shot at the greatest single-season anyone had ever seen. People wondered if anyone could anyone beat a 37-1 team with multiple lottery picks on the roster. (The short answer: Yes.)

It didn’t matter. Two years later, Coach K won his third title. The Devils reached the Final Four again in 2004, and have been an annual contender ever since. No more dips, just consistently great teams.

What happens now?

Well, Krzyzewski won his 800^th career game last season. He turned 61 in February, which gives him at least another four years of coaching, though he’ll stop whenever he chooses. (He just guided Team USA to a gold medal, so there’s another feature in his cap.) In a few years, he’ll break Bobby Knight’s all-time wins record and, if he wants to, hit 1,000 career victories sometime around 2015.

And he’ll leave Duke cemented as one of the truly great programs in college hoops.

Coming next Tuesday, No. 4 on the list of greatest programs.

No. 15: Michigan State.

The greatest programs: No. 6, Indiana

Mike Miller — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:37:00 GMT

Indiana has the tradition. It has the titles. It has legendary coaches, players and a fan base few teams can match.

What the Hoosiers don’t have is a recent résumé comparable to the rest of its storied history. Just one Final Four since 1993. One Big Ten title since 1994. NCAA tournament misses in 2004 and 2005, their first since the mid-80s.

Those kind of on-court struggles – complicated by their coaching issues since 2000 – are why the Hoosiers are No. 6 on the list of greatest college basketball programs.

Not that six is low, mind you. It’s just a little strange to think of five programs being better than Indiana. But someone from Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, North Carolina and UCLA was going to miss out on the top five. The Hoosiers can make up the difference, though. They certainly have a rich history to build on.

Indiana’s five NCAA tournament titles are behind only UCLA (11) and Kentucky (7), while their eight Final Fours are tied with Louisville for seventh most.
The Hoosiers have been to the Big Dance 35 times (more than Duke), but their tourney win percentage (.666) is 10^th best, just behind Michigan State.
Indiana’s 1,635 victories are 10^th most, but its .649 win percentage is just behind Illinois and Utah. The Hoosiers’ 20 regular-season conference titles are 1 more than Ohio State).
Indiana also has had 11 players named consensus All-Americans 14 times and have sported two players of the year in Scott May and Calbert Cheaney.

Yet, it’s a single-season accomplishment that Indiana seems to be most remembered for lately – the perfect season of 1976, the last time a men’s champ has completed a campaign unbeaten.

This is somewhat of an odd notion. Six NCAA champions finished their seasons with a loss between 1956 and 1973. Heck, Indiana was one of two undefeated teams in that ’76 Final Four. Yet, here we are, more than 30 years later and still no one’s ended their season without a loss.

(Usually omitted in talk about the ’76 team is that Indiana also entered the 1975 NCAA tourney without a loss. A Scott May injury before the tourney hindered those title hopes, though.)

Of course, Indiana’s other title teams were no slouches.

The 1940 squad claimed the second NCAA tourney trophy, finishing 20-3 after nearly a 20-point win against Kansas in the final. Oddly enough, it was the Hoosiers’ first outright title of any kind.

Purdue ruled the Big Ten in the 1930s and won the regular-season crown in 1940. But when the Boilermakers turned down an invite to the Big Dance, Indiana rolled through the eight-team field, winning by an average of 17 points a game.

That signaled the birth of the “Hurrying Hoosiers,” an up-tempo style favored by legendary coach Branch McCracken, who was an All-America at IU in 1930.

(McCracken played under Everett Dean, the first great Indiana coach who won 64 percent of his games and three Big Ten titles between 1925 and 1938. He left for Stanford and coached the Cardinal to their only NCAA crown in 1942.)

McCracken – who won 87 percent of his games during his first five seasons before serving as a Navy lieutenant during World War II – won his first Big Ten title in 1953, the same year Indiana won its second NCAA title. The driving force? A 6-10 forward named Don Schlundt.

Schlundt, the first Indiana and Big Ten player to crack 2,000 career points, scored 30 points in another title-game win against Kansas. He was the first of many big-time scorers under McCracken in the ‘50s. Archie Dees, Walt Bellamy (a double-double machine before the term existed and Jimmy Rayl (the school’s single-game scoring leader, twice hitting 56).

When the McCracken era ended in ’65, Indiana started to struggle. Except for an 18-8 season in 1966-67, the Hoosiers finished 9^th or 10^th in the Big Ten four out of five seasons.

That set the stage for Bob Knight, coming off a hugely successful six-year run at Army, to guide Indiana into its most glorious era – three NCAA titles, 11 Big Ten championships and 661 wins. No matter what Knight’s other issues were (chair throwing, belligerent cussing, intimidating his players or the media), there’s little debate about his on-court success.

Especially when his teams claim three titles in 11 years. Tough to ignore those results.

Indiana’s fourth title was a result of Knight’s guidance, a team that jelled at the right time and the individual brilliance of Isiah Thomas, who was remarkable in the ’81 title game against North Carolina. The fifth? Great guard play and a Knight-hardened team that just two years earlier had missed the Big Dance.

Of course, there was that one shot…

By now, Keith Smart’s jumper in the final seconds against Syracuse has gone down as one of the great moments in NCAA history. People ask Smart about the baseline move “almost every day,” though he wasn’t even the Hoosiers’ biggest star.

That was senior Steve Alford, an Indiana native who led the team in scoring each season. Few players endured more of Knight’s berating and black moods, but few would argue with the results, either.

Knight’s teams still had some punch, winning three more Big Ten titles in the next six years, with the 1992-93 squad standing out as one of his best. Behind Wooden Award winner Calbert Cheaney, it finished 31-4 and just missed out on sending Knight to back-to-back Final Fours.

After seven more seasons of about 21 wins a year, just one trip to the Sweet 16 and with the off-court incidents piling up, Indiana severed ties with Knight. It replaced him with assistant Mike Davis, which wasn’t an easy transition for the school or Davis.

Amazingly enough, Davis guided the Hoosiers to their eight Final Four in just his second season. The No. 5 seed Duke in the Sweet 16 and eventually reached the 2002 title game, where it lost to Maryland.

That was the highlight of Davis’ tenure, though. Indiana finished 9^th in the Big Ten just two years later. By 2006, Davis was out, replaced by Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson. Two years later, Sampson was gone too, the result of NCAA violations.

Now, under new coach Tom Crean, the Hoosiers face a re-building challenge they haven’t seen since Knight arrived. To remain among college hoops top programs, it’s not essential IU hits the same heights it reached under Knight.

But to keep its spot in the top six, it’ll take nothing less.

Coming next Tuesday, No. 5 on the list of greatest programs.

No. 15: Michigan State.

The greatest programs: No. 7, Louisville

Mike Miller — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:01:00 GMT

Quick: The most storied coach in your school’s history has retired and you’re trying to maintain your status among the all-time elite programs. How do you do it? By transitioning from one Hall of Fame coach to a future Hall of Famer.

That’s how they roll at Louisville, No. 7 on the list of greatest college basketball programs.

When the Cardinals made the transition from Denny Crum – he of the two NCAA tournament titles, five Final fours and nearly 700 career wins – to Rick Pitino in 2001, they’d just missed the NCAA tourney for the second time in four seasons. Heck, it was the second time in four years that they’d failed to finish above .500.

When Pitino guided Louisville to its eighth Final Four in 2005 – four years into the job – it was a sign that one of the game’s legendary schools was firmly re-established as a perennial contender. Must be nice to have that kind of coaching pedigree in Freedom Hall.

Consider what Crum, Pitino and Louisville’s first great coach, “Peck” Hickman have built:

Louisville’s one of 14 schools with multiple NCAA titles and is the only school to win the Big Dance, NIT and NAIB (a pre-cursor to the NAIA, which was second-fiddle to the NIT in 1948). Its eight Final Fours are tied with Indiana for seventh most all time.
The Cardinals’ 1,556 wins are more than Arizona or UConn, while their .654 win percentage is better than Indiana.
Louisville’s 57 NCAA tourney wins are seventh most, the sixth most appearances in the Big Dance (34) and has 20 regular-season conference championships (same as Indiana).
The Cards have had five players be named consensus All-American six times, the 1980 Wooden Award winner (Darrell Griffith) and has always featured NBA talent on the roster, giving them some of the best players in NCAA history.

This all started with Hickman, who never had a losing season at Louisville and turned a middling basketball school into one to watch. (His career record, 443-183, actually gives him a better win percentage than Crum or Pitino, amazingly enough.)

After winning the NAIB in ’48, the Cards were a regular in the NIT, which was vying with the NCAAs to be the postseason tourney. Louisville went for five consecutive seasons before winning in 1956 behind massive post player Charlie Tyra, the school’s first big star.

Tyra still holds school records for most rebounds for a game (38), season (645) and career (1,617). He also ranks fourth in career scoring average (18.2). The guy could play.

Three years later, Hickman’s squad was in the school’s first Final Four, losing to Jerry West’s West Virginia team. He closed out his coaching career in 1967, coaching a 23-5 Cardinal team that featured Wes Unseld and Butch Beard, two Louisville natives.

Unseld – a two-time consensus All-American – could be considered the school’s best player, though he and Beard could never break through in the Big Dance. Louisville made the NCAA or the NIT in each of John Dromo’s four seasons, but when a heart attack forced him to retire in 1971, it opened the door for Crum, who wasted no time in making his mark at Louisville.

His first team went 26-5 and reached the Final Four.

That Final Four was the first of two in which Crum, as an assistant coach and lead recruiter for John Wooden at UCLA, faced his former mentor. The first time wasn’t so pretty, losing 96-77. The second time, during Wooden’s final season in 1975, nearly set up a bluegrass showdown for the NCAA title.

But the Bruins’ 75-74 overtime win prevented a final against in-state rival Kentucky, which would’ve simply added to the lore between the two schools.

So Crum hit the recruiting trail. His eyes must have bulged when he saw this 1976 photo of Griffith soaring over an opponent. With Griffith -- a 6-4 guard with a 48-inch vertical leap -- coming to Louisville, the Cards started to build a rep as a high-flying, exciting team to watch.

By the late ‘70s, they sported one of the game’s great monikers, “Doctors of Dunk” and were a force on the court. Whether it was Griffith making a steal, Derek Smith soaring above the rim or Rodney McCray controlling the boards, few teams wanted to play the Cards. (They even invented the High-5!)

Louisville entered the 1980 NCAA tournament 28-3 and was a serious contender. When every No. 1 seed was knocked out, the Cards’ path for their first title was cleared (not that beating UCLA in the championship was an easy task.)

Crum’s squad reached the Final Four again in 1982 and 1983, the second time with another highlight-reel, talent-rich team. When they played Houston – “Phi Slamma Jamma” – in the ’83 Final Four, the result was one of the game’s most jaw-dropping aerial spectacles that was essentially a precursor to today’s above-the-rim game.

When Crum had Louisville in the Final Four again in 1986, the Cards were viewed as a good, but not great team. Most thought Duke or Kansas would win the title. But Louisville, coming off another season that featured a brutal non-conference schedule, surprised Duke in the title game with some steady play from Milt Wagner and two late free throws by freshman Pervis Ellison. Maybe you’ve heard of his nickname.

Louisville never reached the same heights again under Crum, though there were more years of conference titles, trips to the Elite Eight and the occasional group that didn’t feature NBA caliber players but still managed to win plenty of games.

Crum retired in 2001 with a résumé that included two titles, 3 coach of the year awards and a spot in the Hall of Fame.

If Pitino were to replicate the success he had at Kentucky – three Final Fours and a title in eight seasons – he would begin to match what Crum did at Louisville and could help take the Cardinals futher up this list. But that’s what they do at Louisville.

Coming next Tuesday, No. 6 on the list of greatest programs.

No. 15: Michigan State.

The greatest programs: No. 8, Arizona

Mike Miller — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:17:00 GMT

Arizona hasn’t missed the NCAA tournament since 1984. That streak alone – the second longest in NCAA history – would necessitate inclusion among the greatest college basketball programs of all time.

But the Wildcats have done more since ’84 than just consistently win. They’ve produced some of the NCAA's most talented teams, several memorable games (the ’05 regional final against Illinois still amazes) and developed into one of college hoops' truly elite programs.

How else would they end up at No. 8 on this list?

Arizona’s won at least 25 games 12 times during that remarkable streak, a feat few teams can match. Same with their 29 weeks atop the AP rankings. Even more impressive are Arizona’s five times as a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance. Only UNC, Duke, Kentucky and Kansas have more.

The Wildcats’ 1,547 wins are more than Cincinnati, while their .645 win percentage is better than UConn’s.

They’ve reached four Final Fours won a title, and have won their 41 NCAA tournament games at a better rate than Syracuse.

Arizona also sports 21 regular-season conference titles, 27 Big Dance appearances and when it comes to NBA players, few schools can match their sheer number or All-Star players.

Most of this starts with Lute Olson, who arrived in Tucson in 1983 and has won nearly 600 games in that span. But even Olson had some minor Arizona success to build on.

Because before they were Wildcats, there was Pop McKale. He won more than 80 percent of his games in seven seasons, still a school record for a coach with at least 3 years’ experience. Arizona kept winning with three coaches in the four seasons, then had 36 seasons of stability under Fred Enke, who remains the longest tenured coach in school history.

Enke’s teams won 509 games and claimed 11 Border Conference titles, though they weren’t nearly as consistent as later years. The ‘Cats could go 25-5 or 4-22.

Perhaps more important than wins was Fred Snowden’s hiring in 1972, which made him the first black coach in major college basketball.

His squads started fast, reaching the Elite Eight during his fourth season, but after three straight losing seasons, he was out by 1982. Still, his influence on coaching hires and Arizona basketball was significant.

"He comes and turns Tucson into a basketball town and just as McKale Center rocks now, it rocked then," says former Wildcat All-American Bob Elliott.

"Lute took the path that Freddy had paved and added to it, but he didn't have to start with a dirt road.”

One thing’s for sure, Olson didn’t waste any time.

By 1986, the Wildcats had won their first of 10 regular-season Pac-10 crowns. That season also featured Olson’s first superstar recruit in Sean Elliott, who most consider the best player to ever wear a Wildcats uniform.

(Not that there’s much debate. Elliott was a two-time consensus All-American and won the Wooden award his senior season AND led the ‘Cats to their first-ever Final Four. That’s what you call a lasting legacy.)

The 1988 squad was even better, and perhaps the best in school history. The 35-3 team was atop the rankings for five weeks and ran away with the Pac-10, finishing 17-1. Some claimed they were rarely tested during the season, but there was no denying their talent, especially when they hammered North Carolina for their first Final Four berth.

It set up one of those classic games, where 34-3 Oklahoma loomed as the national semifinal opponent and most thought the winner would breeze to the national title. (It didn’t happen, but that’s another post.)

After a few more runs to the Sweet 16, Arizona had been established as a perennial contender. Of course, there were a few hiccups in the early ‘90s.

A 24-7 in 1992 ended with a loss to Eastern Tennessee State. The next year was a stunning upset to No. 15 Santa Clara. The next year, the ‘Cats were in the Final Four. In ’95, it was another first-round NCAA tourney loss.

And just when Olson was dealing with a growing reputation as a coach who couldn’t win the big one, along came the 1997 team.

Arizona entered the Big Dance at 19-9, but reeled off six straight wins, including a stunning upset of 34-1 Kansas. When the ‘Cats followed that with wins against North Carolina and Kentucky in the Final Four, they became the only team to ever beat three No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tourney.

The close-knit group featured what was one of the biggest NCAA trends in the ‘90s and early 2000s, a three-guard offense that presented all sorts of matchup problems for opponents. With MOP Miles Simon, point guard Mike Bibby, big guard Michael Dickerson and scoring sensation Jason Terry off the bench, Olson utilized his most talented players and cemented Arizona’s rep as a guard-oriented school. (Which has morphed into Wing U lately.)

It also set up the Wildcats as one of the scariest teams around. For the next six years, Arizona could score in bunches because of their athletic, NBA-caliber guards. (You know the ones: Guys like Gilbert Arenas, Andre Aguodala, Richard Jefferson, and Damon Stoudemire.)

The uber-talented 2001 squad lost to Duke in the national title game, while the 2003 incarnation was tabbed the preseason favorite.

Sure, neither team won a title, but the steady pipeline of pro players continued into Tucson. Even Arizona’s recent struggles haven’t dried up the talent well (though Brandon Jennings’ flight to Europe was a stunner).

At this point, the only thing that can derail Arizona’s overall program is Olson’s retirement. The ‘Cats continued their NCAA streak last season without Olson, but it wasn’t the same Arizona team we’re used to seeing.

Olson turns 74 in September, but says he wants to coach for another four or five seasons. If that happens, don’t expect Arizona to drop on this list anytime soon.

Coming next Tuesday, No. 7 on the list of greatest programs.

No. 15: Michigan State.