Fansided

10 best Final Four teams of all time

By Nathaniel Reeves

Mar 4, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Former UCLA Bruins player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar waves to the crowd at half time between the Washington State Cougars and the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 4, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Former UCLA Bruins player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar waves to the crowd at half time between the Washington State Cougars and the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 10
Next
SAN FRANSISCO -CIRCA 1953-56: Bill Russell (center) of the University of San Francisco Dons basketball team with his teamates at War Memorial Gym, in San Fransisco California. (Photo by San Fransisco/ Collegiate Images/Getty Images)
SAN FRANSISCO -CIRCA 1953-56: Bill Russell (center) of the University of San Francisco Dons basketball team with his teamates at War Memorial Gym, in San Fransisco California. (Photo by San Fransisco/ Collegiate Images/Getty Images) /

9. 1956 San Francisco Dons

One year prior to North Carolina’s run, the Dons made history as the first undefeated champion in college basketball history at the 1956 Final Four.

San Francisco entered the season on a 25-game win streak as the defending national champion, with its lone loss in 1955 coming in the early season at UCLA. The Dons were perfect in the subsequent regular season, with none of their 23 victories coming by fewer than seven points.

Bill Russell was unstoppable in his final year in college with an average of 20.6 points and 21 rebounds per contest. Guard K.C. Jones also earned All-American honors, and the Dons allowed just 52.9 points per game to lead the nation in scoring defense for the second straight year.

Following two easy tournament victories, including their second win of the season against UCLA, the Dons destroyed No. 7 SMU in the National Semifinal. San Francisco followed that up with a 12-point win over No. 4 Iowa to cap off the undefeated campaign and highlight a win streak that would eventually reach 55 games.

Mike Farmer, the team’s fifth-leading scorer, stepped up with 26 points and 10 rebounds against SMU in support of Russell. The future NBA Hall of Famer then had his best game of the tournament with 26 points and 27 rebounds in the championship win over the Hawkeyes.

Home/March Madness