NCAA basketball: 25 best college basketball teams of all time

23. 1999-2000 Michigan State Spartans

Let’s jump ahead about 40 years to the next team on our list, the 1999-2000 Michigan State Spartans. This group had made a name for itself by advancing all the way to the Final Four in 1999, but the following year proved to be the one that brought it all together for Michigan State.

Led by the dynamic duo of Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson, the Spartans cruised through the Big Ten’s regular season, going 13-3 in conference play. Michigan State was peaking as March Madness began, winning the Big Ten Tournament to reach No. 2 in the national polls.

The selection committee gave Michigan State a No. 1 seed, and the Spartans proved they deserved that recognition by steamrolling through the NCAA Tournament. Michigan State never won by less than 11 points on their way to the second national championship in school history and the first for future Hall-of-Famer Tom Izzo.

Cleaves wrapped up his tremendous college career in style, winning the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player Award and making the All-Big Ten first team. Peterson joined Cleaves on that team and was also named the Big Ten Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

The core of that team was strong, advancing all the way to the Final Four in 2001 without Cleaves and Peterson before losing to Arizona. The Spartans are still the last Big Ten team to win a national championship, a streak that is one of the longest active droughts for a Power 5 conference.