Comments on: ESPN all-time rankings: Indiana No. 5

By: Ben_M

Ben_M — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:49:00 +0000

Indiana, UCLA, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, North Carolina
These are most storied elite programs ever doesn't matter what order you put them in any other program doesn't really compare.

By: Ben_M

Ben_M — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:49:00 +0000

Indiana, UCLA, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, North Carolina
These are most storied elite programs ever doesn't matter what order you put them in any other program doesn't really compare.

By: MarcusGresham

MarcusGresham — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:53:25 +0000

So UK is rated #1? Were they ranking teams in order of number of probations?

By: MarcusGresham

MarcusGresham — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:48:36 +0000

I know that book will be at the top of my Christmas list. I have the football version and I read the entire thing, thinking the whole time, “When do they do this for basketball, too?”

By: Name

Name — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:56:00 +0000

The thing that strikes me the most is that UCLA is not number 1….you need no formula or math problem to tell you that wooden was amazing and that their run of championships puts them as best of all time.

By: GFDave

GFDave — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:25:20 +0000

I remember IU surgically dissecting his famous press. I never could figure out why Davis kept using it because Knight just destroyed his press. Otherwise I agree that Davis was a good coach. Maybe stubborn, but good.

By: dale11

dale11 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:18:02 +0000

Off topic but I saw USA today's college basketball preview today. They picked Purdue getting beat in the Final Four to Michigan State and picked IU 10th in the big 10.

By: BFowler

BFowler — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:57:30 +0000

Iowa at differnt times was ranked number 1 when BJ Armstrong was there. They made an elite 8 run in '87 (losing to UNLV). They entered 1989 as the #1 team in the land. Dr. Tom was a great coach.

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:33:09 +0000

You're correct. I updated my listing accordingly. I had UNC and Kansas flip-flopped.

By: Dylan Matthews

Dylan Matthews — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:26:55 +0000

I assume the logos on the image go in order of the ranking? So is Kansas ahead of UNC? Just a minor clarification requested, because I want to legitimize the ACC-Big Ten challenge using all-time greatness, and not the debacle of the past 10+ years.

By: hoosierodi

hoosierodi — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:47:20 +0000

They were always really good in the 60's. Not so good recently, but ever see the movie Glory Road. Texas Western plays them in the season and it said they were ranked 2nd or 3rd so who knows.

By: MillaRed

MillaRed — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:17:53 +0000

Iowa? Did something happen in the 40s, 50s, 60s I am not aware of?

I mean….Iowa?

By: Casey

Casey — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:12:00 +0000

Even after taking off my candy striped glasses I am amazed that PU comes in at 8. Wow. Michigan State at 15?

By: triple

triple — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:17:32 +0000

This list represents a purely statistical point of view and there is nothing wrong with that. In doing so it places no more value on a national championship game than it does upon a game between the same two teams during the regular season. I love the fact that it illustrates that the Big Ten is THE power house conference, ignoring occassional fluctuations.

That said, not many people are going to be fooled into believing that stats alone define greatness. Put another way, how many Duke or MSU fans would trade in their NCAA crowns to move ahead of Illinois or Purdue on this list?

By: GFDave

GFDave — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:06:59 +0000

Its one way to look at things, but it didn't give extra weight to NCAA or NIT titles. Also, pUKe has all those wins back in the day against SEC teams that used basketball as a way of keeping football players in shape. ACC and B10 strength of schedule weightings would favor teams in those leagues.

But it doesn't really matter as I think there is broad consensus that pUKe, UCLA, NC, Duke, Kansas and IU are the premier programs historically. A list of powers that have emerged over recent decades would include Louisville, UCONN, Georgetown, and MSU. OSU has a solid history as well.

By: Hardwood83

Hardwood83 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:40:45 +0000

Top 5 are hard to argue with- but ILLINOIS? puh-leaz! Top 20, sure, 15 maybe. But no way is that a top 10 all-time program. 0 NC, not even dominant in their conference. The formula failed here.