Of the 12 coaches, Rush picked the one whose fans have the deepest passion, the longest memories, the greatest lung capacity and … did I mention deep passion?
1. UK
2. Duke
3. Kansas
4. UNC
5. Villanova (moved them up because of what happened this year)
6. AZ
7. UConn
8. Indiana
9. Syracuse
10. Wisconsin
Villanova and not UCLA? Dude. Also, Wisconsin over Louisville?
Make those changes and I could take it.
Compare home attendance for Villanova and UCLA. Sorry but I can't call a school a "basketball school" when the majority of its games happen at a half-empty arena. And I actually think Wisconsin is a terrific basketball school. It's not a knock on Louisville, just an acknowledgement of where the Badgers have gotten to.
1. UK
2. Duke
3. Kansas
4. UNC
5. Villanova (moved them up because of what happened this year)
6. AZ
7. UConn
8. Indiana
9. Syracuse
10. Wisconsin
Villanova and not UCLA? Dude. Also, Wisconsin over Louisville?
Make those changes and I could take it.
Compare home attendance for Villanova and UCLA. Sorry but I can't call a school a "basketball school" when the majority of its games happen at a half-empty arena. And I actually think Wisconsin is a terrific basketball school. It's not a knock on Louisville, just an acknowledgement of where the Badgers have gotten to.
Arizona has been a top-ten program for 30 years, the only hiccup being the two years encompassing the end of the Lute era and Miller's first year. No legitimate list would keep Arizona out of the top-ten.
1. UK
2. Duke
3. Kansas
4. UNC
5. Villanova (moved them up because of what happened this year)
6. AZ
7. UConn
8. Indiana
9. Syracuse
10. Wisconsin
Top 4 are givens. Arizona because I'm a strong homer. So that leaves 5 spots.
I think Michigan State belongs in there. Over Villanova, Uconn, Indiana, Syracuse & Wisconsin. Florida is worth mentioning, but I think they have fallen since Billy D. left the Gators.
So here's my 10:
1. Arizona (because I'm a Wildcat)
2. Kansas
3. UK
4. Duke
5. UNC
6. Michigan State
7. UConn
8. Indiana
9. Wisconsin
10. Louisville
One way to rank the top basketball programs in a more-or-less unbiased manner is to look at how many times they have finished in the top 25 of the final AP poll. In the "Modern Era" of college basketball (1986-present) here is how the top programs, using that criteria, rank.
28 Duke
27 Kansas
25 North Carolina 23 Arizona
23 Kentucky
23 Syracuse
18 Louisville
17 Michigan State
16 Connecticut
16 Oklahoma
16 UCLA
15 Georgetown
KaibabKat wrote:One way to rank the top basketball programs in a more-or-less unbiased manner is to look at how many times they have finished in the top 25 of the final AP poll. In the "Modern Era" of college basketball (1986-present) here is how the top programs, using that criteria, rank.
28 Duke
27 Kansas
25 North Carolina 23 Arizona
23 Kentucky
23 Syracuse
18 Louisville
17 Michigan State
16 Connecticut
16 Oklahoma
16 UCLA
15 Georgetown
That's a good metric. And honestly, those three ahead of us are the only ones who've performed at a higher level than us, consistently, over the given time period.
KaibabKat wrote:One way to rank the top basketball programs in a more-or-less unbiased manner is to look at how many times they have finished in the top 25 of the final AP poll. In the "Modern Era" of college basketball (1986-present) here is how the top programs, using that criteria, rank.
28 Duke
27 Kansas
25 North Carolina 23 Arizona
23 Kentucky
23 Syracuse
18 Louisville
17 Michigan State
16 Connecticut
16 Oklahoma
16 UCLA
15 Georgetown
That's a good metric. And honestly, those three ahead of us are the only ones who've performed at a higher level than us, consistently, over the given time period.
Sadly you could argue that Arizona has underperformed.
We need to have that one year when the bracket breaks in our favor.
KaibabKat wrote:One way to rank the top basketball programs in a more-or-less unbiased manner is to look at how many times they have finished in the top 25 of the final AP poll. In the "Modern Era" of college basketball (1986-present) here is how the top programs, using that criteria, rank.
28 Duke
27 Kansas
25 North Carolina 23 Arizona
23 Kentucky
23 Syracuse
18 Louisville
17 Michigan State
16 Connecticut
16 Oklahoma
16 UCLA
15 Georgetown
That's a good metric. And honestly, those three ahead of us are the only ones who've performed at a higher level than us, consistently, over the given time period.
Michigan state, Louisville, Kentucky and uconn have easily outperformed us.
i was going to put the ua/asu records here...but i forgot what they were.