Are some historic men’s college hoops programs no longer worthy of blue-blood status?
I channel surfed across a national sports talk radio show last week debating an interesting topic: Is it time to stop thinking of some of the most historic programs in NCAA men’s college basketball’s as being among the sport’s current “blue bloods?”
That prompted me to think about the criteria that identifies a “blue-blood program.” To claim that elite status, I believe a program must check (most of) these boxes:
1.) Have an NCAA championship in at least three different decades;
2.) Have multiple coaches win NCAA titles at the school;
3.) Have successfully replaced the school’s coaching icon;
4.) Have a present worthy of the school’s hoops past.
Of the seven programs — Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisville, North Carolina and UCLA — long thought of as the “blue bloods” of men’s college hoops, let’s evaluate them against the above criteria to see who still merits that status.
Duke
Has an NCAA championship in three different decades: Check. The Blue Devils won national titles in the 1990s (1991 and ‘92), the 2000s (2001) and the 2010s (2010 and 2015).
Has had multiple coaches win NCAA titles: No. Mike Krzyzewski has coached Duke to all five of its NCAA titles.
Has successfully replaced the school’s coaching icon: Non-applicable. At 73, Duke’s coaching icon, Krzyzewski, is still there.
Has a present worthy of the school’s hoops past: Check. The Krzyzewski era is Duke basketball’s golden age.
Blue-blood status: Confirmed.
Kansas
Has an NCAA championship in three different decades: Check. The Jayhawks claimed one crown each in the 1950s (1952), the 1980s (1988) and the 2000s (2008).
Has had multiple coaches win NCAA titles: Check. Phog Allen (1952), Larry Brown (1988) and Bill Self (2008) all cut down the nets for KU.
Has successfully replaced the school’s coaching icon: Check. The Jayhawks have thrived after the departure of three Hall of Fame coaches: Phog Allen (retired in 1956), Larry Brown (left in 1988) and Roy Williams (left in 2003).
Has a present worthy of the school’s hoops past: Check. With Self’s KU program currently in the crosshairs of a major NCAA investigation, the future of Kansas basketball looks uncertain, but the on-the-court results at Kansas in the 21st century have been strong.
Blue-blood status: Confirmed.
Kentucky
Has an NCAA championship in three different decades: Check. Kentucky won NCAA titles in the 1940s (1948, 1949), the 1950s (1951, 1958), the 1970s (1978), the 1990s (1996, 1998) and the 2010s (2012).
Has had multiple coaches win NCAA titles: Check. Adolph Rupp (UK’s first four titles), Joe B. Hall (1978), Rick Pitino (1996), Tubby Smith (1998) and John Calipari (2012) have all won it all at Kentucky.
Has successfully replaced the school’s coaching icon: Check. Kentucky has won the same number of NCAA titles (four) since the retirement of Adolph Rupp as it won with him.
Has a present worthy of the school’s hoops past: Check. Seven trips to the NCAA tourney’s Elite Eight and four Final Fours since 2010.
Blue-blood status: Confirmed.
Indiana
Has an NCAA championship in three different decades: Check. The Hoosiers cut down the nets in the 1940s (1940), 1950s (1953), 1970s (1976) and the 1980s (1981 and 1987).
Has had multiple coaches win NCAA titles: Check. Branch McCracken claimed IU’s first two national championships and Bobby Knight the last three.
Has successfully replaced the school’s coaching icon: Total fail. Since Bobby Knight’s ouster in 2000, Indiana has subsequently seen three head coaches fired or resign under pressure. The coaching seat seems to be heating up beneath current Hoosiers head man Archie Miller (52-40 in his third season), too.
Has a present worthy of the school’s hoops past: Fail. With 14 total NCAA Tournament wins since 2000, Indiana is third in its state in Big Dance victories in the 21st century behind Butler (22) and Purdue (20).
Blue-blood status: Lost.
Louisville
Has an NCAA championship in three different decades: No. Louisville won it all twice in the 1980s (1980 and 1986) but had its third NCAA title, won in the 2010s (2013), subsequently vacated by the NCAA for rules violations.
Has had multiple coaches win NCAA titles: No. Denny Crum won two titles (1980, 1986), but Rick Pitino’s title (2013) was scrubbed from the record books by the NCAA.
Has successfully replaced the school’s coaching icon: Check. Before his coaching tenure collapsed amid various scandals, Pitino had U of L basketball at a high level in the post-Denny Crum era. After the removal of Pitino, Louisville is incredibly fortunate to have landed a coach the caliber of Chris Mack.
Has a present worthy of the school’s hoops past: No. If it had the two vacated Final Four trips (2012 and 2013) resulting from the “strippers/escorts for recruits” scandal, the verdict would have been different.
Blue-blood status: Lost.
North Carolina
Has a NCAA championship in three different decades: Check. The Tar Heels won it all in the 1950s (1957), the 1980s (1982), the 1990s (1993), the 2000s (2005, 2009) and the 2010s (2017).
Has had multiple coaches win NCAA titles: Check. Frank McGuire (1957), Dean Smith (1982, 1993) and Roy Williams (2005, 2009, 2017) have won it all for UNC.
Has successfully replaced the school’s coaching icon: Check. It took the third coach, Roy Williams, who followed Dean Smith to fill the coaching vacuum, but it was done.
Has a present worthy of the school’s hoops past: Check. Though many lost respect for the UNC program due to the school’s “phony classes” academic scandal, North Carolina’s on-the-court success (this season not withstanding) has remained elite.
Blue-blood status: Confirmed.
UCLA
Has an NCAA championship in three different decades: Check. The Bruins won national titles in the 1960s (1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969), the 1970s (1970,1971, 1972, 1973, 1975) and the 1990s (1995).
Has had multiple coaches win NCAA titles: Check. John Wooden won UCLA’s first 10 championships, Jim Harrick the 11th.
Has successfully replaced the school’s coaching icon: Total fail. Current Bruins head man Mick Cronin is the 10th full-time UCLA head coach since John Wooden retired in 1975.
Has a present worthy of the school’s hoops past: Fail. UCLA has missed the NCAA tourney six times this century. As shown by the meandering, 99-day coaching search last year that eventually settled on C-list candidate Cronin, the Bruins’ basketball brand is diminished.
Blue-blood status: Lost.
