re: CBS Sports Top NCAA Basketball Programs of all time

Kentucky won the SEC in 1956-57 and beat Alabama in Lexington 79-60. It was February 25, 1956 when you whomped us. You must have pissed off the old man because the next game Kentucky beat Georgia 143-66.

Thanks though for giving us another NCAA Sweet 16 in 1956.

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You must have pissed off the old man because the next game Kentucky beat Georgia 143-66.

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I actually remember watching Rupp put his head in his hands with a minute or two left in the game. Your all-American center Bob Burroughs and Alabama's Jerry Harper went to war with each other that night! Both were magnificent.

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I know Florida is a hard to rank because so much of the success is recent, but there's something amiss with the methodology if a program with one E8 appearance is within one spot in either direction of a program with 9 E8's, 5 F4's, 3 title game appearances and 2 National Titles.

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The CBS ranking factors in all time wins as well as all time losses which hurts Florida a lot considering prior to 1999 they have 34 losing seasons. If overall wins and losses weren't included then Florida would be a lot higher on the list. In fact, Florida would likely be close to the Top 10 if they were ranking programs over the last 25 or 30 years.

I know a lot of people hate how these rankings focus on overall wins but considering the fact that up until about the early 70s the NCAA tournament was incredibly exclusive and a lot of really good teams didn't make the tournament up until then it's reasonable to put a good deal of emphasis on overall wins in a ranking of all time programs.

It's incredibly impressive that Florida is ranked as high as they are on this list given that prior to 1998 their entire history consisted of a grand total of 3 NCAA appearances (granted, one of which resulted in a Final 4 appearance, one Sweet 16 that was later vacated, and the third one a 1st round loss), no SEC regular season titles, and 34 losing seasons.

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How the hell is Alabama ranked so high

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Because of the wins and losses measure. For example, Alabama has 107 more wins and 128 fewer losses all time than LSU does. That's 53.5 more points added and 64 fewer points subtracted for Alabama in comparison to LSU.

Personally, I think there should be a few more points for each NCAA tournament appearance and a few more points added for each NCAA tournament win to add more value for tournament appearances and tournament wins to add more emphasis on NCAA tournament success to get a better overall picture. Not sure it would make a massive difference but it would be enough to push LSU considerably ahead of both Alabama and Missouri and push Missouri ahead of Alabama which is where I think both should be.

Having said that, it's hard to argue that all time wins and losses SHOULDN'T be factored in considering the relative recent emphasis on the NCAA in the grand scheme of things (late 60s/early 70s) compared to the entire history of college basketball. More weight should be given to NCAA tournament wins than regular wins though. That's my only beef with this ranking.

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My great uncle was on that team and one of the Rocket 8.

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I guessing that he is Jack Kubiszyn. I played a ton of basketball with/against Jack back in the 70s in the independent leagues around Tuscaloosa.

Billy Crews