The top 6 teams in this group so far have gone 6-8 against the other great all-time teams, and have a combined rating of 3.1. That means those teams average being 3.1 better than the average team IN THE GAME, but the average team in the game is about 21 points better than an average team.
Therefore the Gonzaga team's ranking of +8.7 means they are rated about 29.7 points better than the average team. That team narrowly missed the perfect season by losing the last game of the regular season to BYU, and then the title game to UNC.
The lists also features one Ivy League team - the Princeton squad that featured US Senator and Presidential candidate Bill Bradley.
While the West Coast Conference features three of the top five other teams, we only broke out conferences with at least six all-time great teams in the game. The other two great teams are the highest scoring team in the NCAA history, which is averaging winning 120-110 in their 1-1 start this year, and had the tragedy of Hank Gathers dying of a heart condition at the end of the season after having become the first player in history to lead the nation in rebounding and points. The third WCC team on the list is the great Bill Russell's 1956 team.
| Rnk | Great Team | Year | Key Player | W | L | Pts | Allow | Rate |
|---|
| | Top 6 Other Conf | | | 6 | 8 | 78.8 | 77.6 | 3.1 |
| 1 | Gonzaga (WCC) | 2017 | Nigel Williams-Goss | 3 | 3 | 69.8 | 63.0 | 8.7 |
| 2 | UNLV (MWC) | 1991 | Larry Johnson | 1 | 1 | 76.5 | 75.5 | 7.3 |
| 3 | Loyola Marymount (WCC) | 1990 | Bo Kimble | 1 | 1 | 119.5 | 110.0 | 2.3 |
| 4 | Loyola-Chicago (WVC) | 1963 | Jerry Harkness | 0 | 1 | 62.0 | 68.0 | 0.6 |
| 5 | San Francisco (WCC) | 1956 | Bill Russell | 0 | 1 | 67.0 | 74.0 | 0.0 |
| 6 | Jacksonville (Asun) | 1970 | Artis Gilmore | 1 | 1 | 78.0 | 75.0 | -0.3 |
| 7 | UTEP (TX Western, CUSA) | 1966 | Bobby Joe Hill | 2 | 1 | 63.7 | 66.0 | -1.4 |
| 8 | San Diego St. (MWC) | 2011 | Kawhi Leonard | 2 | 2 | 69.3 | 71.8 | -2.9 |
| 9 | UNLV (MWC) | 1987 | Armen Gilliam | 0 | 1 | 64.0 | 82.0 | -3.4 |
| 10 | Holy Cross (Pat) | 1950 | Bob Cousy | 1 | 1 | 88.0 | 89.5 | -5.2 |
| 11 | Seattle (WAC) | 1958 | Elgin Baylor | 0 | 1 | 62.0 | 64.0 | -6.2 |
| 12 | Indiana St. (MVC) | 1979 | Larry Bird | 0 | 1 | 69.0 | 76.0 | -7.8 |
| 13 | Wyoming (MWC) | 1943 | Ken Sailors | 0 | 1 | 60.0 | 73.0 | -8.2 |
| 14 | North Carolina (MAAC) | 1957 | Lennie Rosenbluth | 0 | 1 | 76.0 | 89.0 | -8.6 |
| 15 | Navy (Pat) | 1986 | David Robinson | 0 | 1 | 61.0 | 77.0 | -9.0 |
| 16 | Princeton (Ivy) | 1965 | Bill Bradley | 0 | 1 | 62.0 | 79.0 | -13.0 |
| 17 | Loyola-Chicago (MVC) | 2018 | Cameron Krutwig | 0 | 3 | 59.3 | 75.0 | -13.9 |
| 18 | Niagara (MAAC) | 1970 | Calvin Murphy | 0 | 1 | 68.0 | 84.0 | -16.6 |
We invented the Value Add Basketball Game, and since then have grown it to to 135 teams of all-time great teams and players. We have played 188 games to date, and 63,000 unique visitors have clicked on the game.
Seven current conferences have at least six all-time great teams in the game. We decided to rank those conferences based on the average rating of their top six teams so far in our games against other teams.
Click on the game to play yourself - it contains everything you need to play the Value Add Basketball game, which lets you pit any of 136 great all-time college teams against each other. To pick your two teams it is best to click on this Google doc and print the pages of the teams you want (each team is one page). I track my games on this google sheet, but play your own for free!