Who do you think are the top 10 basketball programs

[cuseattle]

There are a few more with more all- time wins. Do you prefer Temple, BYU, St. Johns??

 

[tbonezone]

who ARE the top 10 or who WERE the top 10 ?
i'll take the what have you done for me lately approach.
just a quick look back at the final top 10 poll rankings over past decade.
same names that keep popping up.
1.kansas , 2.duke, 3. north carolina, 4. ohio st. , 5. mich st., 6. louisville, 7. kentucky 8. uconn

last two spots could spark some lively debate. ( # of times ranked)
nova (4), gonzaga (4), wiscy (3), pitt (3) and throw in the cuse.

 

[cuseattle]

who are the top 10 or who were the top 10 ?
i'll take the what have you done for me lately approach.
just a quick look back at the final top 10 poll rankings over past decade.
same names that keep popping up.
1.kansas , 2.duke, 3. north carolina, 4. ohio st. , 5. mich st., 6. louisville, 7. kentucky 8. uconn

last two spots could spark some lively debate. ( # of times ranked)
nova (4), gonzaga (4), wiscy (3), pitt (3) and throw in the cuse.

I totally forgot about Louisville...

 

[tbonezone]

i thought perhaps the cards may have banned themselves from your poll.

 

[Madbiker]

Top ten (performance last 25 years, recruiting power, coaching attractiveness, TV exposure)
1. Kentucky
2. Duke
3. North Carolina
4. Kansas
5. Arizona
6. Michigan State
7. Louisville
8. UCLA
9. Syracuse
10. Indiana/Michigan

I'm leaving UConn out because being relegated to the AAC has diminished the program in recruiting power, coaching attractiveness, and exposure which is causing, and will continue to cause, a decline in performance too.
Also feel that the recent surge of UVa and Maryland poses a risk to SU falling down in the ratings especially if our recent doldrums doesn't reverse quickly.

 

[tbonezone]

i'd say 4 championships trumps your AAC everyday. crazy to not include UCONN.

 

[Cusefan0307]

who are the top 10 or who were the top 10 ?
i'll take the what have you done for me lately approach.
just a quick look back at the final top 10 poll rankings over past decade.
same names that keep popping up.
1.kansas , 2.duke, 3. north carolina, 4. ohio st. , 5. mich st., 6. louisville, 7. kentucky 8. uconn

last two spots could spark some lively debate. ( # of times ranked)
nova (4), gonzaga (4), wiscy (3), pitt (3) and throw in the cuse.

Ohio State? That's crazy

 

[jncuse]

I agree that UConn has problems going forward but at this moment, they are certainly a top 10 program.

I said NO!!

 

[Rage4CUSE]

Top ten (performance last 25 years, recruiting power, coaching attractiveness, TV exposure)
1. Kentucky
2. Duke
3. North Carolina
4. Kansas
5. Arizona
6. Michigan State
7. Louisville
8. UCLA
9. Syracuse
10. Indiana/Michigan

I'm leaving UConn out because being relegated to the AAC has diminished the program in recruiting power, coaching attractiveness, and exposure which is causing, and will continue to cause, a decline in performance too.
Also feel that the recent surge of UVa and Maryland poses a risk to SU falling down in the ratings especially if our recent doldrums doesn't reverse quickly.

Maryland has had very little recent success. Other then this year, Mark Turgeon has been on the hot seat for underperforming badly.

 

[721Comstock]

Maryland has had very little recent success. Other then this year, Mark Turgeon has been on the hot seat for underperforming badly.

Maryland's NC is from 1 year prior to ours.
(I'm not saying they're a great program or anything, just entering this fact into evidence here)

Anybody who is leaving out UConn is delisional. Or ranking them lower than Syracuse.
Sorry, they've got FOUR NC's in the past 2 decades, 3 of those more recent than the 1 NC that SU has.

I hate UConn as much as any Orange-blooded SU fan, but facts are facts.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.

It's possible (and perhaps likely) that going forward they may become less relevant and competitive, but that is speculation and conjecture.
Based on their actual body of work, they've had the more successful program over anybody here's adult lifetime, or entire lifetime if they're young enough.

And now, I need to vomit.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Top ten (performance last 25 years, recruiting power, coaching attractiveness, TV exposure)
1. Kentucky
2. Duke
3. North Carolina
4. Kansas
5. Arizona
6. Michigan State
7. Louisville
8. UCLA
9. Syracuse
10. Indiana/Michigan

I'm leaving UConn out because being relegated to the AAC has diminished the program in recruiting power, coaching attractiveness, and exposure which is causing, and will continue to cause, a decline in performance too.
Also feel that the recent surge of UVa and Maryland poses a risk to SU falling down in the ratings especially if our recent doldrums doesn't reverse quickly.

Maryland has been past the first weekend once since 2002.

Uva hasn't been to an elite eight since 1995, and the final four since 1984.

So yeah, they've got some work to do.

 

[Madbiker]

Maryland's NC is from 1 year prior to ours.
(I'm not saying they're a great program or anything, just entering this fact into evidence here)

Anybody who is leaving out UConn is delisional. Or ranking them lower than Syracuse.
Sorry, they've got FOUR NC's in the past 2 decades, 3 of those more recent than the 1 NC that SU has.

I hate UConn as much as any Orange-blooded SU fan, but facts are facts.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.

It's possible (and perhaps likely) that going forward they may become less relevant and competitive, but that is speculation and conjecture.
Based on their actual body of work, they've had the more successful program over anybody here's adult lifetime, or entire lifetime if they're young enough.

And now, I need to vomit.

If it was just historical UConn of course would be in and higher than SU. Read what I said. Now and going forward they are in decline because of being relegated to the AAC. They are declining in every way.

 

[721Comstock]

If it was just historical UConn of course would be in and higher than SU. Read what I said. Now and going forward they are in decline because of being relegated to the AAC.
They are declining in every way.

Oh, and we're not these past 2 seasons? Please.

They've won TWO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN THE PAST 5 YEARS. We got to a FF. Yay?

I'd love for SU to be declining in every way like that too.

Only 5 other schools have won more NC's than UConn.
Spoiler alert - SU isn't one of them.

 

[tbonezone]

in the past decade (per my parameters) ohio state has finished 6 times in the AP poll top 10 with 2 final fours. that's 2x better than SU. not so crazy.
secondly let's address my second tier : last ten years...
we beat the zags once. we split with wiscy. 8-7 with nova. and pitt has totally punked us something like 3-11.
now you can argue that we have a better program but pitt simply has our number. well that's the last thing i'd want to hear from my second during a duel when he hands me a pistol.
"Well you're the better shot BUT..."

"...he's got your number"

 

[2-3zone]

1.) Kentucky
2.) Duke
3.) Kansas
4.) North Carolina
5.) UCLA
6.) Louisville
7.) Indiana
8.) Michigan St.
9.) Syracuse
10.) Arizona

Top 4 are lock no-brainers IMO
UCLA - Wooden era
6-7 Amazing history
8-10 I think you could flip a coin for the order of them
I have UConn at #11- While I hate them you can't deny what Calhoun built out of nothing

 

[dasher]

who are the top 10 or who were the top 10 ?
i'll take the what have you done for me lately approach.
just a quick look back at the final top 10 poll rankings over past decade.
same names that keep popping up.
1.kansas , 2.duke, 3. north carolina, 4. ohio st. , 5. mich st., 6. louisville, 7. kentucky 8. uconn

last two spots could spark some lively debate. ( # of times ranked)
nova (4), gonzaga (4), wiscy (3), pitt (3) and throw in the cuse.

Pitt hasn't been to a final four yet. That alone knocks them from any discussion.

 

[Alsacs]

1.) Kentucky
2.) Duke
3.) Kansas
4.) North Carolina
5.) UCLA
6.) Louisville
7.) Indiana
8.) Michigan St.
9.) Syracuse
10.) Arizona

Top 4 are lock no-brainers IMO
UCLA - Wooden era
6-7 Amazing history
8-10 I think you could flip a coin for the order of them
I have UConn at #11- While I hate them you can't deny what Calhoun built out of nothing

Just an FYI
UCLA won the NC in 1995 and then made the Final Four 3 years in a row 2006, 2007, 2008 and has made the Sweet 16 the last 2 years.

UCLA is above SU by all metrics IMO.

I despise the UConn puppies but 4 NCs since 1999 that matters more than being competitive.

1987 haunts us bad.

 

[reedny]

Interesting. So you just look right now. since 2010, we have been a #1 seed twice.

We didn't play PS last year. So going back 10 years (when we played) would be from 2004 to 2014 ... and we've been in the sweet 16 twice, a final eight and a FF.

in the past decade (per my parameters) ohio state has finished 6 times in the AP poll top 10 with 2 final fours. that's 2x better than SU. not so crazy.
secondly let's address my second tier : last ten years...
we beat the zags once. we split with wiscy. 8-7 with nova. and pitt has totally punked us something like 3-11.
now you can argue that we have a better program but pitt simply has our number. well that's the last thing i'd want to hear from my second during a duel when he hands me a pistol.
"Well you're the better shot BUT..."

"...he's got your number"

Temple is a good shot also; that doesn't make it a more successful program than NOVA.

 

[sugrad68]

I believe SU is definitely in the Top 10 over the last 20 or so years. What is frustrating is that we haven't been able to recruit a decent center in the last 3 years. Obokoh? Can you imagine this year's team with a reliable center? Not great, just reliable. I commend Coleman for coming back from so many injuries but he isn't the answer in the middle. I commend Lydon for trying to play the middle but he also isn't the answer. Almost every game I watch, ACC or not, I look at the center position and think of how either center on the court would improve our team. Oh well. Enough complaining.

 

[Orange2389]

basically depaul

 

[PoppyHart]

If it was just historical UConn of course would be in and higher than SU. Read what I said. Now and going forward they are in decline because of being relegated to the AAC. They are declining in every way.

They have the 6th ranked recruiting class based on the recruiting sites starting with "R" and "S". That's probably not what you mean by declining in every way though.

 

[PoppyHart]

1.) Kentucky
2.) Duke
3.) Kansas
4.) North Carolina
5.) UCLA
6.) Louisville
7.) Indiana
8.) Michigan St.
9.) Syracuse
10.) Arizona

Top 4 are lock no-brainers IMO
UCLA - Wooden era
6-7 Amazing history
8-10 I think you could flip a coin for the order of them
I have UConn at #11- While I hate them you can't deny what Calhoun built out of nothing

UCONN has been going strong for 30 years now. This isn't Baylor we're talking about. And the numbers don't lie.

While there are other differentiators (like National Championships), I would put Louisville, Michigan State, Zona ahead of us at the "program" level based on the fact that they have shown they that the program is resilient through head coaching changes.

Louisville: No-brainer with Crum and Pitino

MSU: Heathcote wasn't special, but the Magic years make up for a lot, and since 1996 under Izzo they've been empirically better to any impartial observer.

Zona: Sean Miller, while without a FF, has certainly restored the program to the national relevance that Olsen had.

We don't know yet if we are a "program" or just a placeholder on this list due to one unique and excellent coach.

 

[jncuse]

Some of you have convinced me that UConn belongs. So I will give them an honourable mentiuon.

I will leave them hanging in the cold though. It's a feeling they should now be used to.

 

[SoBeCuse]

UCONN has been going strong for 30 years now. This isn't Baylor we're talking about. And the numbers don't lie.

While there are other differentiators (like National Championships), I would put Louisville, Michigan State, Zona ahead of us at the "program" level based on the fact that they have shown they that the program is resilient through head coaching changes.

Louisville: No-brainer with Crum and Pitino

MSU: Heathcote wasn't special, but the Magic years make up for a lot, and since 1996 under Izzo they've been empirically better to any impartial observer.

Zona: Sean Miller, while without a FF, has certainly restored the program to the national relevance that Olsen had.

We don't know yet if we are a "program" or just a placeholder on this list due to one unique and excellent coach.

Yeah, I agree with all of this. Louisville has 3 titles for pete's sake (for now) and a bunch of Elite 8s this past decade. Plus the Crum years like you said. They have to be between 5-7, imo.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Anybody claiming Arizona is a top 10 program needs to have their heads checked. They're were nearly dead and buried until Sean Miller seems to have righted the ship. However, they haven't made a Final Four in the past 15 years.

Indiana is another program that I find difficult to include in the top ten, but they do have a better history and pedigree than Zona. They're hanging on by a thread and have spent most of their credit accumulated during the Knight era, where they were clearly a top 5 program.