Ranking the 10 Most Hyped Teams in College Basketball History
Believe it or not, there was a such thing as hype in college basketball before recruiting videos, Twitter and Facebook.
Yes, we learn about potential and the next great thing in today’s college basketball world long before the freshmen actually take the court, but some of the best teams in hoops history were built up before they took the floor as well.
With that in mind, here is a look at the 10 most hyped teams in college hoops history. Honorable mentions include the 2008-09 North Carolina Tar Heels and the 1995-96 Kentucky Wildcats.
No. 10 North Carolina, 1983-84
1 of 10
The hype for the 1983-84 North Carolina Tar Heels actually started building in the 1982 NCAA tournament.
Superstars James Worthy and Sam Perkins, as well as role player Matt Doherty, led the Tar Heels to the national title with a win over Georgetown and the mighty Patrick Ewing. Oh, and some freshman named Michael Jordan helped along the way and hit the game-winning shot in the national title contest.
It wouldn’t be the last time Jordan ruined championship hopes for Ewing.
By 1983-84, Jordan was a full-blown superstar, and Perkins and Doherty were still around. North Carolina also had Kenny Smith and Brad Daugherty as critical components of the roster. It was no surprise when it was ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Poll to start the season, and it stayed there for the vast majority of the season.
While the Tar Heels went 14-0 in ACC play and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, they were never the same after Smith broke his wrist in the middle of the season. Yes, he returned, but he wasn’t himself on the floor, which threw off the team’s dynamic.
North Carolina was shocked in the East Regional semifinals by No. 4 seed Indiana, which brought the season to a grinding halt.
Safe to say, Jordan forged a solid career for himself afterwards.
No. 9 Georgetown, 1984-85
2 of 10
In terms of star power combination between a player and coach, it didn’t get much bigger than Patrick Ewing and John Thompson for the 1984-85 Georgetown Hoyas.
Every time Georgetown took the floor it was an event that year, and it certainly delivered on the hype and expectations. The Hoyas finished with a 30-2 record and reached the national title game.
Incredibly, they were stunned by the No. 8 seed Villanova in the finals, which took some of the fizzle off of what was an incredible season. It still stands as one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport.
Ewing’s 14.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game didn’t exactly blow opponents away, but he was an absolute force on the defensive end. He swatted 3.6 shots a game and went on to be the No. 1 pick for the New York Knicks.
No. 8 UNLV, 1990-91
3 of 10
It may seem strange to college basketball fans now, but Jerry Tarkanian and his UNLV Runnin’ Rebels were once a national powerhouse.
The 1990-91 team was surrounded with hype after winning the title with a 30-point victory over Duke the previous season. Larry Johnson was the superstar, Stacey Augmon was the tough defender, and Greg Anthony and Anderson Hunt were the guards in charge of running the team.
Much like the “Fab Five” at Michigan, the hype surrounding UNLV was not just about the talent on the floor. There was a certain swagger about this group that appealed to some and rubbed others the wrong way.
UNLV didn’t lose during the 1990-91 season and appeared primed to go down as one of the best teams in college basketball history. However, the Runnin’ Rebels were stunned by Duke in the Final Four and have never really been among the nationally elite since.
.png?w=256 "NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Championship")
No. 7 UCLA, 1972-73
4 of 10
Bill Walton is a story of basketball what-could-have-been if he had stayed healthy throughout his professional career, but he was an absolute star in college. Largely because of his talent, Walton’s 1972-73 UCLA Bruins were surrounded by hype before the year even started.
Remember, UCLA won the title with a 29-1 overall record in 1970-71 and then repeated with a perfect 30-0 record in 1971-72. As you can imagine, there was tons of hype heading into this season, especially because UCLA was going for a ridiculous seventh consecutive national title.
The Bruins delivered in impressive fashion by winning all 30 games and beating every opponent in the NCAA tournament by double digits.
Walton poured in 44 points in the title game against Memphis on 21-of-22 shooting. It was one of the best performances in the history of college basketball for one of the most hyped squads of all time.
No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats, 2013-14
5 of 10
Perhaps the closest thing to the “Fab Five” that college basketball fans have seen in the past 20 years in terms of preseason expectations for a group of freshmen was the 2013-14 Kentucky Wildcats.
There was legitimate talk of a perfect 40-0 season and an easy stroll to the national championship before the year actually began.
It was no wonder because the list of McDonald’s All-Americans was incredible with Julius Randle, Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, James Young, Dakari Johnson and Marcus Lee all taking their talents to Lexington.
Then the season started.
An early loss to a veteran Michigan State team didn’t seem like a problem because the young Wildcats were still finding their footing at the college level. Then they lost to Baylor, North Carolina, Arkansas, LSU, Florida, Arkansas again, South Carolina and Florida again and were squarely on the bubble heading into the SEC tournament. A run to the conference championship game where they lost to the Gators again clinched a No. 8 seed in the Big Dance.
It all came together in the tournament, and Kentucky finally played like so many expected when it mattered most.
John Calipari’s squad knocked off Kansas State, Wichita State (in a back-and-forth thriller), Louisville, Michigan and Wisconsin on the way to the national title game. Although the Wildcats ultimately lost to Connecticut, it was a redeeming tournament run that featured incredible highs and game-winning shots after what was an up-and-down regular season.
No. 5 Indiana, 1975-76
6 of 10
The hype for the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers started long before the season actually began.
Indiana was undefeated the year before until a stunning loss in the Elite Eight that arguably only happened because Scott May broke his arm and struggled to get back to 100 percent. The Hoosiers brought back six critical contributors from that group and started the 1975-76 season with a marquee victory over the defending champion UCLA Bruins.
That did little to quell the hoopla surrounding Bob Knight’s squad.
Indiana began the season No. 1 and finished a perfect 32-0. It destroyed Michigan by 18 points in the national title game to cap off one of the best seasons in the history of college basketball.
No. 4 Houston, 1982-83
7 of 10
The 1982-83 Houston Cougars featured two of the greatest players of all time in Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon (Akeem Olajuwon at the time), but Michael Young actually led team in scoring with 17.3 points per game.
The hype surrounding this team was about more than just the talent, though. Thanks to Houston’s fast-break-oriented style of play and tendency to throw down dunks in transition, this team was deemed Phi Slama Jama. It was more along the lines of Julius Erving and the aerial displays of the ABA than the fundamentally sound approach that had worked for so many other teams.
The 1982-83 Cougars ripped off 31 wins in 33 games, including a 26-game winning streak, before ultimately losing in the NCAA title game to North Carolina State after a memorable last-second dunk by Lorenzo Charles.
While that game will forever be remembered for Jim Valvano running around on the court looking for someone to hug in the aftermath, the losing Houston team was one of the most hyped squads in college basketball history.
No. 3 Duke, 1991-92
8 of 10
The Blue Devils entered the 1991-92 season riding high from a shocking upset of UNLV in the previous national title game. The hype was there because they returned six of the top eight scorers and looked ready for a repeat championship.
Christian Laettner, Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley were as famous of a threesome as there was in college sports, and their games meshed perfectly with each other.
Duke absolutely delivered on that hype and became one of the most memorable teams in college basketball history that played in arguably the most memorable game. Laettner drilled a buzzer-beating shot off of a full-length pass from Hill to knock out Kentucky in the Elite Eight.
Even casual basketball fans have seen that highlight over and over.
While the most memorable game was the Kentucky clash, the Blue Devils still had to beat Indiana in the Final Four and the “Fab Five” from Michigan in the national title game.
No. 2 UCLA, 1966-67
9 of 10
UCLA’s 1966-67 season was filled with hype for one reason: Lew Alcindor.
Writer Sam Smith, in a column for ESPN.com, said that Alcindor had more hype at an early age than even LeBron James did:
"The greatest hype? I'd have to say it was for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then named Lew Alcindor. High school games weren't televised back then, but we did have TV and even a couple of stations. When Alcindor was at Power Memorial High School, his game against Morgan Wooten's DeMatha powerhouse was a national story, especially since Power hadn't lost for several years. DeMatha won, and Alcindor went to UCLA and didn't lose again for several years.
"
Alcindor delivered on that hype with nightly averages of 29 points and 15.5 rebounds. He and Lucius Allen, who scored 15.5 points a game, led the Bruins to a perfect 30-0 season.
There was so much hype surrounding Alcindor and his dominance that the NCAA actually banned the dunk following the season. That didn’t stop the Bruins from winning the next six national championships after they won in 1967 behind the player who would later go on to be known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
No. 1 Michigan, 1991-92
10 of 10
What more can be said about this group?
The “Fab Five” that made up the 1991-92 Michigan Wolverines will forever live on through folklore, documentaries and stories about their brashness, baggy shorts and swagger. Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard and Jimmy King were the McDonald’s All-Americans, and Ray Jackson rounded out the group.
If nothing else, they put a new team on the college basketball map after a couple of seasons of domination from Duke and UNLV.
For as hyped as the freshmen were, Michigan did not steamroll through the season. It entered the NCAA tournament with a 20-8 record and a No. 6 seed but ripped off five straight wins. The highlight of the season for the Wolverines was likely an Elite Eight win over Jim Jackson and the hated Ohio State Buckeyes.
Even though Michigan lost to Duke in the national title game, the “Fab Five” remain the most memorable and hyped group in college basketball history. They shaped the future of the sport and are instantaneously recognizable whenever their names are brought up.
Any statistics or season results are courtesy of Sports-Reference.com.
.png?w=480 "NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Championship")
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
