Top 10 College B-Ball Teams
Top 10 Best College Basketball Teams Of All Time By: Ben Petru
- Page 2 and 3: Letter To The Reader Dear Reader, T
- Page 5 and 6: #10 : North Carolina Tar Heels (198
- Page 8 and 9: #8: Indiana Hoosiers (1975 - 76) If
- Page 10 and 11: #6: Duke Blue Devils (1990 - 91) It
- Page 13 and 14: #4: San Francisco Dons (1955 - 56)
- Page 15 and 16: #2: UCLA Bruins (1971 - 72) We’re
<strong>Top</strong> <strong>10</strong> Best <strong>College</strong><br />
Basketball <strong>Teams</strong> Of All<br />
Time<br />
By: Ben Petru
Letter To The Reader<br />
Dear Reader,<br />
Thank you for choosing this magazine to read.<br />
In case you didn’t know, the soul purpose<br />
behind this magazine is to inform the reader<br />
about who these teams were and why they are<br />
on this list.<br />
From, Ben Petru
Table Of Contents<br />
Pg 3 & <strong>10</strong>: North Carolina Tar Heels<br />
Pg 4: UNLV Runnin’ Rebels<br />
Pg 5: Indiana Hoosiers<br />
Pg 6, 11 & 12: UCLA Bruins<br />
Pg 7: Duke Blue Devils<br />
Pg 8: Kentucky Wildcats<br />
Pg 9: San Francisco Dons
#<strong>10</strong> : North Carolina Tar Heels (1986 - 87)<br />
In 2018, it’s not hard to see why a college basketball<br />
program coached by Dean Smith and featuring James<br />
Worthy, Sam Perkins, and a freshman Michael Jordan<br />
as its leading scorers would have a lot of success.<br />
However, it wasn’t that cut-and-dry back then. Many<br />
had no idea how good MJ would be during that<br />
season (13.5 points on 53% shooting). In fact, all five<br />
starters that season were phenomenal shooting the<br />
ball. Each shot 51% or higher from the field.
#9: UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (1989 - 90)<br />
This team beat Duke in the 1990 National<br />
Championship game by 30 points. THIRTY. POINTS.<br />
Under head coach Jerry Tarkanian, UNLV went 35-5<br />
and was seventh in the nation in points per game.<br />
Featuring Larry Johnson (who averaged a 20-point,<br />
11-rebound double-double), Greg Anthony, and Stacey<br />
Augmon, the Runnin’ Rebels ran teams out of the gym<br />
all season long.
#8: Indiana Hoosiers (1975 - 76)<br />
If your team goes undefeated in the regular season,<br />
including 18-0 in the Big Ten, it’s expected to win<br />
the National Championship. The 1975-76 Hoosiers,<br />
under head coach Bob Knight, met those<br />
expectations. At 32-0, Indiana rolled through the<br />
Tourney, wrapping up its season with an 86-68 win<br />
over Michigan in the title game. Featuring a starting<br />
lineup that included Scott May, Kent Benson, and<br />
Quinn Buckner, this Indiana team was unstoppable.
#7: UCLA Bruins (1963 - 64)<br />
John Wooden’s storied career with the UCLA Bruins<br />
put him in the history books as one of the greatest<br />
to ever coach the game. One of his best, most<br />
widely remembered seasons was 1963-64, when<br />
the Bruins went 30-0, beating Duke in the National<br />
Final by 15 points. This was Wooden’s first National<br />
Championship and his star player, Gail Goodrich,<br />
went on to a Hall-of-Fame NBA career.
#6: Duke Blue Devils (1990 - 91)<br />
It’s pretty remarkable that, after such a humiliating<br />
defeat to UNLV in the 1990 title game, the Duke<br />
Blue Devils would go on to win two straight national<br />
titles. The 1990-91 Blue Devils shook off that<br />
30-point loss to the Runnin’ Rebels and had a<br />
phenomenal season, posting a record of 32-7.<br />
Under the tutelage of Coach K, Grant Hill, Christian<br />
Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Thomas Hill, and Bill<br />
McCaffrey (all who averaged 11-plus points per<br />
game) took the team all the way to the National<br />
Championship, defeating #3 Kansas by 13 points.
#5: Kentucky Wildcats (1995 - 96)<br />
During his pre-scandal coaching days, Rick Pitino<br />
led some fantastic, tough Wildcat teams. None were<br />
more dominant than the 1995-96 squad, which went<br />
34-2 and was undefeated in the SEC East. The<br />
team averaged 91.4 points per game – 2nd in the<br />
nation in scoring – and was led by the duo of senior<br />
Tony Delk and sophomore Antoine Walker. Kentucky<br />
had little trouble in the Tourney, defeating Syracuse<br />
76-67 to secure a National Championship.
#4: San Francisco Dons (1955 - 56)<br />
If you know your NCAA men’s basketball history,<br />
you know about the ’55-56 San Francisco Dons.<br />
Coached by Phil Woolpert, the Dons went<br />
undefeated – 29-and-0 – on the season and<br />
defeated Iowa to win a second straight title. Much of<br />
the success was due to the brilliant play of Bill<br />
Russell, who averaged 20.6 points and 21 rebounds<br />
per game. Yeah, a 20-20 double-double for the year.<br />
Amazing stuff.
#3: North Carolina Tar Heels (1956 - 57)<br />
With such a long tradition of winning, it shouldn’t<br />
surprise you that there are multiple UNC teams on this<br />
list. In ’56-57, it was head coach Frank McGuire who<br />
led the Heels to a 32-0 record, including 14 ACC wins,<br />
and a national championship. Small forward Lennie<br />
Rosenbluth led the team to success all season long,<br />
putting up 28 points and nine rebounds per game in<br />
his final collegiate season that culminated in ACC<br />
Player-of-the-Year honors. The Heels capped off the<br />
1957 NCAA Tournament with a nail-biting 54-53 win<br />
over Kansas, securing the title.
#2: UCLA Bruins (1971 - 72)<br />
We’re doing single season teams here, but this could<br />
easily be a discussion about the 1971-1973 Bruins.<br />
Both teams recorded 30-0 records, taking home the<br />
National Championship. The ’71-72 team was a<br />
scoring monster, averaging the nation’s third best<br />
points-per-game at 94.6. It’s not hard to see why when<br />
you look at the starting lineup which featured center<br />
Bill Walton (21.1 points, 15.5 rebounds), guard Henry<br />
Bibby (15.7 points) and forward Jamaal Wilkes (13.5<br />
points). In what ended up being yet another<br />
undefeated, title-winning season for coach Wooden,<br />
the Bruins defeated Florida State in the National<br />
Championship game 81-76.
#1: UCLA Bruins (1966 - 67)<br />
Much like ’71-73, this could easily be about the ’66-68<br />
squads that lost a total of one game in two years.<br />
However, it was the undefeated 1966-67 season that<br />
tops our list. Center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was<br />
unstoppable all season, averaging 29 points and 15.5<br />
rebounds per game. Guards Lucius Allen and Mike<br />
Warren were no joke either, combining for 28 points<br />
per game. The Bruins never even came close to losing<br />
during the 1967 NCAA Tournament, winning all four<br />
games by 15 or more points (including a 49-point<br />
victory over Wyoming). UCLA grabbed the title after a<br />
79-64 win over Dayton in the final.