Kentucky Ranked as No. 1 Program in College Basketball History

The ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men’s Game is the most comprehensive reference guide ever assembled for a sport that stirs deep passions from Midnight Madness through March Madness. The culmination of three years of work by ESPN, this 1,230-page book includes essential facts, statistics and stories about every one of the 330 Division I teams, every basketball season since 1895, every NCAA Tournament since 1939, every great player and every coach. With an introduction by Naismith Hall of Famer and former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, the ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia bounces into stores Tuesday, Oct. 6.

Highlights of the book include:

• The ESPN/Sagarin All-Time Historical Rankings: Computed by rankings expert Jeff Sagarin exclusively for ESPN, the first ranking of every Division I program from No. 1 (Kentucky) to No. 330 (Binghamton, N.Y.).
• The Top 40 teams of each decade, 1940s through 2000s
• Every Division I school’s complete profile and history, including:
  • Best Single Team, Best Player, Best Coach, “Game for the Ages” and Fiercest Rival
  • School Profile Information
  • Every consensus All-America
  • Every first-round NBA/ABA Draft pick
  • School scoring, rebounding and assists records
  • Year-by-Year won-lost record (overall and conference); postseason finish, stat leader, coach and coaches’ cumulative records
• Every Season’s recap, vital statistics and key events, 1895-2009
• Every NCAA Tournament, 1939-2009
  • Box Score of EVERY GAME (Sweet 16 to Final)
• The ESPN “Special Selection Committee” chooses:
  • 50 Greatest Players
  • 15 Greatest Coaches
  • 15 Greatest Teams
  • 10 Best NCAA Tournaments
  • 10 Greatest Individual Tournament Performances
  • 10 Best Tournament Buzzer Beaters
  • 15 Best Programs Never to Win it All
  • 50 Best Nicknames
• Essays on the biggest  issues in the history of the sport, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar  on integration, Willam F. Reed on the great coaches, Pat Forde on the great Cinderella teams, Eric Adelson on the rise of the women’s game and Gene Wojciechowksi on the game’s scandals.

The ESPN/Sagarin All-Time Historical Rankings – Top 25 Teams

• Kentucky
• UCLA
• Kansas
• North Carolina
• Indiana
• Illinois
• Duke
• Purdue
• Ohio State
• Iowa
• Louisville
• Notre Dame
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Michigan State
• St. John’s
• Cincinnati
• Oklahoma State
• Utah
• Oklahoma
• Villanova
• NC State
• Syracuse
• Marquette
• Southern California

The Top 40 Programs of Each Decade

The 1940s (1937-38 through ’48-49)

• Oklahoma State
• Kentucky
• Illinois
• Notre Dame
• Indiana
• DePaul
• Purdue
• Ohio State
• Long Island
• Michigan

The 1950s

• Kentucky
• Illinois
• Kansas State
• Kansas
• Indiana
• UCLA
• Dayton
• Iowa
• Louisville
• Cincinnati

The 1960s

• UCLA
• Cincinnati
• Duke
• Ohio State
• Kentucky
• North Carolina
• Dayton
• Bradley
• Kansas
• Villanova

 

The 1970s

• UCLA
• North Carolina
• Marquette
• Kentucky
• Indiana
• NC State
• Maryland
• Notre Dame
• Louisville
• Purdue

The 1980s

• North Carolina
• Georgetown
• Indiana
• Illinois
• Kentucky
• Louisville
• Syracuse
• Iowa
• Virginia
• Purdue

 

The 1990s

• Kentucky
• Duke
• North Carolina
• Kansas
• Arizona
• Connecticut
• Indiana
• Arkansas
• Cincinnati
• UCLA

The 2000s

• Michigan State
• Illinois
• Arizona
• Texas
• Connecticut
• Kentucky
• Duke
• Kansas
• North Carolina
• Florida

To download the complete rankings click here.

The ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia offers everything a fan would want to know: all the teams and tournaments, all the statistics and standings, all the polls and players. The ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia is available Tuesday, Oct. 6, for $49.95 wherever books are sold.

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