Where does Kentucky Rank Amongst the Best?

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The Kentucky Wildcats are currently on track to accomplish something that many haven’t been able to do. There has only been seven teams in history that have been able to go undefeated and win the National Championship as well. Kentucky is currently 38-0 going into the Final Four in which they will play against Sam Dekker, Frank Kaminsky and the Wisconsin Badgers. The Badgers are the one team I picked going into March Madness to have the best chance to beat the Wildcats due to the shooting ability of their post players. However, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the tournament plays out. 

Kentucky has dominated night in and night out all year-long, putting their stamp on the defensive side of the ball and playing like a true team should. So my question is, if the Kentucky Wildcats finish this season undefeated with the National Title in their hand, where will they rank amongst some of the great collegiate teams?

Team

Record

San Francisco – 1956

29-0
North Carolina – 1957

32-0

UCLA – 1964

30-0

UCLA  – 1967

30-0

UCLA – 1972

30-0

UCLA – 1973

30-0

Indiana – 1976

32-0

sanfranciscodons

The San Francisco Dons were led by the Hall of Famer Bill Russell who helped this team win two straight NCAA championships. Russell averaged 20.5 points per game along with 21 rebounds per game. The Dons was the first team to go undefeated in a season as well as win a NCAA championship. Besides Russell, guard K.C. Jones went on to play in the NBA and both played for the Boston Celtics.

57tarheels

The Tar Heels of Carolina were the second team to go undefeated and win a championship. Coach Frank McGuire left St. Johns to coach in Chapel Hill and he found great success. Carolina went 32-0 and won one of the best championship games ever played. North Carolina took on the highly competitive Kansas Jayhawks, who were led by the legendary Wilt Chamberlain. The game went into triple overtime, but only 15 total points were scored in the three extra periods. Carolina made two free throws down the stretch which put them in position to win the game 54-53 sending the dominant Chamberlain home without a trophy.

John Wooden

The Wooden Era is one of the best spans of basketball that we’ve ever seen by a coach and his team. UCLA is one of the top basketball programs today and John Wooden is part of the reason why; helping to get this basketball program on its feet. Wooden won 10 NCAA titles in 12 years which is an NCAA record. He earned the nickname “Wizard of the Westwood” due to his ability to win games and push his team. These championship teams contained players like Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Gail Goodrich, and Bill Walton. The Bruin teams at this time were incredibly dominant and did nothing less of winning. The six-time coach of the year John Wooden, earned his right to be mentioned in terms of the best coaches of all-time.

KnightHoosiers

When you hear the name Bob Knight, the first thing you think is bad attitude and the second thing is probably success. Coach Knight had a great team in Indiana during his 5th year with the Hoosiers. They went 18-0 in a tough Big Ten conference en-route to going 32-0 for the entire season. Seven players from this team went on to make it into the NBA and four of them were first round picks. The Indiana Hoosiers asserted their dominance in the tournament that year winning each game by a margin of at least 11; crushing Michigan in the championship game by 18 points. Knight’s team was the last team to go undefeated and it hasn’t been done since 1976.

With the Kentucky Wildcats two games away from joining this prestigious club, do you think they will accomplish this mission? If so, where will they rank amongst these teams? Hit us with your thoughts and opinions on Twitter! @BBallSociety_

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