Link to Top Player on All 168 All-Time Great College Basketball Teams - Links to All-Time Conference Rankings

The next series of posts list the seeds we suggest in each of eight conferences with at least eight teams each in our All-Time Value Add Basketball Game. We added new teams, including a number of the best teams from 2022 and 2023, for a total of 168 all-time great teams.

You can also click on the top player on each team to get all their stats and updates during their career at the great College Basketball Reference website.

We include a bracket, player cards and a summary for all conferences with at least eight all-time great teams in the game, or for any other team not in one of those eight conferences click on this "Mid-Major" bracket to see where they are in that bracket. Click for the ACC, Atlantic 10, American Athletic, Big 10, Big 12, Big East (this is the story with the photo of Wilt Chamberlain below), Pac-12 or SEC, or back to this master list of all teams here or the game itself with the playing cards at our All-Time Value Add Basketball Game. 

To go straight to the player cards for the team you want, click on the alphabetic list by team and scroll to find the player cards for your team:

List A - Alabama 1977 to Georgia Tech 2004

List B - Gonzaga 2017 to Marquette 2011

List C - Marquette 2023 to San Francisco 1956

List D - Seattle 1958 to Xavier 2023 

Seed. ACC Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. Duke - 2001 - Shane Battier. Champs

2. North Carolina - 2005 - Sean May. Champs

3. Virginia - 2019 - Kyle Guy. Champs

4. Duke - 2015 - Justise Winslow. Champs

5. Duke - 2010 - Jon Scheyer. Champs

6. Louisville - 2013 - Russ Smith. Champs

7. Duke - 1992 - Christian Laettner. Champs

8. North Carolina - 1982 - Michael Jordan. Champs

9. NC State - 1974 - David Thompson. Champs

10. Syracuse - 2003 - Carmelo Anthony. Champs

11. Syracuse - 1987 - Rony Seikaly. Champs

12. Duke - 1986 - Johnny Dawkins. Champs

13. North Carolina - 1957 - Lennie Rosenbluth. Champs

14. Louisville - 1980 - Darrell Griffith. Champs

15. Georgia Tech - 2004 - Jarrett Jack. Runner-up

16. North Carolina - 2022 - Armando Bacot. Runner-up

17. Wake Forest - 1996 - Tim Duncan.

18. North Carolina - 1998 - Vince Carter.

19. Duke - 2022 - Wendell Moore.

20. Pittsburgh - 2009 - DeJuan Blair.

21. Miami - 2023 - Norchad Omier.

22. Georgia Tech - 1990 - Dennis Scott.

23. Miami - 2013 - Shane Larkin.

24. Virginia - 1981 - Ralph Sampson.

25. Notre Dame - 1981 - Orlando Woolridge.

26. Notre Dame - 1970 - Austin Carr.

27. Wake Forest - 2005 - Chris Paul.

28. Miami FL - 1965 - Rick Berry.

 

Seed. Atlantic 10 Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. La Salle - 1954 - Tom Gola. Champs

2. Dayton - 1967 - Don May. Runner-up

3. Dayton - 2020 - Obi Toppin.

4. St. Joe's - 2004 - Jameer Nelson.

5. St. Bonaventure - 1970 - Bob Lanier.

6. Davidson - 2008 - Stephen Curry.

7. George Mason - 2006 - Jai Lewis.

8. VCU - 2011 - Bradford Burgess.

 

Seed. American Athletic Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. Cincinnati - 1960 - Oscar Robertson.  Champs

2. Houston - 1983 - Hakeem Olajuwon. Runner-up

3. Memphis - 2008 - Derrick Rose. Runner-up

4. Houston - 1968 - Elvin Hayes.

5. Cincinnati - 2002 - Jason Maxiell.

6. Houston - 2021 - Quentin Grimes.

7. SMU - 2017 - Semi Ojeleye.

8. Wichita St. - 2013 - Fred VanVleet.

 

Seed. Big Ten Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. Indiana - 1976 - Scott May. Champs

2. Ohio St. - 1960 - Jerry Lucas. Champs

3. Michigan St. - 1979 - Magic Johnson. Champs

4. Michigan St. - 2000 - Mateen Cleaves. Champs

5. Michigan - 1989 - Glen Rice. Champs

6. Indiana - 1981 - Isaiah Thomas. Champs

7. Purdue - 1969 - Rick Mount. Champs

8. Maryland - 2002 - Juan Dixon. Champs

9. Illinois - 2005 - Deron Williams. Runner-up

10. Wisconsin - 2015 - Frank Kaminsky. Runner-up

11. Michigan - 1965 - Cazzie Russell. Runner-up

12. Ohio St. - 2007 - Greg Oden. Runner-up

13. Indiana - 2002 - Jared Jeffries. Runner-up

14. Indiana St. - 1979 - Larry Bird. Runner-up

15. Purdue - 2018 - Carsen Edwards.

16. Illinois - 1989 - Nick Anderson.

17. Iowa - 2021 - Luka Garza.

18. Michigan St. - 2009 - Draymond Green.

19. Michigan - 2013 - Trey Burke.

20. Maryland - 1984 - Len Bias.

21. Minnesota - 1977 - Kevin McHale.

22. Penn St. - 2018 - Tony Carr.

23. Iowa - 2002 - Reggie Evans.

 

Seed. Big 12 Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. Kansas - 2008 - Mario Chalmers. Champs

2. Baylor - 2021 - Jared Butler. Champs

3. Kansas - 2022 - Ochai Agbaji. Champs

4. Oklahoma St. - 1946 - Bob Kurland. Champs

5. Kansas - 1988 - Danny Manning. Champs

6. Kansas - 1997 - Paul Pierce. Runner-up

7. Texas Tech - 2019 - Jarrett Culver. Runner-up

8. Kansas - 1957 - Wilt Chamberlain. Runner-up

9. West Virginia - 1959 - Jerry West. Runner-up

10. Texas - 2023 - Marcus Carr.

11. Oklahoma - 1985 - Wayman Tisdale.

12. Kansas St. - 2023 - Markquis Nowell.

13. Iowa St. - 2014 - DeAndre Kane.

14. Oklahoma St. - 2004 - John Lucas.

15. Kansas St. - 2008 - Michael Beasley.

16. Oklahoma - 2016 - Buddy Hield.

17. West Virginia - 2010 - Kevin Jones.

18. Texas - 2003 - T.J. Ford.

19. TCU - 2023 - JaKobe Coles.

20. Brigham Young - 1981 - Danny Ainge.

 

Seed. Big East Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. Villanova - 2018 - Mikal Bridges. Champs

2. Connecticut - 2004 - Ben Gordon. Champs

3. Connecticut - 1999 - Richard Hamilton. Champs

4. Georgetown - 1984 - Patrick Ewing. Champs

5. Marquette - 1977 - Butch Lee. Champs

6. Villanova - 1985 - Ed Pinckney. Champs

7. Butler - 2010 - Gordon Hayward. Runner-up

8. Marquette - 2011 - Jimmy Butler.

9. Connecticut - 2023 - Adama Sanogo.

10. Seton Hall - 1989 - John Morton.

11. Creighton - 2023 - Ryan Kalkbrenner.

12. Georgetown - 2007 - Roy Hibbert.

13. St. John's - 1985 - Chris Mullin.

14. Xavier - 2023 - Jack Nunge.

15. Marquette - 2003 - Dwyane Wade.

16. Marquette - 1971 - Jim Chones.

17. Seton Hall - 2020 - Myles Powell.

18. Marquette - 2023 - Tyler Kolek.

19. DePaul - 1945 - George Mikan.

20. Creighton - 2020 - Ty-Shon Alexander.

21. DePaul - 1980 - Mark Aguirre.

22. Marquette - 1955 - Terry Rand.

23. Creighton - 2014 - Doug McDermott.

24. Marquette - 1994 - Jim McIlvaine.

 

Seed. Mid-Major Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. UNLV - 1991 - Larry Johnson. Champs

2. San Francisco - 1956 - Bill Russell. Champs

3. UTEP (Texas Western) - 1966 - Bobby Joe Hill. Champs

4. Wyoming - 1943 - Ken Sailors. Champs

5. Gonzaga - 2017 - Nigel Williams-Goss. Runner-up

6. Jacksonville - 1970 - Artis Gilmore. Runner-up

7. Seattle - 1958 - Elgin Baylor. Runner-up

8. Loyola-Chicago - 1963 - Jerry Harkness.

9. Loyola Marymount - 1990 - Bo Kimble.

10. Gonzaga - 2023 - Drew Timme.

11. San Diego St. - 2023 - Jaedon LeDee.

12. Florida Atlantic - 2023 - Johnell Davis.

13. St. Mary's - 2023 - Logan Johnson.

14. San Diego St. - 2011 - Kawhi Leonard.

15. UNLV - 1987 - Armen Gilliam.

16. St. Peter's - 2022 - Doug Edert.

17. Holy Cross - 1950 - Bob Cousy.

18. Stephen f austin - 2016 - Thomas Walkup.

19. Navy - 1986 - David Robinson.

20. Murray St. - 2019 - Ja Morant.

21. Princeton - 1965 - Bill Bradley.

22. Loyola-Chicago - 2018 - Cameron Krutwig.

23. Princeton - 2023 - Tosan Evbuomwan.

24. Niagara - 1970 - Calvin Murphy.

 

Seed. Pac 12 Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. UCLA - 1972 - Bill Walton. Champs

2. UCLA - 1967 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Champs

3. Arizona - 1997 - Mike Bibby. Champs

4. Utah - 1998 - Andre Miller. Runner-up

5. UCLA - 2006 - Jordan Farmar. Runner-up

6. California - 1959 - Jack Grout. Runner-up

7. Colorado - 2021 - McKinley Wright.

8. Oregon - 2017 - Dillon Brooks.

9. Arizona - 2015 - Stanley Johnson.

10. USC - 2021 - Evan Mobley.

11. UCLA - 2021 - Jaime Jaquez.

12. Arizona St. - 1980 - Byron Scott.

 

Seed. SEC Teams, Best Player Card, Did they win title?

1. Kentucky - 2012 - Anthony Davis. Champs

2. Kentucky - 1996 - Antoine Walker. Champs

3. Arkansas - 1994 - Corliss Williamson. Champs

4. Florida - 2006 - Joakim Noah. Champs

5. Kentucky - 1948 - Alex Groza. Champs

6. Auburn - 2019 - Chuma Okeke.

7. Alabama - 2023 - Brandon Miller.

8. LSU - 1992 - Shaquille O'Neal.

9. Tennessee - 2023 - Santiago Vescovi.

10. Missouri - 1982 - Steve Stipanovich.

11. South Carolina - 2017 - Sindarius Thornwell.

12. Arkansas - 2021 - Moses Moody.

13. Tennessee - 1977 - Bernard King.

14. LSU - 2006 - Glen Davis.

15. Alabama - 1977 - Reggie King.

16. South Carolina - 1973 - Mike Dunleavy.

17. Auburn - 1984 - Charles Barkley.

18. Kentucky - 1970 - Dan Issel.

19. Arkansas - 1978 - Sidney Moncrief.

20. Georgia - 1982 - Dominique Wilkins.

21. LSU - 1970 - Pete Maravich.

3-pointer strategy and substitution tips as 2021 Colorado Springs Stuns 1989 Illinois

 Yes, I'm watching the NFL playoffs. I actually find it easier to PLAY a different sport in a board game then I am watching on TV to avoid confusion. So while Dax tried to bring the Cowboys back against the 49ers ...

The new we created from the past two seasons have now won four straight against the additional teams we created from past years. A couple of notes for those who have already been playing the Value Add Basketball Game and want to focus on rotating players in and out.

First of all, you do not need to do this - the basic way to play the game is to play the subs across the bottom row for the first 7 possessions (44 to 38 on the scoresheet) and then play the starters (top row) for the final 37 possessions of the game. However, here are some tips on what I've found easiest to track who is in the game if you want to play everyone the right number of possessions (the Stamina number).

1. To take a tough case, Illinois is one of the very high possession teams that add 4 possessions to the normal 44 we play (if you want to play this advanced rule). If you look at the scoresheet further down, we list the score after possessions 48, 47, 46 and 45 before the normal sheet. When we play extra possessions because of a team like this, I simply play the reserves for half the possessions (so the bottom rows for both Illinois and Colorado below played against each other the 48th and 47th possessions) then the top row played the 46th and 45th.

2. Once we hit the normal start of the game - the 44th possession - Colorado had exploded to a 29-23 lead rather than starting at the normal 20-20 start. The two pictures below show which players I had in the game for that 44th possession, based on the suggested playing possessions I put on the bottom of each card. Note for example that McKinley Wright, Colorado's unheralded super star, plays Point Guard on possessions 43-1, meaning this 44th possession is the only possession for which he is NOT in the game. For Illinois, four of five starters were already in the game.n the game. 

PENNIES. The way I do it is use a penny if the player only gets the ball on one number (so on the 8-sided die I just go in order and give it to the player left to right on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) so the backup point guard Bardo would get it on a "1" on this possession for Illinois.

DIMES. I put a dime on each player who has an extra number after "Gets Ball On" and his possession, then just go left to right on the dimes for the 6, 7 and 8. So for Colorado below with the 5 subs all in for this possession, a 6 would go to Barthelemy with the dime furthest left, then a 7 would go to Walker in the middle with the second dime, then an 8 would go to Walton at the far right.

All that being said and the great McKinley Wright pulled a huge upset after really being the incredible but overlooked point guard in the country. He scored 21 points and took Colorado to a double digit lead with 5:43 left minutes left - 76-63.

Illinois went to a 3-point strategy the last 5 minutes (add a 3-point shot made for every 2-point shot you take off from the top of the range, but you can go no more than double the original 3-pointers made) and subbed in their best 3-point shooter PJ Bowman for Kenny Battle who makes no 3-pointers.

That means Bowman was still just the 1-5 three-point range on his card, because you need to take away a 2-pointer made at the top of the range to add a 3-pointers at the bottom of the 2-point range, so with only one 2-pointer made (6-6) he had no place to add any more. However, Gill's 1-3 three-point range could be doubled to 1-6 made by taking away three 3-pointers so 8-10 went from a made 2-pointer to a missed 3-pointer. The system worked and both hit 3-pointers in a furious 21-8 run to cut it to 84-81 with 16 second left, but Colorado center Evan Battey dunked to finalize the Colorado upset.

Schedule of Final 4 Round 1 Games in All-Time Great Tournament

 Only 4 Round 1 Games remain to be played in our tournament of 30 new All-Time Great College basketball teams. (In our original All-Time March Madness tournament featuring 96 teams, the favored seed dominated with a 62-33 record through UCLA (Bill Walton) defeating UNC (Michael Jordan) in the title game.)

#16 Michigan 1965 vs. #17 Arkansas 1978

#7 Illinois 1989 vs. #26 Notre Dame 1981

#10 Indiana 1981 vs. #23 Georgia Tech 1990

#11 Jacksonville 1970 vs. #22 North Carolina 1957

Kareem's 1967 UCLA and Battier's 2001 Duke Headline New VABG Cards

 The 30 new all-time great teams are now available for the Value Add Basketball Game. You can access the pdf of player cards via this google doc. The two best teams appear to be Kareem's 1967 UCLA team, and Duke's 2001 team, who certainly appear they could be close matches for the two championship teams from our original game and 98 teams. 

A couple of notes on the new cards, which can still be used against teams in the old cards:

1. We went to a larger point 8 font, to make them easier to read.

2. We added the height and points per game at the top of every card.

3. In addition the Stamina (how many of the 44 game possessions the player can play before getting tired) we went through and gave suggestions on which actual possessions you may choose to use the player. See notes on player rotations and when a player tires below the picture of team cards:

STAMINA CONTINUED:

a. Basic rest rules. To keep it simple, you can simply play the bottom five reserves the first seven possessions of the game - Possessions 44 to 38 - and then play the starters for the last 37 possessions.

b. You can follow the suggestions next to Stamina, in which case UCLA's point guards would include Don Saffer for possessions 44 to 37, Gene Sutherland on possessions 36 to 32, and then starter Mike Warren from possessions 31 to 1. Players with (None) listed by them might just come into a game if someone fouls out or a different mix is needed (a good 3-point shooter perhaps).

c. You are free to substitute players in any order you want for a more advanced game, just keep in mind the reduction in effectiveness if they play too many possessions. If a player is in the game for more possessions than his stamina, then every die roll is adjusted one against him. So if Duke's Matt Christiansen plays a 10th possession then a 13 when he is on defense is changed to a 14 and no longer a steal, or a 15 when trying to score is changed to a 16 and he misses the shot, and a rebound of 2 to him is changed to a 3 and he no longer gets the rebound, etc. If he plays at least twice as many possessions as his stamina (18th possession) then all numbers are adjusted by two.

d. For teams that played at a very high tempo, we also added a line at the bottom of the cards indicating you have the option of adding possessions at the start of the game. Duke 2001 is a +3, so if you use this option you use an extra scoresheet for the first three possessions before going to possession 44. We suggest using all reserves for one-third of extra possessions, which would only be one of three possessions if Duke 2001 was playing - but reserves all played an extra 10 possessions and starters an extra 31 possessions in the 138-116 win by Loyola Marymount 1990 (+26) against Kentucky 1970 (+5).