Regular-season wins don’t really mean much to me. I think Temple scores better on that than IU, but the Owls aren’t playing in the B10. Also we have the greatest tournament in the world so we might as well use its results when doing this at any rate. Here are some candidates:
UCLA*- 18 Final Fours spread over 47 years (2008 last), 11 titles over 32 years (1995 last)
UK- 17 FFs spread over 74 years (2015), 8 titles over 64 years (2012)
UNC- 20 FFs spread over 71 years (2017), 6 titles over 60 years (2017)
Duke- 16 FFs spread over 52 years (2015), 5 titles over 24 years (2015)
Indiana- 8 FFs spread over 62 years (2002), 5 titles over 47 years (1987)
UConn- 5 FFs spread over 15 years (2014), 4 titles over 15 years (2014)
Kansas- 15 FFs spread over 78 years (2018), 3 titles over 56
years (2008)
Louisville*- 10 FFs spread over 54 years (2013), 3 titles over 33 years
*I’m going by hardwood results just because.
So some things stand out.
- UConn did a yeoman’s work in a short period of time. However they obviously lack the history that defines being a blue-blood.
- UCLA’s decade plus of dominance is UConn on steroids and HGH, but FFs in 5 decades with 5 coaches plus a title outside their window means they are a blue blood.
- Indiana has the longevity and titles of a blue blood, but the dormancy on the last FF is getting laughable.
- Duke is UCLA-lite or UConn-heavy (take your pick) with one coach doing the heavy-lifting. They are actually the only one on the list to have had only one title-winning coach, but they’ve had 3 coaches take them to the FF during a half-century stretch so there isn’t much more to say.
- Kansas inherited a fortune but is risk-averse and has less to show for it than others. You can’t beat him on lineage however, he is the bluest of blue bloods.
- Louisville is the guy whose grandfather made a fortune in oil, so he thinks he is blue blood but deep down you know there is a burlesque show or three in their family’s closet.
- UK and UNC are simply the gold standard for consistency. Rarely rattled even when the chips are down because they know they will be back and soon.
So UConn and Louisville are struck off from my blue blood list. UConn needs about 2-3 more decades of consistently contending for titles. Louisville is close to blue blood status but needs some spit and polish to get over the rough edges. Winning a title post-this would help. Duke, UK, UNC, and Kansas are in as blue bloods and living in the best mansions on the block at the moment. UCLA has the largest mansion, but renovations sure would look nice right now. Indiana still lives in their mansion, but it’s falling apart and they’ll get an eviction notice before too long if they aren’t careful.
