Fansided

College basketball blue bloods ranked by all-time legacy

By Mike Phillips

Michael Jordan is all smiles along with coach Dean Smith as Jordan announces at a 1984 press conference that he will forgo his senior year in college to play professional basketball. (Raleigh News & Observer/TNS via Getty Images)
Michael Jordan is all smiles along with coach Dean Smith as Jordan announces at a 1984 press conference that he will forgo his senior year in college to play professional basketball. (Raleigh News & Observer/TNS via Getty Images) /
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5. Kansas

  • Record: 2,274-859 (.726 Winning Percentage)
  • NCAA Tournament Appearances: 48
  • Final Fours: 15 (1940, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1971, 1974, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2012, 2018)
  • National Titles: Three (1952, 1988, 2008)
  • Notable Alums: Wilt Chamberlain, Danny Manning, Paul Pierce

You can’t have the blue blood rankings without including the school where basketball’s inventor coached. Dr. James Naismith, who famously invented basketball by hanging a peach basket in a gym, started coaching the sport at Kansas and helped begin a legacy of excellence in Lawrence.

Kansas went on to win at a prodigious rate, and the Jayhawks became tournament fixtures over the years, beginning in 1940 and including their first national championship in 1952. That squad was coached by the great Phog Allen, who compiled a 590-219 record while coaching Kansas.

The Jayhawks remained March fixtures over the next several decades, but their next time atop the mountain didn’t come until 1988 when a Kansas team headlined by Danny Manning beat Oklahoma to claim the national title. That team earned the nickname “Danny and the Miracles” since the Jayhawks had accumulated 11 losses during the season, which was the most ever for a team that cut down the nets.

Kansas was forced to sit out of the 1989 NCAA Tournament due to rules violations committed under former coach Larry Brown, but they haven’t missed March Madness since. The Jayhawks’ streak of 30 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament is not only the longest active streak in the country but the longest in tournament history.

After Roy Williams flirted with another title on several occasions, Bill Self took over in 2003 when Williams bolted for North Carolina. Self and the Jayhawks have continued to lord over the Big 12 since with the highlight of his tenure being the 2008 national championship victory over Memphis.