The Real Prestige Rankings: Part X

• One NCAA Championship, one Championship Game Appearance, two Final Four Appearances, three Elite Eight Appearances, four Sweet 16 Appearances, zero Missed Tournaments
• ESPN Rank: 5

Arizona is the only team in Division I college basketball that has made the NCAA tournament every year for the past 24 seasons.  That, along with some very successful tournaments, makes the Wildcats undoubtedly one of the most prestigious programs of the time period.

The highlight for Arizona came in 1997 when they won a national championship.  They defeated No. 1-seeded Kentucky as a No. 4 seed in the finals in a close game.

Arizona also made the national championship game in 2001 as a No. 2 seed, but they lost to No. 1-seeded Duke.  The Wildcats have two other Final Four appearances since 1985: one in 1988 and one in 1994.

The reason why Arizona ranks below teams that have missed a few tournaments is their high number of first round losses.  In their 24 tournament appearances in this time period, Arizona has lost in the first round 10 times.  This includes each of the past two seasons.

4) Kentucky Wildcats – Total Points: 978

• Two NCAA Championships, one Championship Game Appearance, one Final Four Appearance, six Elite Eight Appearances, four Sweet 16 Appearances, three Missed Tournaments
• ESPN Rank: 4

Arizona may have won the battle of the Wildcats by defeating Kentucky in the national championship game in 1997, but Kentucky wins the war by besting Arizona in the prestige rankings.

Kentucky has dominated the SEC conference and has had a lot of success in the NCAA tournament.  

Kentucky is below the top three in the rankings because of a tournament ban that caused them to missed three straight tournaments from 1989 to 1991, as well as several missed opportunities.  Their six losses in the Elite Eight round are more than any other college basketball team in this period

Kentucky does have two national championships to its credit in the last 24 seasons.  They won the tournament as a No. 1 seed in 1996, defeating No. 4-seeded Syracuse in the finals, and also won it all two years later in 1998 as a No. 2 seed.  There they defeated No. 3-seeded Utah in the finals.

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