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 Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Turner Sports) /

3. 1955-1956 San Francisco Dons

The top-tier of our list is reserved for the best teams who went undefeated in their title seasons. We start our look at the cream of the crop with the first team to ever win it all with a perfect record, the 1955-56 San Francisco Dons.

The program had won the national championship in 1955, but the group was even better the following year. San Francisco’s star player was center Bill Russell, who led an intimidating defense from the frontcourt.

The Dons pummeled the California Basketball Association into submission, going 14-0 in conference play as part of a 25-0 regular season. The NCAA Tournament was structured regionally back then, so San Francisco set aside UCLA and Utah to earn their second straight trip to the Final Four.

San Francisco had little trouble in Evanston, topping SMU and Iowa to win the title. The four wins in the dance meant the Dons finished the year with a 29-0 record, cementing their place in history as the first undefeated champions.

The dynasty came to an end after that year as Russell and K.C. Jones was drafted by the Boston Celtics. The pair helped form a new powerhouse in the pros as the Celtics of the 1960s became one of the winningest teams in basketball history.