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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8 Mar 1992: Michigan Wolverines forward Juwan Howard, guard Jalen Rose, and forward Chris Webber (l to r) look on during a game against the Indiana Pacers.
8 Mar 1992: Michigan Wolverines forward Juwan Howard, guard Jalen Rose, and forward Chris Webber (l to r) look on during a game against the Indiana Pacers. /

16. Michigan

  • Record: 1,504-1,041 (.591 Winning Percentage)
  • NCAA Tournament Appearances: 29
  • Final Fours: Eight (1964, 1965, 1976, 1989, 1992, 1993, 2013, 2018)
  • National Titles: One (1989)
  • Notable Alums: Glen Rice, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose

We’ve hit our third straight Big Ten program on the list, and the Michigan Wolverines are a proud blue blood. Although they may not have as much success as their in-state rivals in East Lansing, the Wolverines have always been a basketball force.

Basketball wasn’t an immediate success in Ann Arbor as the Wolverines didn’t make the NCAA Tournament until 1948 and weren’t going on a semi-regular basis until the mid-’60s. Michigan hoops started to shine in the late ’80s when Steve Fisher led a squad featuring future NBA star Glen Rice to the Wolverines’ first national championship.

Things kicked into high gear in the early 1990s, when the Fab Five took over college basketball, leading the Wolverines to consecutive title games before losing to Duke and North Carolina. That era of Michigan basketball has been stricken from the record books because boosters provided impermissible benefits to the Fab Five, but their impact on the school’s basketball history cannot be ignored.

Michigan has undergone a basketball renaissance in recent years under the leadership of John Beilein, one of the more underrated coaches in the country. Beilein has taken Michigan to the NCAA Tournament nine times since he arrived in 2007, twice coming up one game short of winning the Wolverines’ second national championship.

Michigan has knocked on the door of another title under Beilein for a while, but after him taking the Cavaliers job, the next head coach in Ann Arbor will have big championship expectations.