Since 1955 or 69 consecutive tournaments, at least one of these five schools made the Sweet 16:

Kansas
Duke
UNC
Kentucky
UCLA

If you throw in Indiana, every single NCAA tournament that started with at least 16 teams (1951) had one of these six schools in the round of 16...

(03-25-2024 05:57 PM)CougarRed Wrote:  Since 1955 or 69 consecutive tournaments, at least one of these five schools made the Sweet 16:

Kansas
Duke
UNC
Kentucky
UCLA

If you throw in Indiana, every single NCAA tournament that started with at least 16 teams (1951) had one of these six schools in the round of 16...

Kind of definition of a blue blood. Interesting that all of those 6 but IU wear blue, as do UConn and Arizona.

Those are the exact 5 schools I consider college basketball’s bluebloods. The longevity and timelessness of that stat really reinforces that.

Those five programs are also 1-2-3-4-5 in tourney appearances, S16 appearances, E8 appearances, F4 appearances, and title game appearances. The only tournament related category that one of these programs isn’t T-5 is titles because Kansas sits at 4 while Indy and UConn have 5. Those five programs are also 1-2-3-4-5 in total wins and win%.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Div..._by_school

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...basketball

(03-25-2024 07:52 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  Those five programs are also 1-2-3-4-5 in tourney appearances, S16 appearances, E8 appearances, F4 appearances, and title game appearances. The only tournament related category that one of these programs isn’t T-5 is titles because Kansas sits at 4 while Indy and UConn have 5. Those five programs are also 1-2-3-4-5 in total wins and win%.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Div..._by_school

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...basketball

Yes, they are the definition of the blue bloods, with schools like UConn of the 21st century and Bobby Knight-era Indiana sniffing around the edges but not quite there, though that's more due to lack of longevity than lack of success for a certain period of time. MSU and Gonzaga are sniffing around it, too, though I'd rank them a tier down from peak Indiana and current-era UConn.

How many schools would consider firing Calipari right now? Every blue blood would be seeking his replacement as Kentucky is right now, but very few others would be doing so.

(03-25-2024 08:54 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  

(03-25-2024 07:52 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  Those five programs are also 1-2-3-4-5 in tourney appearances, S16 appearances, E8 appearances, F4 appearances, and title game appearances. The only tournament related category that one of these programs isn’t T-5 is titles because Kansas sits at 4 while Indy and UConn have 5. Those five programs are also 1-2-3-4-5 in total wins and win%.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Div..._by_school

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...basketball

Yes, they are the definition of the blue bloods, with schools like UConn of the 21st century and Bobby Knight-era Indiana sniffing around the edges but not quite there, though that's more due to lack of longevity than lack of success for a certain period of time. MSU and Gonzaga are sniffing around it, too, though I'd rank them a tier down from peak Indiana and current-era UConn.

How many schools would consider firing Calipari right now? Every blue blood would be seeking his replacement as Kentucky is right now, but very few others would be doing so.

Indiana had plenty of longevity. They've just been on about a 20 year down cycle. They've "only" made the tourney 9 times in the last 20 years and sweet 16 3 times.
They had their first title back in 1940 and followed up in 1953. They had a couple of MNCs in the 30s before the NCAA tourney. Branch McCracken and Bobby Knight coached IU all but the 3 war years and the 6 years in between them from 1938-2000. If you asked 15 years ago, nobody would dispute them as a blue blood.

(03-25-2024 08:54 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  

(03-25-2024 07:52 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  Those five programs are also 1-2-3-4-5 in tourney appearances, S16 appearances, E8 appearances, F4 appearances, and title game appearances. The only tournament related category that one of these programs isn’t T-5 is titles because Kansas sits at 4 while Indy and UConn have 5. Those five programs are also 1-2-3-4-5 in total wins and win%.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Div..._by_school

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...basketball

Yes, they are the definition of the blue bloods, with schools like UConn of the 21st century and Bobby Knight-era Indiana sniffing around the edges but not quite there, though that's more due to lack of longevity than lack of success for a certain period of time. MSU and Gonzaga are sniffing around it, too, though I'd rank them a tier down from peak Indiana and current-era UConn.

How many schools would consider firing Calipari right now? Every blue blood would be seeking his replacement as Kentucky is right now, but very few others would be doing so.

Gonzaga is good program on a great run but there’s at least a dozen or two schools that I’d have ahead of them (not including the five blue bloods). Now if we’re talking best programs to never win a title then absolutely they’re one of the headliners, along with programs like Illinois, OU, and Houston.