Best Teams In NCAA History: Dominance Across The Sports Spectrum
The best teams in NCAA history are a wide and varied bunch. In honor of the Golden State Warriors breaking the NBA's win record, here's a list of the best all-time teams in college sports.
The best teams in NCAA history are a wide and varied bunch. In honor of the Golden State Warriors breaking the NBA’s win record, here’s a list of the best all-time teams in college sports.
The Golden State Warriors etched their name into the history books with Wednesday night’s remarkable victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Steph Curry-led Warriors won their 73rd game of the season, surpassing Michael Jordan and the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ 72-10 record.
It’s a mind-boggling achievement, and one that many believed could not be accomplished. The bar is now set one notch higher, and this Warriors team sits rightfully on its throne atop the record books.
Witnessing history got us thinking about some other notable seasons. Namely, which college teams reign supreme as the best in their respective sport? Let’s take a look.
Football
1943 Notre Dame
There are a number of outstanding college football teams that finished their seasons with a perfect record. Oddly enough, the greatest team of all time is not one of them.
The 1943 Notre Dame Fighting Irish finished with a 9-1 record, having lost to No. 6 Great Lakes Navy, which is a military station in Chicago that was coached by the legendary Paul Brown. So why is this Notre Dame team better than, say, 1945 Army (9-0) or 1971 Nebraska (13-0)?
Well, when viewing the Irish’s schedule from 1943, it starts to make more sense. Notre Dame defeated No. 13 Georgia Tech, No. 11 Army, No. 9 Northwestern, No. 4 Navy, No. 3 Michigan, and No. 2 Iowa Pre-Flight. You won’t find any other team putting up that record against such a brutal schedule.
Moreover, this Notre Dame team featured Angelo Bertelli, who won the 1943 Heisman award despite being called to active duty in the middle of the season and missing the final four games of the year. Future Heisman winner John Lujack was on the team as well, and legendary coach Frank Leahy was manning the ship.
Good luck finding talent like that on one squad ever again.
Men’s Basketball
1971-72 UCLA Bruins
It’s impossible to pick against John Wooden.
In fact, the question was never whether or not UCLA should receive this honor, but rather which of their many incredible teams it should be. The Bruins have had a number of undefeated seasons and unimaginable success, but no team has ever replicated the year put on by those Bruins in the early 70s.
The average margin of victory for the 1971-72 Bruins was 32 points.
To be clear: this was not their largest margin of victory that year. It’s not the amount of points their star player scored in the championship. That is their average win differential throughout the season.
UCLA legend Bill Walton led his team to the NCAA Championship after averaging 21.3 points and 15.5 rebounds per game that year. John Wooden won yet another title with this team, and there will never be another like it.
Women’s Basketball
2008-09 UConn Huskies
What other program in women’s college hoops could be picked here? UConn’s dynasty isn’t just the best in college basketball – it’s being pinned as arguably the best in sports history.
Like UCLA, this isn’t a matter of which program. It’s a matter of which season. In 2009-10, the Huskies finished the year undefeated and won the NCAA Championship, but that’s nothing new.
What does stand out, though, is that they beat every single one of their opponents by double digits. Their smallest margin of victory was 10 points: wins over No. 24 Notre Dame and Rutgers.
The 2009-10 UConn squad also had Tina Charles (No. 1 overall pick in the WBNA draft), Maya Moore (Most Outstanding Player of 2010 NCAA Tournament), Renee Montgomery, Kalana Greene, and Caroline Doty.
It’s easy to say there will never be a team like this again, but with how strong the Huskies are still running, it wouldn’t be all that shocking if Geno Auriemma put together a team that breaks more records.
Baseball
2003 Rice
Wayne Graham won his first national title with the best team in college baseball history, and certainly the best team of the decade. The Rice Owls finished the 2003 season with an amazing 58-12 record, going 25-5 in conference play and winning the WAC.
The team had a collective .313 batting average and .980 fielding average. The Owls’ key to so much success, though, came from their pitching staff. The likes of bullpen stud David Aardsma (7-3, 2.97 ERA, 12 saves), Wade Townsend (11-2, 2.20 ERA, 164 Ks), Jeff Niemann (17-0, 1.70 ERA, 156 Ks), and Philip Humber (11-3, 3.30 ERA, 138 Ks) dominated the college baseball scene.
At one point, this Rice team was riding a 30-game win streak. They went 11-0 against ranked teams and went on to win the National Championship. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Wrestling
1997 Iowa Hawkeyes
Dan Gable coached a Hawkeyes team that holds a strong presence in the NCAA Wrestling history books.
This Iowa team possesses a record 170 points and features names such as Jesse Whitmer, Mark Ironside, Lincoln McIlravy, Joe Williams, and Lee Fullhart. The second place team that year, Oklahoma State, was an astounding 56.5 points behind the Hawkeyes in the championship.
Lacrosse
1990 Syracuse
This one is a little funny, because the Syracuse Orange did not technically win the 1990 Lacrosse NCAA Championship. The NCAA currently lists the 1990 champion as “vacated.” Now, Syracuse did initially win the NCAA Championship in 1990 (and a handful of other years), but later had its title snatched away by the NCAA.
It was discovered that the wife of Roy Simmons Jr., who was Syracuse’s head coach at the time, had co-signed a car loan for Syracuse star Paul Gait. This is a secondary offense according to NCAA policy, and as a result, the Orange’s title was revoked.
But everyone (yes, everyone) knows that this move by the NCAA was ridiculous and completely uncalled for. This is the only example of a team losing its national title due to a mere secondary offense, and it’s ludicrous.
Everyone also knows that this is the greatest team in college lacrosse history. Along with Gait, the likes of Tom Marechek, Matt Palumb, and Pat McCabe composed this Orange team, and they were dominant.
Ask a Syracuse fan how many national titles they own, and the answer will be 11. Ask them about the program’s best team, and they’ll say the 1990 squad.
Swimming
1992 Stanford
Stanford’s swim program has always been dominant, but 1992 set a new precedent. The Cardinal scored an NCAA record 632 points on the way to its fifth NCAA men’s swimming title.
They set American records in the 100 and 200 backstroke, 200 and 400 medley relay, and the 200 freestyle relay. After finishing with a 5-1 record, Stanford won its 11th consecutive Pac-10 title, and head coach Skip Kenney was named the NCAA Coach of the Year.
The Cardinal notched 200 points on day one to open the NCAA meet, with the previous high being 165.
It’s nearly impossible to imagine anyone ever eclipsing these prodigious college teams, but then again, that’s why we watch the games: to witness the next brush of greatness, and see who will be added to the list.
