The Ten Best NCAA Tournament Champions of All Time

This was not an easy job. They have been crowning NCAA tournament champions since 1939. That year, Oregon beat Ohio State by a score of 46-33 in the final game of an eight-team single elimination tournament. As good as they may have been, I did not put the '39 Ducks on this list. Couldn't do it. Way too many other great teams over the past sixty-eight years. Too many other teams who are much more worthy. Great teams. The Greatest Teams Ever.

After a lot of deep thought and thorough research, and the injection of my many personal biases, I came up with these ten teams as the Best Tournament Champions of All Time.

Number 10: The 1960 Ohio State Buckeyes (25-3)

Two sophomores led the 1960 Ohio State Buckeyes to the National Championship. Jerry Lucas averaged 26 points and 16 rebounds on the season, and shot an incredible 63 percent from the field. John Havlicek averaged 13 points and eight boards, and provided the fire that lit this incredibly competitive squad.

The Buckeyes also had a seldom used reserve sophomore named Robert Montgomery Knight. Yep, one and the same.

By the time the 1960 Tournament began, Ohio State was unstoppable. "We immediately developed almost total communication on the floor," Havlicek said. "Our basketball intellects meshed perfectly. We never had to call a play." The Buckeyes rambled through the NCAA tournament with ease, winning every game by at least 15 points. When the California Bears upset Oscar Robertson's Cincinnati team in the tourney semifinals, the country missed out on a dream matchup for the Championship Game.

Instead, they got to see Ohio State blow the doors off the Golden Bears, 71-51, and win the title.

Number 9: The 1974 NC State Wolfpack (30-1)

David Thompson and his 48-inch vertical leap led the Wolfpack all the way in 1974. Thompson's best lieutenants were center Tom Burleson, who averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds per game, and guard Moe Rivers, who poured in 12 points and 7 assists a game. The Wolfpack lost only once all season, to Bill Walton's UCLA Bruins.

They rolled through the early rounds of the tournament, and finally got the opportunity to avenge their defeat when they ran into UCLA in the semi-final game. Many people in the know consider that contest one of the greatest college basketball games ever played. Thompson led all scorers with 28 points and N.C. State upended the Bruins in overtime, 80-77. There would be no eight-peat.

The title game was more or less a coronation. The Wolfpack dominated Marquette in all aspects of the game and won 76-64. David Thompson was named the Outstanding Player of the Tournament.

Number 8: The 1996 Kentucky Wildcats (34-2)

This Wildcat squad could have been a pretty good NBA team. Coach Rick Pitino started five players who became First Round Draft Picks: Antoine Walker, Tony Delk, Walter McCarty, Derek Anderson and Ron Mercer. Even though it lost two games during the regular season, Kentucky beat the living hell out of their competition in the Tournament.

During its run to the title, Kentucky upended fourth seed Utah, which was led by All-American Keith Van Horn, by 31 points. Then they knocked off the Tim Duncan-led Wake Forest Demon Deacons by 20 points. In the semifinals, Kentucky beat fellow number one seed UMASS, who had a 35-1 record coming into the game.

Finally, in the Championship game, Kentucky outlasted a tough and streaky Syracuse team, led by senior John Wallace, by a final score of 76-67. It was Rick Pitino's first and only NCAA title.

Number 7. The 1984 Georgetown Hoyas (34-3)

This team came so close in 1982, losing to North Carolina in the final seconds of the title game. In 1983, they were knocked out of the tournament early by the Memphis State Tigers.

So by the time the 1983-84 season rolled around, the Hoyas were on a mission. Led by their All-American center, Patrick Ewing, the team came into the tournament with a 28-3 record. The three defeats were by a combined total of just eight points. In the NCAA tournament, they beat two of the best teams in the country in the Final Four. First, the Hoyas got by Kentucky, who were led by Sam Bowie and Mel Turpin, the number 2 and number 6 picks in that year's NBA draft.

Then they squared off against the Houston Cougars, a team that featured the Phi Slamma Jamma fraternity led by Hakeem Alojuwon and Clyde Drexler. That Houston Cougars team, by the way, is probably the best college team never to win an NCAA title. I don't know if that is a compliment or an insult. They were great, though. Three straight Final Fours and two straight championship games is not too shabby at all.

But the Hoyas were better. Behind the all-around play of Patrick Ewing and a surprise 20 points from freshman Michael Graham, Georgetown prevailed 74-65 to win its first and only National Championship.

Number 6: The 1990 UNLV Runnin' Rebels (35-5)

Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony and Anderson Hunt formed the core of this squad that put a serious whoopin' on the Duke Blue Devils in the 1990 Finals, 103-73. In doing so, the Rebels scored more points than any team in championship game history and also set the record for margin of victory. Duke was young, but they were still very good. The thrashing that UNLV gave them only demonstrates just how dominating this team was.

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