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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Best college basketball teams of all time

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

24. 1962-1963 Loyola-Chicago Ramblers

It takes a lot for a mid-major to win the national championship, so Loyola-Chicago has a relatively storied basketball tradition. The Ramblers made memorable Final Four runs in 1985 and 2018 but the school did have a championship team in 1963.

That squad was led by Jerry Harkness, a consensus First Team All-American and went 24-2 during the regular season. Loyola-Chicago was not affiliated with a conference at that point but played a representative schedule, attracting the attention of the selection committee.

The NCAA Tournament saw the Ramblers start out in the Mideast Region where they routed Tennessee Tech 111-42 to advance. That 69-point margin of victory remains the biggest in NCAA Tournament history.

Wins over Mississippi State and Illinois helped Loyola-Chicago advance to the Final Four, where they faced a brutal pair of matchups. First up was a date with Duke who Loyola-Chicago easily dispatched to earn a date with the top-ranked team in the country, Cincinnati.

The Bearcats were coming off consecutive national championships but fell to the Ramblers by a bucket in overtime. That kind of historic effort is extremely impressive and warrants inclusion in the countdown of the 25 best college basketball teams of all time.