Ranking College Basketball's Top 10 Teams If Everyone Stayed in School

With the NCAA basketball conference tournaments underway and March Madness just around the corner, I got to thinking about what this year's college basketball season would have been like if every player had to stay in school for four years.

Remember when back in the day, players could make the jump straight to the NBA from high school? Now, the trend has become that players will go to college for one or two years and then make the jump after that.

But what if that weren't the case?

What if every player had to stay for a full four years before entering their name into the NBA draft?

Let's take a look at this year's top-10 teams and re-work how those rankings would play out if everyone stayed in school.

Buckle up—this should be a good one.

10. UCLA Bruins

Current AP Ranking: Unranked

Projected Starting Lineup if Everyone Stayed:

G Jrue Holiday

G Malcom Lee

F Tyler Honeycutt

F Drew Gordon

C Josh Smith

Oh, how the times have changed in Westwood.

UCLA's basketball program has endured quite a rough patch over the past couple of years, but part of that can be credited to the fact that only one of these players on this list, Josh Smith, remains with the team to this day.

The best of the group, and the main reason that programs like Syracuse and Missouri were left off of this list, is Jrue Holiday, who left Westwood after his freshman year to enter the NBA draft.

Holiday, who is the starting point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers, is second on the team in both PPG (13.5) and assists (4.5).

Joining Holiday on this UCLA team would be Malcom Lee and Tyler Honeycutt, who were both selected in last year's NBA draft. As well, Drew Gordon, who was one of the top big-man recruits in the country in 2008, left the UCLA program due to conduct detrimental to the team and is now staring for New Mexico in the MWC.

If these five were still in Westwood, I doubt Ben Howland would have any worries about losing his head coaching job anytime soon.

9. Ohio State Buckeyes

Current AP Ranking: 7

Projected Starting Lineup if Everyone Stayed:

G Anthony Crater/Aaron Craft

G William Buford

F Deshaun Thomas

F Jared Sullinger

C B.J. Mullens

The Buckeyes are already one of the top teams in the nation. Now, could you imagine if they still had both Anthony Crater and B.J. Mullens to fill out their already impressive starting lineup?

Mullens was the No. 1 ranked player in the nation coming out of high school in 2008, according to rivals.com. The 7'1" center had a ton of talent but never truly broke out in his freshman season after coming off the bench for the Buckeyes.

Mullens declared for the NBA draft after his freshman season, despite popular belief that he should have stayed in school. He currently plays for the Charlotte Bobcats.

Ohio State would also have another highly touted player coming out of high school, point guard Anthony Crater, who played 10 games for the Buckeyes during his freshman season before unexpectedly leaving the team. He then transferred to South Florida but was dismissed from the team last season for violating team rules.

If you added those two guys alongside Jared Sullinger, this would be one great college basketball team.

8. Michigan State Spartans

Current AP Ranking: 8

Projected Starting Lineup if Everyone Stayed:

PG Korie Lucious

SG Keith Appling

SF Draymond Green

PF Delvon Roe

C Adrian Payne

Michigan State is in a unique situation here because they didn't have any players necessarily jump early to the NBA, but they had a ton of turnover in the past two years due to suspensions, transfers and injuries.

The Spartans were great this season, winning the Big Ten Championship and holding onto the No. 8 seed in the country heading into conference tournament play. But you can't help but wonder how good this team would be if Korie Lucious weren't dismissed from the team and Delvon Roe weren't forced to give up basketball because of chronic knee problems.

Roe was one of the top recruits in the nation in 2008, and the same can be said about Lucious. In fact, Draymond Green, who was this year's Big Ten Player of the Year and a candidate for national player of the year, was considered to be the third-tier member of this recruiting class behind both Roe and Lucious.

Also added into the mix was former four-star center Garrick Sherman, who started for the Spartans in his freshman season before transferring this past year to Notre Dame.

Oh, how good this team could have been.

7. UConn Huskies

Current AP Ranking: Not Ranked

Projected Starting Lineup if Everyone Stayed:

G Kemba Walker

G Shabazz Napier

F Jeremy Lamb

F Alex Oriakhi

C Andre Drummond

The defending national champions traded their best player, guard Kemba Walker, to the NBA, in return for one of the top freshmen in the country, Andre Drummond.

Now, could you imagine just how good they would be if Walker were still on this team?

Walker was one of the top scoring guards we have seen in college basketball over the past decade. He led the Huskies on a memorable national championship run last season, and if he were back for another year, he would have a dominant post player in Drummond as his sidekick.

Add that duo to the already dangerous scoring Jeremy Lamb, who was one of the top sophomores in the country this season, and you would have one heck of a college basketball team.

Repeat national championship?

6. Texas Longhorns

Current AP Ranking: Unranked

Projected Starting Lineup If Everyone Stayed:

G Cory Joseph

G Avery Bradley

G J'Covan Brown

F Jordan Hamilton

F Tristan Thompson

This Texas team won 28 games last year with Joseph, Brown, Hamilton and Thompson. Now, imagine if you were able to add Bradley to that mix.

Four of these players—Joseph, Bradley, Hamilton and Thompson—were first-round NBA draft picks over the past two years. If Brown declares for the NBA draft after this season, he could join that first-round group as well.

If this group stuck around, it wouldn't be just Kansas and Missouri stealing all the headlines in the Big 12, that's for sure.

This team right here would be good enough to compete for a national championship.

5. Arizona Wildcats

Current AP Ranking: Not Ranked

Projected Starting Lineup if Everyone Stayed:

G Brandon Jennings

G Lamont Jones

G Kyle Fogg

F Derrick Williams

F Solomon Hill

Could you imagine Brandon Jennings and Derrick Williams playing on the same college basketball team?

How fun would that be to watch?

I contemplated whether or not to add Jennings to this team, because technically, he did not attend college, instead choosing to play a year overseas before entering the NBA draft. But this is all hypothetical, and if Jennings had to go to college, Arizona would have been his choice.

The makeup of this very team went to the Elite Eight last year on the back of Derrick Williams. Add in Jennings, who is one of the top guards in the NBA today, and this would be a dominant college basketball team in this day and age.

4. Duke Blue Devils

Current AP Ranking: 6

Projected Starting Lineup if Everyone Stayed:

G Kyrie Irving

G Austin Rivers

G Seth Curry

F Miles Plumlee

F Mason Plumlee

This year's Duke team is one of the best in the country, currently ranking No. 6 in the land and fighting for that final No. 1 seed in this year's NCAA tournament.

But when you think about it, what has Duke been lacking all season long?

The answer: a true point guard.

Now, imagine if this same team still had Kyrie Irving running the point.

Irving was the top freshman in the nation last season before an injury cut his season short. He went on to be the No. 1 overall selection in this past year's NBA draft and is having a fantastic rookie season with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Just take a minute and envision a backcourt of Kyrie Irving and Austin Rivers.

That is just scary good.

3. North Carolina Tarheels

Current AP Ranking: 4

Projected Starting Lineup if Everyone Stayed:

G Kendall Marshall

G Dexter Strickland

F Harrison Barnes

F Ed Davis/John Henson

C Tyler Zeller

On paper, North Carolina looks like the best team in the country this year, with five future first-round draft picks on their roster.

Tyler Zeller, Harrison Barnes and John Henson already make up the best frontcourt in all of college basketball. Now, add Ed Davis to that mix, and you would get arguably one of the best frontcourts in college basketball history.

Davis was a top-notch recruit out of high school, but he battled injuries in his time at UNC. When healthy, he was one of the best scoring and rebounding power forwards in the game. He declared for the NBA draft after his sophomore season, which means he would have been a senior right now had he stayed.

With how good Kendall Marshall has become as of late, this team would be near unstoppable with Davis added to the frontcourt mix.

2. Kansas Jayhawks

Current AP Ranking: 3

Projected Starting Lineup if Everyone Stayed:

G Josh Selby/Tyshawn Taylor

G Xavier Henry

F Thomas Robinson

F Marcus Morris

F Markieff Morris

Only Tyshawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson remain on the current Kansas team, which is ranked No. 3 in the country.

Now, could you imagine if this team still had Josh Selby, Xavier Henry, Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris?

All four of those players went on to be NBA draft picks over the past two seasons and current play in the league today.

Henry and Selby were back-to-back top recruits in the country. Add in the Morris brothers, who were a dynamic duo for last year's Kansas team, and this team would be near unbeatable.

I know I said in the previous slide that UNC would have the best frontcourt, but what about a trio of Robinson, Morris and Morris?

Can it really get any better than this?

1. Kentucky Wildcats

Current AP Ranking: 1

Projected Starting Lineup if Everyone Stayed:

G John Wall

G Brandon Knight

F Terrence Jones

F DeMarcus Cousins

C Anthony Davis

Put it this way: If everyone at Kentucky had stayed for four years up to this point, John Calipari's team would not only be the best college basketball team, they would be a legitimate NBA playoff team right now. That's how good this group would be.

John Wall and Brandon Knight would make up the best college backcourt in NCAA basketball history. Not to mention, you would have Eric Bledsoe, Doron Lamb and Darius Miller all coming off the bench.

To put that into perspective, Eric Bledsoe was a part-time starter for the Los Angeles Clippers in his rookie season last year—and he wouldn't even be starting on this college team.

Add in Jones, Cousins and Davis to that frontcourt, and North Carolina isn't the most talented frontcourt in the nation anymore. How about having Daniel Orton and Michael Kidd Gilcrest coming off the bench?

You could also add in Enes Kanter to that mix, who was unable to play in college because he was ruled ineligible for receiving impermissible benefits from a Turkish professional team. Kanter was the third pick in the 2011 NBA draft.

Maybe, in one way, it's unfair to even think about what this team would look like because it certainly wouldn't be possible to keep all of these egos happy.

But in another way, it sure is fun to imagine.