ALL-TIME TOP 15 COLLEGE
BASKETBALL TEAMS
The Top 15 Best College Basketball Teams of All Time
We set out to use Stellar College Basketball Computer Game to simulate games among the best college basketball teams of all-time and determine which are the absolute best on an objective basis. To do this we collected from various sources lists of what experts consider to be the best teams. Once we had a list of 50 teams, we simulated multiple seasons where each team played a grueling 49-game schedule against the other top teams of all-time. We averaged the results and determined which teams are truly the "best of the best."
There were a number of road blocks we faced in comparing teams over six decades. The average players from yesteryear could not compete today. In 1951, the average team shot approximately 33 percent from the field. Today, if there was no three-point line, the average team would shoot 50 percent. Players are much bigger, stronger and more athletic than they were in yesteryear. By the same token, superstars like Wilt Chamberlain or Bill Russell would still be good players today, but would probably not dominate the game like they did in the 1950s. Chamberlain averaged 30 points and 19 rebounds per game in 1957. It is highly unlikely he would do that today. To “level the playing field,” Stellar College Basketball brings offensive and defensive field goal percentages of past teams up to today’s levels. Thus, a player who shot 33 percent in 1951, would be deemed to shoot 50 percent (without taking into account three-pointers).
There was no three-pointer prior to 1987, so we don’t know for sure how well players on pre-1987 teams would shoot the three. On the other hand, there are post-1987 teams that are great BECAUSE of their ability to shoot the three. We elected to make estimates as to how well pre-1987 teams would shoot the three-pointer based on averages by position today and whether the player had a reputation as a good long range shooter.
Prior to 1979, statisticians did not keep track of blocks or steals. Prior to 1976, statisticians did not keep track of turnovers. Prior to 1969, statisticians did not keep track of assists. All of these statistics had to be estimated for players who played prior to the dates indicated.
Before we could get started objectively determining which teams were the "best of the best," we had to figure out which teams we were even going to consider. There are over 300 Division I college basketball teams and many have played 100 seasons or more. We couldn't very well have 30,000 teams all play each other. It would take a lifetime just to compile the statistics, much less simulate the games.
We decided to start by taking a look at the top basketball team lists published by the experts. As it turns out, there are surprisingly few lists of the greatest college basketball teams of all-time. We looked at every team on every list.
For example, ESPN.com’s top 10 were:
1. 1968 UCLA, 2. 1996 Kentucky, 3. 1976 Indiana, 4. 1972 UCLA, 5. 1992 Duke, 6. 1982 North Carolina, 7. 1974 NC State, 8. 1956 San Francisco, 9. 1957 North Carolina, and 10. 1960 Ohio State, with honorable mentions to 1990 UNLV and 1954 Kentucky.
ESPN’s College Basketball Encyclopedia’s top 15 were:
1. 1973 UCLA, 2. 1976 Indiana, 3. 1968 UCLA, 4. 1956 San Francisco, 5. 1967 UCLA, 6. 1982 North Carolina, 7. 1992 Duke, 8. 1990 UNLV, 9. 1974 NC State, 10. 1996 Kentucky, 11. 1969 UCLA, 12. 1957 North Carolina, 13. 1948 Kentucky, 14. 2001 Duke, and 15. 1954 Kentucky.
Billy Packer’s top 25 in his book College Basketball’s 25 Greatest Teams were:
1. 1967-69 UCLA, 2. 1976 Indiana, 3. 1972-73 UCLA, 4. 1955-56 San Francisco, 5. 1954 Kentucky, 6. 1960-62 Ohio State, 7. 1947-49 Kentucky, 8. 1961-62 Cincinnati, 9. 1974 NC State, 10. 1979 Michigan State,11. 1968 Houston, 12. 1964 UCLA, 13. 1988 Oklahoma, 14. 1957 North Carolina, 15. 1950 CCNY, 16. 1960 Cincinnati, 17. 1984-85 Georgetown, 18. 1982 North Carolina, 19. 1953 Indiana, 20. 1986 Louisville, 21. 1957 Kansas, 22. 1945-46 Oklahoma A&M, 23. 1983 Houston, 24. 1953 Seton Hall, 25. 1974 Maryland.
Where two or more teams had the same players (such as 1990 UNLV and 1991 UNLV or 1968 UCLA and 1969 UCLA), we elected to include the team we thought was best (e.g. 1991 UNLV, 1968 UCLA). We decided not to include any team prior to 1950. That gave us 27 teams.
Next, we added 2007 Florida, since they won two NCAA Championships in a row. We also added NCAA Champions who had gone to the Final Four two years in a row and were not already included, which included 1952 Kansas, 1954 LaSalle, 1960 California, 1975 UCLA, 1994 Arkansas, 2000 Michigan State, 2002 Maryland and 2009 North Carolina, and other teams that went to the Final Four at least two years in a row, which included 1965 Michigan, 1969 North Carolina, 1988 Duke, 1993 Michigan, 1998 North Carolina, 2002 Kansas, and 2008 UCLA. That gave us 43 teams.
Finally, we added seven more teams that we call “the best of the rest:” 1971 Marquette, 1997 Kansas, 1999 Duke, 1999 Connecticut, 2005 Illinois, 2005 North Carolina, 2008 Memphis. If there is a team you think should have been included in the 50 that wasn’t, shoot us an email at [email protected] and we’ll run the simulation and tell you how they would have done.
The top 15 teams were as follows:
Rank Team Avg Wins Avg Losses Pct Most Wins Least Wins
1 91 UNLV 38.2 10.8 0.780 44 33
2 68 UCLA 37.8 11.2 0.771 42 36
2 72 UCLA 37.8 11.2 0.771 43 34
4 54 Kentucky 37.2 11.8 0.759 45 32
5 68 Houston 36.2 12.8 0.739 39 35
6 96 Kentucky 35.8 13.2 0.731 38 30
7 88 Oklahoma 34.8 14.2 0.710 38 31
8 56 San Francisco 34.2 14.8 0.698 38 30
9 99 Duke 33.6 15.4 0.686 35 31
10 60 Cincinnati 32.6 16.4 0.665 34 28
11 60 Ohio State 32.0 17.0 0.653 34 27
12 83 Houston 31.2 17.8 0.637 32 28
13 02 Kansas 29.0 20.0 0.592 31 27
13 09 North Carolina 29.0 20.0 0.592 32 24
15 97 Kansas 27.8 21.2 0.567 31 23
HM 53 Indiana 27.6 21.4 0.563 30 25
HM 74 NC State 27.6 21.4 0.563 32 24
HM 94 Arkansas 27.6 21.4 0.563 30 26
We included 1953 Indiana, 1974 NC State and 1994 Arkansas as honorable mention teams since they were only 0.2 wins away from making the top 15. Click on any underlined team to see a detailed article about the team.
What happened to 1976 Indiana, the last undefeated team, which is at the top of every all-time best team list? Where is 1982 North Carolina, the team with Jordan, Worthy and Perkins? How about 1992 Duke, which won back-to-back championships behind Christian Laetner? A complete list of all 50 teams is below.
Although Indiana had a great season in 1976 and played a tough schedule, the Hoosiers barely squeaked by many of their opponents. Had the Hoosiers played a grueling 49-game schedule against the best teams of all time, they would have lost as many as they won.
The 1982 North Carolina team is remembered as being much better than it was because Jordan, Worthy and Perkins all went on to such terrific NBA careers. However, Michael Jordan was not yet His Airness in 1982. He was just a freshman who took too many shots. Perkins had yet to develop the outside shot that made him so tough to match up against in the NBA. Against the greatest teams of all time, the 82 North Carolina team would have had a mediocre season at best.
The 1992 Duke team was a great college team. They had a great coach and solid players at every position. The same group pulled off an amazing upset of the 1991 UNLV team in the NCAA Championship. Had they played UNLV 49 more times, however, the Blue Devils would have lost the vast majority of the games. Christian Laettner was a fine college center who created match up problems with his outside shot, but could he really defend against Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Bill Walton and Akeem Olajuwan?
Here's a complete list of how all 50 teams fared:
Rank Team Avg Wins Avg Losses Pct Most Wins Least Wins
01 91 UNLV 38.2 10.8 0.780 44 33
02 68 UCLA 37.8 11.2 0.771 42 36
02 72 UCLA 37.8 11.2 0.771 43 34
04 54 Kentucky 37.2 11.8 0.759 45 32
05 68 Houston 36.2 12.8 0.739 39 35
06 96 Kentucky 35.8 13.2 0.731 38 30
07 88 Oklahoma 34.8 14.2 0.710 38 31
08 56 San Francisco 34.2 14.8 0.698 38 30
09 99 Duke 33.6 15.4 0.686 35 31
10 60 Cincinnati 32.6 16.4 0.665 34 28
11 60 Ohio State 32.0 17.0 0.653 34 27
12 83 Houston 31.2 17.8 0.637 32 28
13 02 Kansas 29.0 20.0 0.592 31 27
13 09 North Carolina 29.0 20.0 0.592 32 24
15 97 Kansas 27.8 21.2 0.567 31 23
16 53 Indiana 27.6 21.4 0.563 30 25
16 74 NC State 27.6 21.4 0.563 32 24
16 94 Arkansas 27.6 21.4 0.563 30 26
19 02 Maryland 27.2 21.8 0.555 32 23
20 01 Duke 26.1 22.9 0.533 30 24
21 64 ULCA 25.9 23.1 0.529 32 24
22 08 Memphis 25.5 23.5 0.520 27 23
23 05 North Carolina 24.7 24.3 0.504 26 22
24 76 Indiana 23.9 25.1 0.488 27 21
25 65 Michigan 23.0 26.0 0.469 28 19
26 62 Cincinnati 22.6 26.4 0.461 28 16
27 07 Florida 22.1 26.9 0.451 24 19
28 53 Seton Hall 21.8 27.2 0.445 24 18
29 99 Connecticut 21.2 27.8 0.433 25 16
30 74 Maryland 21.0 28.0 0.429 24 16
31 92 Duke 20.6 28.4 0.420 25 14
32 05 Illinois 19.8 29.2 0.404 22 15
32 54 LaSalle 19.8 29.2 0.404 22 15
32 93 Michigan 19.8 29.2 0.404 21 17
35 52 Kansas 19.6 29.4 0.400 25 14
36 57 North Carolina 19.6 29.4 0.400 23 16
37 86 Louisville 19.2 29.8 0.392 24 13
38 57 Kansas 18.6 30.4 0.380 21 15
39 50 CCNY 18.4 30.6 0.376 22 13
39 98 North Carolina 18.4 30.6 0.376 22 12
41 84 Georgetown 17.3 31.7 0.353 22 13
42 08 UCLA 17.1 31.9 0.349 23 13
43 60 California 16.9 32.1 0.345 20 14
44 79 Michigan St. 16.3 32.7 0.333 19 13
45 00 Michigan St. 15.9 33.1 0.324 21 13
46 75 UCLA 15.7 33.3 0.320 20 13
47 82 North Carolina 15.2 33.8 0.310 18 10
48 71 Marquette 14.8 34.2 0.302 18 9
49 69 North Carolina 13.8 35.2 0.282 19 10
50 88 Duke 13.2 35.8 0.269 18 10