The five best UCLA basketball seasons in Bruins history.
There are few programs in America with as much success as the UCLA Bruins. As a result of a dynastic run in the 1960s and 1970s, UCLA has won 11 national championships, the most of any men’s basketball program in Division I.
Narrowing down 11 title winners to five top seasons is a difficult task, but that is what we have been asked to do today. Let’s take a look at the five best UCLA teams in school history, all of which came in that run of brilliance during John Wooden’s tenure as head coach.
5. 1963-64 starts the UCLA basketball dynasty
All good dynasties have to start somewhere, and UCLA’s run atop college basketball started off with an undefeated season. Wooden, who was in his 16th year at the helm of UCLA, was convinced by assistant coach Jerry Norman to use a zone-press defense to take advantage of the team’s personnel.
The move paid off in spades as the Bruins cruised through the regular season with very few scares. The NCAA Tournament was a tougher road for UCLA, which won its first three games by a combined 15 points to reach the title game.
That contest brought a matchup with a taller Duke team, but the Blue Devils couldn’t handle the zone-press, falling 98-84 to UCLA. Wooden was officially on the board with his first title with early Bruins’ stars like Gail Goodrich and Walt Hazzard, who was taken first overall in the 1964 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.