Greatest NCAA team of all time

[BlueHeart]

Anyone keeping up with this? I went online to look it over and cast my votes, only to find that '96 UK is a 3 seed. A 3 seed?!?!?! That was all I needed to see; I'm done with it.

[KY Native in IN]

i dared watch about 3 minutes of that jackass festival and had to go back to "Cahill, US Marshall"...besides "Lost" is almost on :D

it didn't take long to see that this was going to be a slanted BS filled waste of time...in the few minutes i went against my better judgement and watched espn, all they did was let bill walton blabber on about how invincible UCLA was back in the day...:rolleyes: it was making me nauseous...the only usefulness that espn has is the score ticker at the bottom of the screen and when they show the Cats...other than that espn is a joke! :tongue

[dtjunkie]

5 UK teams and only 1 made it out of the first round. 96 Cats are taking on 05 Tar heels in the Sweet 16 right now. Go vote!

DT

[wyldkatzky]

Speaking of which, the 96 team got screwed on a #3 seed - easily one of the top eight, if not top four teams ever ... i don't understand.

dtjunkie wrote: 5 UK teams and only 1 made it out of the first round. 96 Cats are taking on 05 Tar heels in the Sweet 16 right now. Go vote!

DT

[dtjunkie]

Yea... no way the 92 Duke team (who got a #1) beats 96 Kentucky.

A few of the panelists picked the 96 Cats to make it to the final four so we shall see if that happens. Once we beat 05 Tarheels have either 92 Duke or 79 Indiana St.

DT

[dtjunkie]

96 Cats make the Elite 8 and are up against Larry Bird (who barely snuck by 92 Duke)

[BlueHeart]

I still can't get over the 3 seed. Who determined that anyways, Walton himself? Personally I would love to be able to see a 96 UK vs 04 UConn match up. Unlimited talent and depth on those squads. Either one beats 05 UNC handily IMO.

[dtjunkie]

Yea in a contest of the last 20 champs UK won and had the #1 seed http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/terrific20.htm

[dtjunkie]

Yeehaw! 96 Cats make it to the Final Four. Going up against Michael Jordan and the 82 Tar Heels.

[KY Native in IN]

dtjunkie wrote:
Yea in a contest of the last 20 champs UK won and had the #1 seed http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/terrific20.htm


thanks for the link...at least somebody's giving the Cats props!

[FrogtownRoadCat]

Beaten handily by the 82 heels.

That UK team will not be remembered as highly regarded as it truly should be primarily because of its performance in the finals against Syracuse. If UK had beated Syracuse more handily, I believe it would be more often mentioned among the all time great college basketball teams.

[Chunks06]

FrogtownRoadCat wrote: Beaten handily by the 82 heels.

That UK team will not be remembered as highly regarded as it truly should be primarily because of its performance in the finals against Syracuse. If UK had beated Syracuse more handily, I believe it would be more often mentioned among the all time great college basketball teams.

That could be one reason. Another is that it people dont always know much about the teams anyway. 14 year old kids on ESPN see Michael Jordan annd it is a no brainer for them to vote for him. Tough to beat the best player of all time.

Also, 4th aint to shabby.

[Will Lavender]

FrogtownRoadCat wrote: Beaten handily by the 82 heels.

That UK team will not be remembered as highly regarded as it truly should be primarily because of its performance in the finals against Syracuse. If UK had beated Syracuse more handily, I believe it would be more often mentioned among the all time great college basketball teams.

You may well be right. But if you use that logic then the '92 Duke team shouldn't have been a 1 seed. They barely squeaked by Kentucky on the Laettner shot, and then they were taken to the absolute wire by Indiana in the semifinal game and ended up winning by 3 points.

I'm not really old enough to remember anything before, say, the end of Joe B. Hall's career, but I do know enough to say that the '96 Kentucky team was easily the best I've ever seen. Easily.

[dtjunkie]

You'd think destroying Tim Duncan would be enough to overcome not beating Syracuse more than we did...

[cats65]

One of the panelists was Nolan Richardson. He said he coached against that Carolina team while with Tulsa and obviously against the '96 Cats. He said the Cats would win that matchup hands down.

[KY Native in IN]

Chunks06 wrote:
FrogtownRoadCat wrote: Beaten handily by the 82 heels.

That UK team will not be remembered as highly regarded as it truly should be primarily because of its performance in the finals against Syracuse. If UK had beated Syracuse more handily, I believe it would be more often mentioned among the all time great college basketball teams.

That could be one reason. Another is that it people dont always know much about the teams anyway. 14 year old kids on ESPN see Michael Jordan annd it is a no brainer for them to vote for him. Tough to beat the best player of all time.

Also, 4th aint to shabby.


the CAts were ranked 4th all time???? who was 3, 2, and 1? as if i have to ask....:rolleyes:

[Chunks06]

KY Native in IN wrote: Chunks06 wrote:
FrogtownRoadCat wrote: Beaten handily by the 82 heels.

That UK team will not be remembered as highly regarded as it truly should be primarily because of its performance in the finals against Syracuse. If UK had beated Syracuse more handily, I believe it would be more often mentioned among the all time great college basketball teams.

That could be one reason. Another is that it people dont always know much about the teams anyway. 14 year old kids on ESPN see Michael Jordan annd it is a no brainer for them to vote for him. Tough to beat the best player of all time.

Also, 4th aint to shabby.


the CAts were ranked 4th all time???? who was 3, 2, and 1? as if i have to ask....:rolleyes:
Jordan and UNC in 82 took the title. I think the undefeated Indiana team was the runner up and I guess we tied for 3rd with one of the great UCLA teams

[KY Native in IN]

Chunks06 wrote:
KY Native in IN wrote: Chunks06 wrote:
FrogtownRoadCat wrote: Beaten handily by the 82 heels.

That UK team will not be remembered as highly regarded as it truly should be primarily because of its performance in the finals against Syracuse. If UK had beated Syracuse more handily, I believe it would be more often mentioned among the all time great college basketball teams.

That could be one reason. Another is that it people dont always know much about the teams anyway. 14 year old kids on ESPN see Michael Jordan annd it is a no brainer for them to vote for him. Tough to beat the best player of all time.

Also, 4th aint to shabby.


the CAts were ranked 4th all time???? who was 3, 2, and 1? as if i have to ask....:rolleyes:
Jordan and UNC in 82 took the title. I think the undefeated Indiana team was the runner up and I guess we tied for 3rd with one of the great UCLA teams


it figures...however, i'm shocked duke didn't slither in the top 4...oh well, all 4 were/are historic programs...only one is the best though! ;)

[audacious1]

I don't have the link, but wouldn't Margin of Victory during the tourney be a HUGE determining factor in something like this?

It might be somewhere on this site but I can't find it.

http://www.ncaasports.com/basketball/mens/schedules

[bret1555]

Chunks06 wrote: KY Native in IN wrote: Chunks06 wrote:
FrogtownRoadCat wrote: Beaten handily by the 82 heels.

That UK team will not be remembered as highly regarded as it truly should be primarily because of its performance in the finals against Syracuse. If UK had beated Syracuse more handily, I believe it would be more often mentioned among the all time great college basketball teams.

That could be one reason. Another is that it people dont always know much about the teams anyway. 14 year old kids on ESPN see Michael Jordan annd it is a no brainer for them to vote for him. Tough to beat the best player of all time.

Also, 4th aint to shabby.


the CAts were ranked 4th all time???? who was 3, 2, and 1? as if i have to ask....:rolleyes:
Jordan and UNC in 82 took the title. I think the undefeated Indiana team was the runner up and I guess we tied for 3rd with one of the great UCLA teams



Carolina wasn't even the best team in 1982. . . Does anyone seriously think they could beat Georgetown again in a best of five? It took a great shot (MJ) and a bonehead play (Sleepy Floyd) to give UNC that win. Oh yeah, and Patrick Ewing was just scary in that game, it seems like he swatted the first 10 shots into the seats. Of course, he did get a couple of goaltending calls. . .

Speaking of Ewing. I never thought he got his due. . . Great center, great rebounder, good shot blocker, sweet fall-away jumper up to 20 feet out, and nasty. He carried an entire franchise by himself for a long time. . . Well, he did have Charles Oakley for a couple of years.

[BamaCat86]

I don't see how anyone could hold the margin of victory in the championship game against the '96 UK squad. We had played the tougher game against the number 1 ranked UMass team who had beaten us earlier in the year in the semis. We won based on our own effort, not by the luck of an opposing player throwing us the ball at the end of the game.

[Prince21]

Does anyone know where I can find the roster of the 1982 North Carolina squad? One of my brother's friends is too stubborn to realize 1996 Kentucky was much better.

[audacious1]

What I think would be an easy statistical way to determine such a thing, if it's possible, would be to say, "Which team had the largest margin of victory throughout their run through the NCAA?"

I seem to remember seeing those stats somewhere but after searching for a while now, I can't seem to find them.

Yeah, that Georgetown team was dominant. No easy backets inside with Ewing there. I was in college at UK when Villanova upset them and there was literally, Dancing in the Streets that night.

Update: Oh yes, found them USAToday's article. Here they are:

No. 20 Villanova 1985
Seed: 8
Record: 25-10
Finals: Def. Georgetown 66-64
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 5.0
Rotation: Ed Pinckney, Harold Jensen, Dwayne McClain, Gary McLain, Harold Pressley, Dwight Wilbur, Mark Plansky

No. 19 Kansas 1988
Seed: 6
Record: 27-11
Finals: Def. Oklahoma 83-79
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 8.8
Rotation: Danny Manning, Milt Newton, Kevin Pritchard, Chris Piper, Scooter Barry, Jeff Gueldner, Keith Harris, Clint Normore

No. 18 Arizona 1997
Seed: 4
Record: 25-9
Finals: Def. Kentucky 84-79 in overtime
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 5.3
Rotation: Mike Bibby, Michael Dickerson, Miles Simon, Jason Terry, Bennett Davison, A.J. Bramlett, Eugene Edgerson, Donnell Harris

No. 17 Syracuse 2003
Seed: 3
Record: 30-5
Finals: Def. Kansas 81-78
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 9.2
Rotation: Carmelo Anthony, Jerry McNamara, Hakim Warrick, Billy Edelin, Kueth Duany, Jeremy McNeil, Craig Forth

No. 16 Connecticut 2004
Seed: 2
Record: 33-6
Finals: Def. Georgia Tech 82-73
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 13.3
Rotation: Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Josh Boone, Charlie Villanueva, Rashad Anderson, Taliek Brown, Denham Brown, Hilton Armstrong

No. 15 Louisville 1986
Seed: 2
Record: 32-7
Finals: Def. Duke 72-69
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 11.8
Rotation: Pervis Ellison, Billy Thompson, Herbert Crook, Milt Wagner, Jeff Hall, Mark McSwain

No. 14 Indiana 1987
Seed: 1
Record: 30-4
Finals: Def. Syracuse 74-73
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 10.5
Rotation: Steve Alford, Keith Smart, Daryl Thomas, Dean Garrett, Ricky Calloway, Steve Eyl, Joe Hillman



No. 13 Michigan State 2000
Seed: 1
Record: 32-7
Finals: Def. Florida 89-76
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 15.3
Rotation: Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson, Jason Richardson, Andre Hutson, Mike Chappell, Charlie Bell, A.J. Granger



No. 12 Maryland 2002
Seed: 1
Record: 32-4
Finals: Def. Indiana 64-52
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 14.0
Rotation: Juan Dixon, Steve Blake, Drew Nicholas, Chris Wilcox, Lonny Baxter, Byron Mouton



No. 11 UNLV 1990
Seed: 1
Record: 35-5
Finals: Def. Duke 103-73
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 18.7
Rotation: Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Anderson Hunt, Greg Anthony, David Butler, Moses Scurry, Stacey Cvijanovich, Travis Bice



No. 10 Arkansas 1994
Seed: 1
Record: 31-3
Finals: Def. Duke 76-72
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 11.2
Rotation: Corliss Williamson, Scotty Thurman, Darnell Robinson, Corey Beck, Dwight Stewart, Clint McDaniel, Lee Wilson



No. 9 Duke 1991
Seed: 2
Record: 32-7
Finals: Def. Kansas 72-65
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 14.0
Rotation: Christian Laettner, Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley, Bill McCaffrey, Thomas Hill, Antonio Lang, Brian Davis



No. 8 Kentucky 1998
Seed: 2
Record: 35-4
Finals: Def. Utah 78-69
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 13.3
Rotation: Scott Padgett, Jeff Sheppard, Nazr Mohammed, Jamaal Magloire, Wayne Turner, Heshimu Evans, Allen Edwards



No. 7 UCLA 1995
Seed: 1
Record: 31-2
Finals: Def. Arkansas 89-78
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 14.3
Rotation: Ed O'Bannon, Charles O'Bannon, Toby Bailey, Tyus Edney, George Zidek, Cameron Dollar, J.R Henderson



No. 6 Michigan 1989
Seed: 3
Record: 30-7
Finals: Def. Seton Hall 80-79 in overtime
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 9.8
Rotation: Glen Rice, Rumeal Robinson, Terry Mills, Sean Higgins, Loy Vaught, Mike Griffin, Mark Hughes, Demetrius Calip



No. 5 Connecticut 1999
Seed: 1
Record: 34-2
Finals: Def. Duke 77-74
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 11.8
Rotation: Richard Hamilton, Khalid El-Amin, Kevin Freeman, Ricky Moore, Jake Voskuhl



No. 4 Duke 1992
Seed: 1
Record: 34-2
Finals: Def. Michigan 71-51
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 12.5
Rotation: Christian Laettner, Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley, Thomas Hill, Antonio Lang, Cherokee Parks, Brian Davis



No. 3 UNC 1993
Seed: 1
Record: 34-4
Finals: Def. Michigan 77-71
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 15.7
Rotation: Eric Montross, Donald Williams, George Lynch, Brian Reese, Derrick Phelps, Henrik Rodl, Pat Sullivan



No. 2 Duke 2001
Seed: 1
Record: 35-4
Finals: Def. Arizona 82-72
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 16.7
Rotation: Shane Battier, Mike Dunleavy, Jay Williams, Carlos Boozer, Chris Duhon, Nate James



No. 1 Kentucky 1996
Seed: 1
Record: 34-2
Finals: Def. Syracuse 76-67
Average margin of victory for NCAA Tourney: 23.2
Rotation: Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer, Tony Delk, Walter McCarty, Derek Anderson, Mark Pope, Anthony Epps

Note: Seedings for Terrific 20 were set by Jeff Sagarin's computer rankings of these 20 national champions.

[audacious1]

Searching around, found another story on the topic. An unknown Page 2 staff put the '96 UK team #2 behind the '68 UCLA team.

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/greatestcollegebasketball.html

[UKDieHard]

Great post. I was just "discussing" this same topic with a Duke fanand trying to explain to him that the 96 UK teamwas the most dominant team inthe last 30 years. Now that I have thefacts to back me up. I will print it out and start the "discussion all over again. Thanks

[smartguy]

hey what about the 78 kentucky team and the hoosiers undefeated team ???!