25 best NCAA Tournament teams of all time

We had to put Loyola on this list. There is absolutely no way to tell how far the Lions would have gone if Hank Gathers had not tragically passed away after collapsing on the court a few months before the tourney. This was a team that averaged a record 122.4 points per game. With heavy hearts, Loyola continued with the season following Gathers' death, eventually making it all the way to the Elite Eight before losing to UNLV. 

Elvin Hayes put up one of the greatest seasons in college basketball history, averaging a ridiculous 36.8 points per game en route to leading Houston to a perfect regular-season record. What's amazing about this is that the Cougars scored 100-plus points in their final eight outings before the tourney, winning by an average of 30 points per game during that span. Unfortunately, Houston ended up falling to UCLA by 32 points in the national semifinals. 

Before falling to Indiana in the title game, Syracuse seemed destined to come away with the hardware. Future NBA stars Sherman Douglas, Rony Seikaly and Derrick Coleman were as dominating of a trio as you will see on a college basketball court. Following wins over Georgia Southern, Western Kentucky and Florida to find its way into the Sweet 16, Syracuse took out a top-seeded North Carolina team to earn a spot in the Elite Eight. That game saw Seikaly and Coleman combine for 24 points and 25 boards. Unfortunately, Syracuse would lose to the Hoosiers two games later to become one of the best teams not to win the title. 

Nearly a quarter century later, and it's still hard to believe that the "Fab Five" never won a national title with Michigan. The 1992-93 campaign was by far their best in Ann Arbor, as the Wolverines finished with a 26-4 regular-season record. They then won five consecutive tourney games, including two in overtime, before falling to North Carolina in the final. Future lottery picks Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose combined to average over 49 points and 21 rebounds per game. Wolverine fans still have nightmares about Webber's ill-fated timeout against Carolina in the title game. 

Flush with three future first-round picks, including top-10 guys Mike Bibby and Jason Terry, this Wildcats team rode a dominating backcourt to the NCAA title. It was, however, Miles Simon and Michael Dickerson who lit up the scoreboard for Arizona. They combined to average 37.3 points per game. In the end, the Cats took out two top seeds, North Carolina and Kentucky, in the Final Four to capture the title. 

In winning the school's first national title, Duke got revenge over UNLV after losing to the Runnin' Rebels by 30 points in the title game the previous season. It came in the form of a two-point win in the Final Four before Duke took out Kansas in the final. Despite losing seven games, this specific teams belongs on the list simply because it started what has to this day been an amazing run for the Blue Devils basketball team.

Now known as UTEP, the Miners made history in 1966 by becoming the first team with an all-black starting lineup to win the national title with a shocking win over Adolph Rupp and Kentucky in the championship game. Going up against officiating that favored teams with white players in the lineup, Texas Western faced an uphill battle all season. The Miners' run to a title included a win over the Kansas Jayhawks in the regional finals — a game that's still considered one of the best in tournament history. 

Hall of Fame head coach Frank McGuire won his first and only national title with North Carolina in what ended up being an undefeated season for the Tar Heels. Riding the dominating play of Lennie Rosenbluth (28 points per game), North Carolina took out the mighty Kansas Jayhawks and Wilt Chamberlain in the title game. It's still considered one of the best championship games in history, going three overtimes before Carolina won 57-56. Amazingly enough, both of the Tar Heels' Final Four games went to three overtimes. 

After losing to Santa Clara in the season opener, North Carolina won 33 of its final 36 games in a historic run of excellence. From the star-studded backcourt of Rashad McCants and Raymond Felton to Sean May's dominating performance inside, this might have been the most complete UNC team since the Jordan-Worthy era. The Heels ran roughshod through the competition in the tourney, winning by an average of 13.8 points per game. In the end, Carolina took out Illinois to capture the title. That game saw May put up 26 points and 10 boards en route to an MOP performance. 

This is the season that saw Bobby Knight really make a name for himself on a national stage. Led by guards Steve Alford and Keith Smart, Indiana put up a 24-4 regular-season record before claiming the title with a win over the aforementioned Syracuse Orange in the championship game. For his part, Alford averaged 22 points and shot 53 percent from three-point range. Meanwhile, Smart earned the tourney's Most Outstanding Player by hitting the game-winning shot with less than a second left in the title game. 

In an attempt to defend their national title, the Gators returned four players who would eventually find themselves selected in the first round of the NBA Draft, including big men Joakim Noah and Al Horford. The result was particularly special for Billy Donovan and Co. Florida finished the regular season with a school-record 29 wins before dominating opponents in the tourney. After wins against Oregon and UCLA, the Gators then took on Greg Oden, Mike Conley and Ohio State. In a game that featured six future first-round picks, the balanced Gators came out on top 84-75 to win their second consecutive title. 

Kentucky ended the 2011-12 season with an average margin of victory of 16.8 points per game. It finished in the top 25 in both offense and defense and boasted a total of six draft picks the following summer, including four in the first round and the top two picks (Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist). In the end, Kentucky took out Kansas in the title game to earn its first championship since 1997-98. This is one of the most talented college basketball teams in modern history. 

With, count it, FIVE future first-round draft picks, this Wildcats team was stacked from top to bottom. Going undefeated in SEC play, Kentucky ran roughshod through the competition, eventually defeating Syracuse 76-67 in the title game. All said, Kentucky's average margin of victory was more than 21 points per game in the tourney. 

That young kid who made the old Big East conference, Patrick Ewing, made his name known on a national stage during this title season for the Hoyas. Ewing averaged 16.4 points and over 10 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, David Wingate added 11.2 points per outing. Georgetown finished the season with a 34-3 record, including a nine-point win over Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Cougars in the title game. 

Stacked with four future first-round picks and six players that eventually suited up in the NBA, this Duke squad finished with a 34-2 record, eventually defeating the Fab Five and Michigan by 20 in the title game. Though, it's the team's 104-103 win over Kentucky in the Elite Eight that made the most headlines here. Remember Christian Laettner's turnaround jumper at the buzzer in overtime? That was the culmination of what many consider the greatest tourney game of all time.  

Flush with the talented trio of James Worthy, Sam Perkins and Michael Jordan, this was one of the most talented teams in college basketball history. What makes this team so interesting is that Jordan, then a freshman, was its third-leading scorer and just a couple years removed from being cut from his high school basketball team. When all was said and done, North Carolina finished with a 32-2 record. Unfortunately, the Tar Heels can't be much higher on this list. Four of their five tourney wins came by single digits, including a two-point victory over James Madison in the opening round. 

This was the team that took out John Wooden's UCLA Bruins. After falling to the seven-time defending NCAA champions during the regular season, North Carolina State defeated UCLA in the Final Four to exact revenge. It then went on to defeat Marquette in the title game. Led by Player of the Year David Thompson (26 points and 8.1 rebounds per game) and Tom Burleson (18 points per game), the Wolfpack finished this season with an absurd 30-1 record. 

Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek were potentially the greatest two players on the same team in college basketball history. These two future Hall of Famers led a group of five starters that were all drafted into the NBA. Ohio State finished as the highest-scoring team and shot at the best clip in the nation. Ohio State's historical season culminated in winning its four tourney games by an average of 19.5 points, including a 20-point victory over California in the title game. 

The first of two Dons' teams that appear on this list, San Francisco finished the 1954-55 campaign with a 28-1 record, earning the first of two consecutive titles with a 14-point win over La Salle in the championship game. In addition to boasting a roster that included Bill Russell and K.C. Jones, the Dons boasted a head coach in Phil Woolpert who put up a ridiculous 103-10 record during a four-year span. That's absolutely absurd. 

The 1976 season culminated in the first of three championships for the Hoosiers under the legendary Bob Knight. Still the last team to complete an undefeated season, Indiana defeated UCLA and Michigan by an average of 16 points per game in the Final Four. Center Kent Benson was the face of this team, averaging 17.3 points and 8.8 rebounds during the season. 

Four different players from this Bruins squad put up double-digit points with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor, averaging 26 points and 16 boards. The team's only regular-season loss came to Houston, whom UCLA later defeated by 32 points in the national semifinals. Overall, John Wooden's squad won by an average of 22 points in its final three tournament games, including a 78-55 win over North Carolina in the final. 

Five different members of this team averaged double-digit points, including Larry Johnson (20.7). UNLV averaged a whopping 93.5 points per game. It boasted three first-round picks from the 1991 draft. Oh, and the Rebels defeated Duke by a ridiculous 30 points in the title game. Overall, Jerry Tarkanian's team won a whopping 35 games during this absolutely amazing season. 

Let's talk about domination here for a second. The great Bull Russell averaged 20 points and 21 rebounds during the Dons' undefeated season, the first in college basketball history. He then nabbed an incredible 50 rebounds in the team's two Final Four games, including an 83-71 win over Iowa in the title contest. Russell teamed up with fellow future Hall of Famer K.C. Jones to form one of the best tandems in history. All said, San Francisco won all of its tournament games by at least 12 points. 

The last of seven consecutive NCAA titles, this year's version of the Bruins has to be considered one of the greatest of all time. It finished with a perfect 30-0 record, winning by an average of well over 20 points per game. In the championship contest against Memphis, the great Bill Walton put up the best single-game performance in college basketball history. He hit on 21-of-22 shot from the field for 44 points en route to a 21-point win over the Tigers. 

Winning by an average of 32 points per game, the Bruins finished the 1972 campaign with a perfect 30-0 record. From Bill Walton and Keith Wilkes to Henry Bibby and Greg Lee, the all-around talent on this roster was astonishing. In the end, UCLA defeated Florida State by just five to win the title.