NCAA basketball: Ranking every national champion this century: Is Baylor the best?

20. Duke Blue Devils, 2010

Final Record: 35-5 | Def. Butler 61-59

In recent years, particularly in the 2020-21 season, we’ve seen the Duke Blue Devils get the respect they didn’t necessarily deserve at points in the year. But back in the 2009-10 season, it was actually the opposite case for head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his team as they were reeling off wins one after another but didn’t get their due most of the time.

Going 26-5 in the regular season, the Blue Devils never climbed higher than No. 5 in the AP Poll until March as they went into the ACC Tournament and won it. No matter what they were ranked, though, the team led by Kyle Singler, John Scheyer and Nolan Smith was able to take down one opponent after another to capture the title.

Most will remember this Duke team as the opponent for Gordon Hayward and the Butler Bulldogs when the wing heaved a last-second half-court shot in the National Championship Game that just nearly missed going in to win the game. But the miss ultimately gave the Blue Devils the title.

Again, Duke was extremely successful on the year but let’s also not pretend like they were perfect. They were an elite 3-point shooting team with multiple dangerous players but their frontcourt was lacking with Miles Plumlee and Brian Zoubek. When you’re picking nits to compare title-winners, that matters.