NCAA basketball: 25 best college basketball teams of all time

NEW ORLEANS, LA - APRIL 02: (L-R) Darius Miller #1, Anthony Davis #23, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist #14, Terrence Jones #3 and Marquis Teague #25 of the Kentucky Wildcats walk on the court in the second half against the Kansas Jayhawks in the National Championship Game of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on April 2, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

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NCAA basketball: 25 best college basketball teams of all time

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Ranking the 25 best college basketball teams of all time that have represented some of the greatest champions in NCAA basketball history.

The beauty of NCAA basketball is that its very format leads to a debate about who could have beaten who in a given matchup. The best players can stay at most four years, so it takes tremendous skill to assemble a great team.

The 25 teams that make our list for the best college basketball teams of all time have one thing in common: they all won championships.

This isn’t a sign of disrespect to elite teams that didn’t win it all like the 1991 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels or the Houston Cougars of the early 1980s but a title is a key separator in this list. Let’s start our countdown of the 25 greatest college basketball teams with the only team to win two championships in one season, the 1950 CCNY Beavers.

25. 1949-1950 CCNY Beavers

Back in the early years of the NCAA Tournament, it was actually considered the secondary tournament in the country. The NIT was more prestigious, making a title there more notable than winning the national championship.

Only one team ever managed to win both titles in one season, and that was the 1950 CCNY Beavers. That team actually faced off with Bradley for both championships in the span of a week, winning each title at Madison Square Garden.

That accomplishment should be recognized, but it is worth mentioning that CCNY was caught up in a major point-shaving scheme that essentially caused the school to eliminate its basketball program at the highest level. The Beavers have since dropped all the way to Division III but their place in history will never be duplicated.