Walton, Magic, Phi Slama Jama? Ranking every Sweet 16 school’s
Well, this won’t be controversial.A couple of weeks back, we had an idea.What if there was a way to take the best groups of all time for each school in the Sweet 16, and put them all in the exact same gym to play a competition? Which squad would emerge with the championship?It wasn’t easy.See, NCAA competition success is a good indication
of a team’s expertise
in a lot of cases, but not all. Keep In Mind, Florida Atlantic will participate in the Sweet 16 next weekend. That’s something Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin Durant never ever achieved.So it can’t just be about postseason results. Skill and experience need to play a considerable role, too. Likewise, styles and potential matchups. One team might have a player who would control no matter who you put in front of him. That matters, too. They’re all factors in how we reached these conclusions.And then we took it to another level and ranked each group. You’re welcome.Here is our list of the best group– in that winner-take-all format– for each program that stays in the Sweet 16, and where they ‘d rank among their peers on this list: Best Team: 1971-72 Top 3 players: Expense Walton( 21.1 PPG, 15.5 RPG), Henry Bibby (15.7 PPG), Jamaal Wilkes(13.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG )Highest accomplishment: NCAA title Finest Video game: 81-76 win over Florida State in the
national championship Next finestteam: 1968-69 Probably the best college basketball group of all time, John Wooden’s crew finished 30-0 with a national championship and continued a winning streak that began in 1971 and ended in 1974 with 88 consecutive wins. Led by Walton, among the
greatest college players
of all time, this group had 5 future pros and beat its challengers by an average of 30.3 points per game.Best Team: 1978-79 Top 3 players: Magic Johnson (17.1 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 8.4 APG), Greg Kelser(18.8 PPG, 8.7 RPG), Jay Vincent(12.7 PPG)Highest achievement: Championship game Finest Video game: 75-64 over No. 1 Indiana State in the nationwide title game Next best group: 1999-2000 Michigan State had a plethora of competitors, however we’ll
take the group led by the 6-8 pointguard who turned into one of the greatest NBA players of all time. Those Spartans could fly up and down the court, but they likewise held their opponents to just 62.6 PPG, a top-15 mark in the nation.
Future Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon wasn’t even among the leading scorers throughout the Phi Slama Jama age of Houston Cougars males’s basketball. Manny Millan/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images Best Team: 1982-83 Leading three players: Hakeem Olajuwon (13.9 PPG, 11.4 RPG), Clyde Drexler(15.9 PPG, 8.8 RPG ), Michael Young(17.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG)Greatest accomplishment: National runner-up Finest Video game: 94-81 vs. No. 1 Louisville in the Final 4 Next best group: 1967-68 This group was so excellent (82.4 PPG)it included two future Basketball Hall of Famers( Olajuwon and Drexler)who were n’t even the leading scorers. This squad reached the
championship game a year before it would return to the title game once again. Four future NBA players anchored the “Phi Slama Jama” age of Houston basketball, which was
unmatched.Best Group: 1993-94 Top 3 players:
Corliss Williamson(20.4 PPG, 7.7 RPG ), Scotty Thurman(15.9 PPG, 4.5 RPG), Corey Beck
(8.8 PPG, 5.0 APG) Greatest achievement: NCAA title Finest Video game: 76-72 win over No. 2 Duke in the championship game Next finest team: 1989-90 Nolan Richardson’s “40 minutes of Hell”turned this squad into the only national champin school history with a win over astrong Duke group, a year prior to the Razorbacks went back to the nationwide title game and lost to UCLA. From Jan. 19, 1994, to April 4
, 1994(the championship game ), Williamson and Co. lost simply when(90-78 versus No. 10 Kentucky in the SEC tournament). Taliek Brown, Ben Gordon, Rashad Anderson, Emeka Okafor after winning the 2004 championship game. AP Photo/Eric Gay Best Team: 2003-04 Leading 3 players: Ben Gordon (18.5 PPG ), Emeka Okafor(17.6 PPG, 11.5 RPG), Rashad Anderson(11.2 PPG) Highest accomplishment: Championship game Finest Game: 82-73 vs. No. 14 Georgia Tech in the championship game Next best team: 1998-99 Okafor and Gordon were the second and 3rd choices, respectively, in the 2004 NBA draft after leading the program to its
2nd championship game in five years. While that ’98-99 group is legendary for ending Duke’s 32-game winning streak and winning a national championship, this group had 6 future NBA players and outscored its opponents by an average of 15 points.Best Team: 2020-21 Top 3 players: Drew Timme (19.0 PPG,
7.0 RPG), Corey Kispert(18.6 PPG), Jalen Suggs(14.5
PPG, 4.5 APG)Greatest achievement: National runner-up Finest Game: 93-90 vs. UCLA in overtime in the Last Four Next finest team: 2018-19 This team was essentially this season’s slick Gonzaga team, however with 3 future pros (Suggs, Kispert and Andrew Nembhard ), which is why it’s Mark Couple of’s best. They’re how the 2020-21 group managed to win 31 games in a row before losing to Baylor in the championship game game.Timme( 15pts )& Suggs(13pts )were BALLING in the 1st half @ZagMBB #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/IDpZXQ504Z!.?.!— NCAA March Insanity (@MarchMadnessMBB
)March 31, 2021 Best Team:
1991-92 Top 3 players: Latrell Sprewell (17.8 PPG), Robert Horry (15.8 PPG, 8.5 RPG ), James Robinson(19.4 PPG )Greatest accomplishment: No. 13 in season’s lastAP survey Finest Video game: 90-89 vs. No. 6 Arkansas in the SEC tournament quarterfinals Next best group: 2013-14 This stacked SEC squad included three incredible players who would all eventually leave Alabama and take pleasure in prolonged professions in the NBA. The rotation for this group, which inconceivably failed to reach the second weekend of the NCAA competition that season, was so deep and hard to break that Jason Caffey, who won two NBA champions with the Chicago Bulls, played simply 11.0 MPG.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Best Group: 2006-07 Top 3 players: P.J. Tucker(16.1 PPG, 9.5 RPG), LaMarcus Aldridge(15.0 PPG, 9.2 RPG), Daniel Gibson (13.4 PPG) Highest accomplishment: Elite 8 Best Video game:
74-71 vs. No. 22West Virginia in the Sugary food 16 Next finest team: 2002-03 Aldridge was one of 3 future NBA players on a lineup that won 30games– a school record at the time– and ended up leading 15 in defensive and offending effectiveness on KenPom. The only thing that stopped this group from advancing
to the Final Four was an overtime loss to LSU in the Elite Eight.Best Team: 1987-88 Leading 3 players: Mitch Richmond (22.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG), William Scott(12.2 PPG), Steve Henson (9.1 PPG, 5.5 APG )Greatest achievement: Elite 8 Best Game: 73-70 vs. No. 1 Purdue Next best team: 2007-08 Richmond, a future Basketball Hall of Famer, led this group that balanced 75.4 PPG to the 2nd weekend. This team would still be a problem today with its 48.4%clip from 3-point variety. Tennessee Athletics/Collegiate Images/Getty Images Finest Group: 1976-77 Top 3 players: Bernard King
(25.8 PPG, 14.3 RPG), Ernie Grunfeld (22.8 PPG), Mike Jackson (15.4 PPG)Greatest accomplishment: SEC championship Best Game: 92-89 at No. 4 Alabama Next finest group: 2018-19 “The Ernie and Bernie Program” assembled an amazing run, anchoring Tennessee’s strongest roster. Although this group failed to win an NCAA competition game in the 1976-77 project and would complete behind several Tennessee teams based off postseason success, its skill, largeoffensive supremacy and NBA prospects offer these Vols the edge in the discussion about the program’s greatest group of perpetuity. Princeton’s Bill Bradley scored 58 points in a third-place game against Wichita State in 1965. AP Picture Best Team: 1964-65 Top 3 players: Expense Bradley( 30.5 PPG, 11.8 RPG), Bob Haarlow( 9.6 PPG), Ed Hummer (8.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG)Greatest accomplishment: Last 4 Finest Game: 118-82 vs.Wichita State in the third-place game after losing to Michigan in the Final Four Next best group: 2022-23 This season’s Tigers have actually impressed, but in 1964-65 they had Bradley, the future Basketball Hall
of Famer who led the team to a win over No. 4 Providence in the Elite Eight. That group won the Ivy League and balanced almost 80 points per game. David West was on the 2002-03 Xavier squad responsible for ending one of Creighton’s finest runs. Joe Robbins/Getty Images Best Team: 2002-03 Leading 3 players: David West(20.1 PPG, 11.8 RPG), Romain Sato(18.1 PPG, 7.1 RPG), Lionel Chalmers (12.0 PPG )Greatest accomplishment: Second round of the NCAA tournament Best Game: 75-73vs. No. 15 Creighton Next best group: 2007-08 This group, ranked leading 10 in the preseason AP poll,
had West, Xavier’s greatest player of perpetuity and the AP national player of the year. These Musketeers fell short in the postseason, but they managed a 16-game winning streak from Jan. 11 to March 14, ending with a loss to Temple in the Atlantic 10 tournament.Best Group: 2010-11 Leading three players: Kawhi Leonard
(15.5 PPG, 10.6 RPG); D.J. Gay
(11.1 PPG, 3.1 APG); Malcolm Thomas(11.4 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 2.0 BPG )Highest achievement: Sugary food 16 Finest Video game: 72-54 win over No. 8 BYU in the Mountain West Conference tournament title game Next finest team: 2013-14 Prior to Leonard led the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors toNBA titles, he was an all-Mountain West first-teamer who assisted SDSU beat Jimmer Fredette and BYU in the conference competition championship. Then, Leonardand Co. assisted SDSU reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.=”0″ > Finest Team: 2002-03 Top 3 players: Kyle Korver(
17.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG ), Larry House( 11.1 PPG), Mike Grimes (8.4 PPG) Greatest achievement: First round of the NCAA tournament Finest Game: 80-56 vs. Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament title game Next finest team: 2013-14 Korver won his 2nd consecutive Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year award that year. However this group’s strength was its depth: Five players averaged a minimum of 7.8 PPG that season, even though they ended without a win in the NCAA tournament.Best Team: 1998-99 Top three players
: Tim James(18.6 PPG, 8.2 RPG ), Johnny
Hemsley(17.8 PPG ), Mario Bland(11.2 PPG, 6.0 RPG )Highest achievement: 10th in the last Associated Press poll Finest Video game: 73-71 at
No. 2 UConn Next best group: 2012-13 James, who was named co-Big East Player of the Year with former UConn star Rip Hamilton that season, led Miami to 27 wins that year. This group lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament but also achieved a second-place surface in the Big East that season. play 0:27 Florida Atlantic ices game with excellent late sequence Bryan Greenlee strikes a 3 to
beat the shot clock, then
Johnell Davis takes and knocks for Florida Atlantic to top a win vs. Fairleigh Dickinson.Best Group: 2022-23 Top three players: Johnell Davis(13.9 PPG, 5.4 RPG
), Alijah Martin (13.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG), Vladislav Goldin (10.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG )Greatest achievement: Sugary food 16 Finest Game: 78-70 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson in the second round Next finest group: 2001-02
Prior to this season, FAU had actually never ever won an NCAA tournament game, and now Davis and Co. have actually led the Owls to wins over Memphis and Fairleigh Dickinson to reach the 2nd weekend for the very first time in school history. With or without another win next weekend, this group is currently legendary in Boca Raton.