NCAA basketball: 25 best college basketball teams of all time

16. 1998-1999 Connecticut Huskies

Before we dive into why the 1998-1999 UConn Huskies are here, let’s pour one out for their opposition in the title game. That year’s Duke team was one of the best to never win a title, entering the National Championship Game with a 37-1 record and installed as a 9.5 point favorite by the oddsmakers.

That makes the team that beat Duke, UConn, a slam-dunk to make the all-time list of greatest college basketball teams. The Huskies were no shrinking violet, going 33-2 on their way to the championship game, a sign of how far the program had come under head coach Jim Calhoun.

UConn was a basketball afterthought before Calhoun arrived, but he transformed them into a Big East power throughout the 1990s. The 1999 team was particularly loaded with future NBA Champion Richard Hamilton leading them to a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

It wasn’t a smooth ride to the Final Four for the Huskies, who had to survive an upset bid from Cinderella story Gonzaga in the Elite Eight. UConn then dispatched Ohio State by six in the Final Four to set up their clash with Duke, which turned into one of the most epic games in NCAA Tournament history.

Duke led at the half but UConn rallied in the second to score the largest upset by point spread in Championship history. Hamilton was named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player as the Huskies claimed their first championship in program history.