Comparing our Seeding and Results to Date to Another Ranking of the 25 Greatest College Hoops Teams of All-Time

This post is a nice and well thought out ranking of the 25 greatest college basketball teams. I always like to see the opinions of others who have studied the history of college basketball and compare them to how I ranked and seeded by teams for the Value Add Basketball tournament of all-time greats.

I chose the same top two – UCLA 1972 and then Indiana 1976 – as this piece did. I make notes by each of his top 25 picks for if I had them higher, lower, or about the same. I also note how they have done in the all-time tournament so far – though obviously losing one dice game does not mean a team was not that good any more than let’s say UNLV losing to Duke in the Final 4 means you should throw out their dominance in the rest of the 34 straight wins before that game.

1.       UCLA (30-0), 1971-72, Notes:  Agree, my No. 1 overall seed. Close call 67-59 in second round against Oregon 2017 though.

2.       Indiana Hoosiers (32-0), 1975-76, Notes:  Agree again, my No 2 overall 1-seed. Looked even better in 2nd round with 72-49 win over Indiana 2002.

3.       San Francisco (29-0), 1955-56, Notes:  I had them lower as a 7-seed, but did not expect them to be upset by Arizona 2015 in the 2nd round.

4.       Texas Western (UTEP) (28-1), 1965-66, Notes:  For their historic win I have no qualms with the rating, though based purely on ability I had them a 6-seed, and they did hold that up with a thrilling one point win over my Marquette 1977.

5.       UCLA (30-0), 1972-73, Notes:  Solid, but only took one school team per century, and UCLA 1972 better.

6.       UCLA (29-1), 1967-68, Notes:  Solid, but only took one school team per century, and UCLA 1972 better.

7.       North Carolina State (30-1), 1973-74, Notes:  Agree, had them as a 2-seed though they dodged a bullet with one point win against Seton Hall 1989 in 2nd round.

8.       UCLA (30-0), 1966-67, Notes:  Solid, but only took one school team per century, and UCLA 1972 better.

9.       North Carolina (32-2), 1981-82, Notes:  Had them slightly higher as a 2-seed, but they barely escaped on Michael Jordan's drive and foul shots to beat LSU 2009 in 2nd round.

10.   North Carolina (32-0), 1956-57, Notes:  Agree, with only one school team per century I put Jordan and gang higher and chose them just over the great undefeated 1957 team.

11.   Duke (34-2), 1991-92, Notes:  The star power justifies this rating, but I had them lower as a 10-seed, though they next face the 2005 national champions from hated UNC 2005 for a chance to play the great NC State 1974.

12.   Kentucky (34-2), 1995-96, Notes:  Agree, picked them as the best Kentucky team of the Century and had them even higher as the last 1-seed, but in the game they were shocked by 16-seed Wake Forest to be the only 1 or 2 seed to lose in the 2nd round.

13.   UCLA (30-0), 1963-64, Notes:  Solid, but only took one school team per century, and UCLA 1972 better.

14.   Cincinnati (29-2), 1961-62, Notes:  Agree completely, had them as a 4-seed, though they barely survived a 2nd round test out west against Gonzaga 2017.

15.   San Francisco (28-1), 1954-55, Notes:  Would have had them a bit lower since I picked the following year's team as the 7-seed (see above).

16.   Kentucky (38-2), 2011-12, Notes:  Had them a bit lower as a 7-seed, but they ran Dominique Wilkins Georgia team off the court in the third round so maybe they are better, and while this stories rankings are good, having this team be the only team from the 21st century of the 25 does show a bias for the old days.

17.   UCLA (29-1), 1968-69, Notes:  Solid, but only took one school team per century, and UCLA 1972 better.

18.   UCLA (29-1), 1970-71, Notes:  Solid, but only took one school team per century, and UCLA 1972 better.

19.   Ohio State (25-3), 1959-60, Notes:  Agree, have them as a 5-seed, though their 2nd round test against Magic and Michigan State has yet to be played.

20.   Georgetown (34-3), 1983-84, Notes:  Had them a bit lower as a 11-seed, but the fact that they handled a very good Maryland 2002 team as an upset may back up the articles ranking.

21.   Arkansas (31-3), 1993-94, Notes:  Agreed, had them as a 6-seed, though they were upset by 1 point by the Auburn 2019, and since the author only included one 21st century team in his top 25 it may be that Auburn was just underrated by me.

22.   UCLA (28-2), 1969-70, Notes:  Solid, but only took one school team per century, and UCLA 1972 better.

23.   Kentucky (30-2), 1977-78, Notes:  Agree, but as noted above gave each school only 1 team per century so they are not in my tournament.

24.   UNLV (34-1), 1990-91, Notes:  Even though they didn't win the title due to the stunning upset against Duke, Duke can do that to you and I still have them higher as a 2-seed for going 34-0 in dominant fashion until then. They beat UCLA 2006 to advance to the 2nd round.

25.   Loyola-Chicago (29-2), 1962-63, Notes:  Had them even slightly higher as a 5-seed, though they haven't played the 2nd round game against Missouri 1982, which was as high as No. 1 for part of that season.