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

15. Maryland Terrapins, 2002

Final Record: 32-4 | Def. Indiana 64-52

Maybe even for this list as well, it feels as if the 2001-02 Maryland Terrapins are often underrated in how good they were en route to the title. This was a team that, led by Juan Dixon, Lonny Baxtor and Chris Wilcox, averaged an impressive 85 points per game and produced one of the most versatile and lethal offensive attacks in college basketball, especially in that era.

With that explosive firepower at their disposal, it’s no surprise that the Terps were able to dominate the ACC in the regular season, losing just one conference game and only two games otherwise on the year — though they were upended early in the ACC Tournament before they could capture that crown as well.

Still, they were a No. 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament and 100 percent looked the part. They beat Siena by 15 points, blew out Wisconsin by 30 points and then toppled Kentucky by 10 points in the Sweet 16. As the competition continued to get more difficult, they continued to roll as they still beat UConn and Kansas, No. 2 and 1-seeds, respectively, by eight or more points.

Frankly, you have to wonder if Maryland would be remembered better if they had a better matchup for the title as a dark-horse Indiana Hoosiers team was able to match up with the Terps, even if Maryland remained in total control.