The Kansas Jayhawks have just made history, by winning 14 straight Big 12 conference championships, overcoming UCLA’s 1967-1969 streak that made history and seemed unbeatable, until Saturday, February 24th, 2018. Here’s a list at the best program years from each Power Five conference, taking into account of wins, players, conference championships, and National Championships.
Big 12
Kansas Jayhawks
The Kansas Jayhawks are arguably the best College Basketball program of all time. They’ve been to the National Championship game 9 times, winning three of them in 1952, 1988, and 2008. They’ve won 14 straight conference championships in a heated conference that has more than one national championship contender every year. They also blow every other school out of the water with 28 conference championships to date since 1997, when the conference began, and 61 overall in the history of the program.
They’ve also provided the NBA with standout players, such as Joel Embiid, Wilt Chamberlain, and Jo Jo White. Their All-Time record is .725, which is incredible, and I don’t believe there’s another team in the Big 12 that will ever match the stats and records that the Jayhawks have broke, and will continue to break. Not to mention, the first coach in the history of the program is the man that started the game of basketball, James Naismith.
ACC
North Carolina
Oh boy, was this a tough one. You can easily bring Duke into the argument as one of the best programs in the ACC, and you wouldn’t be wrong. 19 regular season conference championships, 11 National Championship appearances, with 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, and 2015 as seasons they cut down the nets, and a .708 overall record with standout players such as Kyrie Irving, Christian Laettner, and Shane Battier, but that’s not who we’re here to talk about.
We’re here for North Carolina. 31 regular season ACC championships, 11 National Championship appearances with wins in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, and 2017. The program has a .739 all-time record, and do I really even need to talk about amazing players that have stepped foot in Chapel Hill? Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Tyler Hansbrough to name a few. The Tobacco Road Rivalry is ultimately the battle for ACC supremacy also, but I have to give the nod to UNC.
Big Ten
Indiana
This one was kind of difficult as well. Not necessarily because there are three great programs, Ohio State, Purdue, and Indiana, but because they’re all pretty much equal except in one regard. Indiana has more National Championships under their belt than the others. Also there’s that Ohio State controversy (which we’re not going to talk about today). The Hoosiers are pretty solid, with 6 National Championship appearances, 5 of which they won in 1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, and 1987. Basically any time Indiana gets into the big game, they’re going to win it. They also boast a .638 overall record, with 22 Big Ten regular season championships, mostly fought against Purdue. Their notable alumni include Isiah Thomas and Victor Oladipo.
Pac-12
UCLA
Back to the easy ones. UCLA balls, and when they ball, they ball hard. 31 regular season Pac-12 championships, and a .692 overall record. They have 12 National Championship appearances (13 if you count the one in 1980 that was vacated by the NCAA) with 11 of those being a win. 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1995. They also hold 11 NCAA records as a team, including most National Championships, most Final Four appearances, and most consecutive weeks ranked #1 in the AP poll. They have an impressive class of alumni as well, including Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Reggie Miller. UCLA may have fallen off the map recently, but they’re still one of the best programs of all time.
SEC
Kentucky
Was there really any doubt? Kentucky is the most dominant ball program in the SEC. Period. Hands Down. No contest. Don’t @ me. They boast a .764 overall record, which is the highest overall record on this list, beating even the aforementioned Kansas, who has a .725 record. They’ve been to the National Championship game 12 times, winning in 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, and 2012. They’re a program nobody wants to face. They’re a program that will dominate you on the court. They are a program with 48 SEC Regular Season titles under their belt. Also their alumni list is far and few between. Pat Riley, Demarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Rajon Rondo and John Wall, just to name a few.