Best College Basketball Teams of the 2000s
In a sport as dynamic as college basketball, remembering last year’s Final Four can be a challenge, much less teams from fifteen or twenty years ago. We spend most of our time identifying and watching the best teams right now, but how good are they? This year’s national champion may be the best team this season, but that doesn’t mean they are a historically great team. Studying the best teams from the past provides context for what we are seeing in the present. We started our review of the 2000s by crowning the best individual season. In today’s ranking, we are going to identify the greatest college basketball team of the 2000s.
Before we jump into the ranking, there is something that has been on our mind. College basketball changes more quickly than the other collegiate sports. While athletes in football and baseball are required to remain in school for three years before turning pro, the best players in college basketball typically only stay in school for a single season. Concentrations of talent can lead to situations where the majority, if not all, of a starting lineup declares for the NBA draft at the same time. Changes to the transfer portal have made player movement more common in every sport, but the sheer number of Division 1 basketball programs (over 350 versus ~130 for football) means more potential landing spots for transfers. Add that to the constant coaching carousel and conference realignments, and you can barely find your footing in college basketball’s shifting sand.
We have heard arguments that college basketball’s instability drives fans away. After all, who wants to root for someone for one year before finding a new favorite. Isn’t it easier to root for an NBA team where contract terms dictate some level of consistency? These are valid points, but the unpredictability of college basketball is one of the things we love about it. Every team is different every season. The nature of the sport itself dictates that one or two great players can completely change a team’s outlook. Bad teams can become great in a year, and great teams can fall off. We do not envy the jobs of college basketball coaches who are trying to create order and consistency out of the chaos, but it is tremendously entertaining for fans.
You may be wondering what any of that has to do with a ranking of the best college basketball teams of the 2000s. Let us tell you. As we ranked the best college basketball teams of the 2000s, we were surprised to not have a greater number of schools represented. There are three schools that show up on this list twice, and we only rank 10 teams. How does that make sense? Didn’t we just say that teams can change overnight? The “change” we have been discussing is focused on the player, not necessarily the program. NBA fans criticize college basketball through the lens of a sport where the individual is bigger than the team. If an NBA superstar changes teams, many fans change their allegiance as well. The name on the back of the jersey carries more weight than the name on the front.
College basketball is about the team. Whether you are a loyal alumnus or just like a school’s uniforms, you are ultimately cheering for the program itself, not the individual players. In many fans’ eyes, programs have inherent qualities that differentiate one from another. Whether it is true or not doesn’t really matter. It gives fans something to cling to when players, coaches or even conferences change. Programs don’t change overnight. Yes, they have ups and downs, but the blueblood basketball programs exist for a reason. There is consistency from year to year with the best teams in the country. This is not a ranking of the best basketball programs. We are simply trying to identify the best teams over a 10-year period. But keep this in mind when you see the same schools appear multiple times.
Okay, let’s get back to it. When ranking these teams, we want to ensure that we take the entire season into account. The NCAA Tournament is amazing, but we are not going to argue that a win streak in March should negate a mediocre season up to that point. Likewise, tournament wins do matter, going undefeated in the regular season and losing in the first round of the tournament is not going to qualify a team as great in a historical context. The best college basketball teams need to put it all together. It’s a high bar, but we are not trying to rank the most mediocre teams of the 2000s.
We give a little more weight to the regular season performance than the national tournament. There have been innumerable teams that disappointed for most of the year before sneaking into the tournament and catching fire. The best teams need to demonstrate sustained greatness, and the length of the regular season provides teams an opportunity to show their true colors.
It is fine if you would like to disagree with us. Feel free to change the component weightings and come up with your own ranking. This is how we are going to do it. Each team will get ten points for their number of wins minus their losses on the season. 50 points goes to a team for winning their regular season conference championship or conference tournament championship (100 points for both). Yes, tying for the regular season championship counts. Teams get 50 points for each tournament win and a 100-point bonus for winning the national championship. Then we add each team’s point differential for the season multiplied by five.
Clear as mud? Just trust us. If a theoretical team went 40-0, won its conference regular season, conference tournament and the national championship while beating teams by an average of 20 points per game, they would receive 1,000 points in total. The overall record and conference championship(s) account for 50% of that while the tournament performance accounts for 40%. Point differential is the remaining 10% and is included to further determine a team’s dominance over the course of the year.
Here are the best college basketball teams of the 2000s. Finally.
10. 2005-2006 Florida
In Billy Donovan’s tenth year at Florida, the men’s basketball team won its first national championship. The Gators had reached NCAA Tournament for seven consecutive seasons prior to this, but first-weekend exits the previous five years had sufficiently lowered expectations for the program. Enter Florida’s core of fantastic sophomores, Joakim Noah, Taurean Green, Corey Brewer and Al Horford. None of them had scored in double figures as freshmen, and Florida began the season unranked. The Gators won 17 games in a row to start the season before winning the SEC tournament. Surviving a four-point game against a Jeff Green-led Georgetown team in the Sweet 16, Florida went on to defeat UCLA by 16 points in the championship game. This Gator’s core wasn’t finished after the 2006 season, but we will get to that later.
9. 2003-2004 UConn
UConn began the season as the #1 team in the AP Poll and ended the season as the national champion. It was not always smooth sailing for the Huskies. They lost six games and finished second in the Big East. But Ben Gordon and Emeka Okafor played their best basketball of the season when it mattered most, winning the conference tournament and storming through the first four rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The closest of those games was a 16-point victory over Alabama in the Elite Eight. Connecticut survived a one-point scare versus Duke before coasting by Georgia Tech in the championship game.
8. 2007-2008 Memphis
The Memphis Tigers are the only team to not win the national championship in our Top 10. Their eighth-place ranking is a testament to their dominance during the 2007-2008 season. Memphis won 26 straight games and ascended to first place in the polls before losing to #2 ranked Tennessee. The Tigers bounced back to win every game in the Conference USA tournament by 16 points or more. Memphis eventually lost to Kansas in an epic overtime national championship game. The only thing Memphis didn’t do well this season was shoot free throws (329th out of 341 in the country), and that weakness would haunt them in the championship. Three misses from the charity stripe in the final 16 seconds gave Mario Chalmers the opportunity for the tying three-pointer at the end of regulation.
7. 2001-2002 Maryland
Maryland’s only 30-win season led to their first and only national championship in 2002. The Terrapins were no Cinderella, beginning the season ranked 2nd in the country. Maryland only lost four games the entire season, and three of those losses came to teams ranked in the Top 10 of the final poll. Maryland’s average margin of victory (14.1 points) is the lowest of any team in our ranking, but don’t let that fool you. This was a great team. Juan Dixon led the way for the Terrapins, averaging 20.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Dixon scored 25.8 points per game in the tournament on 51% three-point shooting, scoring the ninth most points by an individual player in tournament history.
6. 2004-2005 North Carolina
It only took Roy Williams two years to return North Carolina to the top of the college basketball world. Williams was hired before the 2003-2004 season, replacing Matt Doherty and inheriting a program that finished seventh in the ACC. The Tar Heels improved to fifth place in the conference in William’s first year, but everything came together during the 2004-2005 season. Led by juniors Sean May, Rashad McCants and Raymond Felton, the Tar Heels lost their opener to Santa Clara before going on a 14-game win streak and winning the regular season conference championship. North Carolina beat top overall seed Illinois in a classic national championship game and returned glory to Tar Heel nation.
5. 2008-2009 North Carolina
If the 2004-2005 season was about returning North Carolina to its impossibly high standards, the 2008-2009 season was about exceeding them. UNC entered the season as the #1 ranked team in the country, and Tyler Hansbrough returned to school for his senior year after being named consensus player of the year as a junior. The Tar Heels won their games by an average of 18 points. Their closest tournament game was a 12-point win over Oklahoma (led by Blake Griffin), and they beat Michigan State in the national championship by 17 points. If not for losing to Florida State in the ACC tournament, this team would have been ranked even higher.
4. 2009-2010 Duke
This Duke basketball team was not expected to be this good. Yes, they were ranked ninth in the country at the beginning of the season. But there is a big difference between ninth in the country and fourth in the entire decade. Current Duke coach Jon Scheyer led the Blue Devils in scoring and earned All-American honors (2nd Team) for the first time in his career. Juniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith both averaged over 17 points per game, and a rotating cast of big men provided size and toughness down low. Duke won the regular season championship and the ACC tournament before cruising to the national championship game. They defeated Butler by inches as Gordon Heyward’s last-second heave barely rimmed out. This was not Duke’s most talented team, but their accomplishments as a group make them one of Duke’s best teams.
3. 2006-2007 Florida
As great as the 2005-2006 Florida team was, the 2006-2007 team was even better. The only back-to-back champions in this ranking, Florida started and ended the season as the top team in the country. Joakim Noah was named a 2nd Team All-American, and he was fourth on the team in scoring. Things may have actually been too easy for Florida this season. They lost three of their last five games to end the regular season after going on a 17-game win streak. They regained their focus in the SEC Tournament, winning all three games by 17 or more points. Florida ultimately beat UCLA and Ohio State in the Final Four to become the first back-to-back winner since the 1991-1992 Duke Blue Devils.
2. 2000-2001 Duke
It is hard to believe that this Duke team did not take the #1 spot in our ranking. They were never ranked lower than fourth in the AP Poll, and that was only for one week. Duke lost four games in the regular season by a total of 16 points, and they beat North Carolina in the ACC Tournament championship game by 26 points. Their closest game in the NCAA tournament was a 10-point victory over Arizona in the national championship game. Shane Battier and Jay Williams were named 1st Team All-Americans, and sophomore Mike Dunleavy would go on to earn All-American honors the next year (along with Williams again). This Duke team is the only team in our ranking to average a margin of victory greater than 20 points. Pretty good for second best.
1. 2007-2008 Kansas
After giving so much love to Memphis as the only non-champion in our ranking, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that #1 is the team that knocked them off in the national championship: the Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas only lost three games in the regular season by a total of 13 points. All three of those losses came on the road. The worst loss of the Jayhawks’ season was an eleven-point defeat by Kansas State. It took a 25-point effort from Michael Beasley to knock off Kansas in that one.
The Jayhawks survived their Elite Eight matchup, winning by two against a pesky Davidson team led by Stephen Curry. Then Kansas crushed North Carolina by 18 points to set up the national championship game against Memphis.
Kansas held a five-point lead against Memphis at halftime, but Derrick Rose led a second half rally to give Memphis a nine-point lead with just over two minutes remaining. It looked like the game was over until Memphis’s missed free throws gave Kansas a chance, down by three with 10 seconds left. Mario Chalmers’s three-pointer forced overtime where Kansas outscored Memphis 12-5 to win Bill Self’s first national title.
The 2008 national championship was way up there as far as championship games go (that would be another good ranking). It was certainly the culmination of one of the best seasons in college basketball history. One of the most surprising things about this team is that they didn’t have a single All-American on the roster. They did lead the nation in assists though, and their unselfish style of play took advantage of their depth. Kansas did not have the most NBA talent of any team in this ranking, but their results were second to none. Congratulations to the Kansas Jayhawks, the best college basketball teams of the 2000s.
