FanPost

UCLA Bruins: The Greatest College Basketball Team(s) of All Time

There is no debate about this issue in Bruins Nation, but in case anyone was interested, the Sporting News has "settled the score":

In celebration of its 125th anniversary, Sporting News will be settling the score on The Great Sports Debates. This month's debate puts to rest the argument of the greatest college basketball teams of all time, asking an All-Star panel of former players, current and former coaches and basketball contributors to cast their votes.

The 1966-67 UCLA Bruins came out on top. Starting the program's run of seven consecutive NCAA titles, coach John Wooden's 30-0 team averaged 90.2 points per game, won all four NCAA Tournament games by at least 15 points and introduced the world to sophomore Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, national player of the year and one of the most dominant forces in the game of basketball.

Abdul-Jabbar said about that remarkable team, "On the court, I believe we had the size and the balance to make us competitive with any college team that came before or after us. As a matter of fact, the only team I can think of outside of the great UCLA years that might have been at our level is Bill Russell's University of San Francisco team that won 60 games in a row (from 1954 to '56)--that was a dominant, great team. I learned how to play the game by watching him play. If you could've put our teams in the same era, it would've been quite a tough match for both of us."

The 1972-73 Bruins, whose 30-0 championship season laid the foundation for their men's record 88-game winning streak, are No. 2. The last NCAA champion to complete an undefeated season, the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers, are No. 3. The 1981-82 North Carolina Tar Heels, whose starters James Worthy and Michael Jordan went on to become two of the 50 greatest players in NBA history, come in at No. 4. Rounding out the top five are the 1954-55 San Francisco Dons. Led by center Bill Russell, the 28-1 NCAA champions began a 60-game winning streak that stood as a record until UCLA won 88 straight. The 1991-92 UNLV Rebels, 1973-74 N.C. State Wolfpack, 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils, 1983-84 Georgetown Hoyas and 1995-96 Kentucky Wildcats make the list at six through 10, respectively.

But what about all the other great UCLA teams?

Shouldn't other Bruin teams also be on the list? We would love to hear perspectives from the "geezers" in Bruins Nation.

Another cool thing to note - no other school had 2 teams on TSN's list.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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