Best basketball programs

[VTGator]

NY Times asked 7 coaches which programs they thought were at the top. Almost all seven included Duke, UNC and Kentucky. UCLA and Kansas were also common. Two (Brad Stevens of Butler and Chris Mack of Xavier) listed Florida. Surprisingly Rick Pitino and Shaka Smart did not list Florida despite their ties to the program.

Brad Stevens, Butler: Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, U.C.L.A., Florida

Rick Pitino, Louisville: Kentucky (“No. 1”), North Carolina, U.C.L.A., Kansas, Duke, Louisville, Syracuse, Georgetown, Connecticut

Buzz Williams, Marquette: Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Syracuse, U.C.L.A., Kansas

Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh: Michigan State (“They stand out to me”), Duke, Connecticut, Kentucky

Jim Boeheim, Syracuse: Said there are 10 to 15 programs, but declined to name them.

Shaka Smart, Virginia Commonwealth: Kansas (“Mind-boggling; they win the league every year”), North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke, U.C.L.A.

Chris Mack, Xavier: North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, Michigan State, Florida

Link (http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/31/best-basketball-programs-coaches-make-the-call/?smid=tw-share)

[ThePlayer]

Really Pitino?
Connecticut over Florida?

Almost certain Jim Boeheim has us among his very best.

[REM08]

Its interesting to look at, but we've got to remember this list is about as meaningful and accurate as Jeff Goodman's top 50 shooters and other random lists.

[ApexNC]

To me, the fact that the lists are public makes them meaningless.

[GatorLurker]

I followed the link to the full story and was highly amused to see Duke ranked high in program "cleanliness".

[tilly]

UCLA? What is this 1970?

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tablet using Gator Country

[GatorLurker]

UCLA? What is this 1970?

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tablet using Gator Country

Good point especially considering that UCLA wasn't one of the 33 teams that met the "won 2/3rds of their games over the last 10 years" criterion.

[tilly]

I mean, If this is a poll of today...We have owned UCLA when it counts. How can someone pick them over us in this era?

[gatorbogey]

to me, we're elite for results.
nat'l title w/in recent memory. make that TWO!
elite 8 last 2 seasons.
elite coach. face of the program. is he at the iconic level yet? methinks so.

huge [potential] fanbase. we do well when it is for the nat'l title/final four. but we aren't consistent.

rowdy reptiles are noteworthy too. they make playing in the o'dome a challenge. as rowdies become alumni too - i sense the atmosphere in the o'dome to become even better.

[themistocles]

Very interesting, but not very useful.

Rankings are meaningless, the only thing that matters is performance on the court, and that doesn't matter for any given year, but rather, over the long term.

Certainly, Kentucky, Kansas and North Carolina have consistently fielded excellent teams for a long, long, long time. Most other programs come and go.