Best in the NCAA

It's not often I really follow women's basketball. Growing up 15 minutes from Storrs, CT, I just sorta always expected UConn to win every title, but I wouldn't watch any game until maybe the second half of the Championship, assuming UConn was playing (which is often). But tonight I noticed that #1 UConn is playing at #2 UNC, with both teams being 17-0. Now I probably won't watch much of the game, but it did get me thinking about something else.

In the preseason rankings, both UConn and UNC boasted a #1 and a #2 ranked team with the Huskies being atop the women's poll and the Tar Heels topping the men's poll. Currently UNC has the #2 women's team and the #5 men's team while UConn has the top women's team and the #3 men's team. Duke also boasts strong programs in each as they are #2 in the men's rankings and #4 in the women's poll.

My question is, what school is the best basketball school in the country? In the last ten years on the men's side, UConn has two titles to it's credit while both Duke and UNC have one a piece. One thing that makes me very happy as a UConn fan as well who hates Duke is that the Huskies knocked Duke out of the tournament each time they won the title.

I do have to be honest however, even though UConn has more titles to their credit, UNC and Duke are title threats more often the UConn seems to be. That is not the case on the women's side however.

Every year it's UConn or Tennessee as favorites, then the rest of the field. Sure, UNC and Duke are usually good, but its UConn and Tennessee are always the teams to beat. In fact, since 1995 when UConn won the title and went 35-0, UConn or Tennessee has won the title in all but four years, with each team having five titles and a three-peat in that stretch. Four of the five titles UConn has won came against Tennessee. Side note to Bruce Pearl: elevate the men's program and stop focusing on singing Rocky Top for the women's game so you can get Tennessee into this debate).

In fairness, UNC won the title in 1994, and Duke has lost in the title game twice in the last ten years. One of those years was 1999, when the women's team lost to Purdue in the championship and UConn men beat the Blue Devils 77-74 (is it sad I didnt even have to look that up, I just have it memorized, and I always pick that score for my tie-breaker in my brackets every March?) in the championship game.

Duke came so close to achieving a feat that has only ever happened once, and it probably the strongest argument as to why UConn is the best men's and women's school in the country. In 2004, both the UConn men and the UConn women won the national title, and many a car was flipped in celebration. On the men's side, Duke and UNC usually have a better team year in year out, but the goal is to win titles when you're a top shelf program like all three of these schools are, and they have not delivered quite as much. On the women's side, it's no contest, UConn is the cream of the crop. In fact, as I write this I see that UConn is up by 16 at the half over UNC (gotta love GameCast) which just confirms my thought that the women Huskies are going undefeated this season. If the men put it all together like I know they are capable of doing this year, they should be the favorites come March, though it'd be tough to bet against Tyler Hansborough.

UConn has the best men's and women's basketball programs in the country in recent history and going forward. The worst? Mt. Holyoke