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) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
20 of 21
Next
(Original Caption) Team group shot of the UCLA University players after they won the NCAA Title beating Dayton. Lew Alcindor shown in center rear and coach John Wooden is on right rear.
(Original Caption) Team group shot of the UCLA University players after they won the NCAA Title beating Dayton. Lew Alcindor shown in center rear and coach John Wooden is on right rear. /

2. UCLA

  • Record: 1,849-824 (.692 Winning Percentage)
  • NCAA Tournament Appearances: 49
  • Final Fours: 18 (1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1995, 2006, 2007, 2008)
  • National Titles: 11 (1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1995)
  • Notable Alums: Lew Alcindor, Bill Walton, Reggie Miller

If championships are the name of the game, no one can stake a purer claim to being a blue blood than UCLA. The Bruins have the most national titles in the country with 11, 10 of which were claimed when John Wooden roamed the sidelines of Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA didn’t reach the NCAA Tournament prior to the arrival of Wooden in 1948, but he brought them to March Madness by 1950. Things took a dynastic turn in the 1960s when the Wizard of Westwood mastered the art of winning on a level equal to professional sports dynasties like the New York Yankees and Montreal Canadiens.

The Bruins reached their first Final Four in 1962 and won it all in 1964 and 1965, but things really heated up after start. Starting with their title in 1967, UCLA won the next seven national championships, making Pauley Pavilion the center of the college basketball world.

The run ended in 1974 when UCLA lost in the Final Four to N.C. State in double-overtime, but they bounced back with another title in 1975. Wooden retired after that year, and while UCLA continued to reach the tournament their winning ways began to slow.

UCLA’s last national title came in 1995 when Jim Harrick coached the school, and they reached three straight Final Fours under Ben Howland in the mid-2000s, but the Bruins are no longer an elite contender in the modern age. That is the only reason why they failed to take the top spot of the list, but it is hard to do worse than two when your program wins 11 championships and posts four undefeated seasons.