The best college hoops programs of the 2010s

Wichita State's story is similar to Butler's. The Shockers...well...shocked everyone when they made a run to the 2013 Final Four before losing to Louisville. They followed that up by going undefeated heading into the tournament and gaining a No. 1 seed before losing to Kentucky in the second round. From 2010-2011 to 2016-2017, Wichita State went 208-42 and won 10 NCAA Tournament games. They also went 110-16 in Missouri Valley Conference play, winning five regular-season titles. They won the 2011 N.I.T. and would bolt the MVC for the AAC in 2017.

Coming off the 2000s when they won two championships, the 2010s have been a bit of a letdown. The Gators reached just one Final Four (2014) but did get to five Elite Eights, including four straight from 2011-2014. People equate the Gators' fall back to earth to Billy Donovan leaving for the NBA, but Florida suffered its first losing season in 17 years in Donovan's final season in Gainesville. Mike White has slowly built Florida back into a contender in the SEC, but the shine from the back-to-back championships is getting further in the rearview mirror. 

One decade ago, did any of you know about Butler University? Its claim to fame up to that point was playing in Hinkle Fieldhouse, site of the championship game in "Hoosiers." That was before the Bulldogs made an unlikely run to the NCAA championship game against Duke and then stunned everyone by getting back there the following year before losing to UConn. The program lost head coach Brad Stevens to the Celtics but has moved from the Horizon League to the Atlantic 10 and then the Big East. The Bulldogs haven't made a Final Four run since and have actually missed the tournament in three of the last seven years, but they have come a long way in 10 years. 

Syracuse has had a few big seasons mixed with mediocrity once the Orange joined the ACC. In its final seasons in the Big East, Syracuse won two regular-season titles and a trip to the Final Four in its final season in the league. Upon entering the ACC, Syracuse tussled with Duke for league supremacy (remember the Jim Boeheim tantrum in Cameron Indoor Stadium?) and finished second in the standings. Since then the Orange have struggled to be contenders, finishing in the middle of the pack every year and living on the NCAA Tournament bubble. They've missed the tournament twice in the last five years but made an unlikely Final Four run in 2016. 

Gonzaga has gone from a cute mid-major that can be a trouble-maker during the tournament to a pseduo-power conference team. The Bulldogs became a No. 1 seed for the first time ever in 2013 and then did it again in 2017 and 2019. In 2017 the Zags finally reached their first Final Four and had a late lead over North Carolina in the title game before losing in the final moments. Gonzaga has moved on from just finding top JUCO and foreign players and mining for diamonds in the rough to getting top prospects to come to Spokane. No, it hasn't paid off with a national championship, but the fact that this university is seemingly on equal footing with the elite programs in college basketball is amazing and a testament to what Mark Few has built there. 

The mid-2010s was a great time in Madison. The Badgers went to back-to-back Final Fours in 2014 (when they lost to Kentucky) and 2015 (where they ended Kentucky's undefeated season before losing to Duke in the title game). Bo Ryan would suddenly retire early in the 2015-2016 season, and the program hasn't enjoyed the same success under Greg Gard. In fact, the 2017-2018 team had Wisconsin's first losing season since 1998 and ended a 19-year streak of making the NCAA Tournament. The Badgers won only one Big Ten regular season and conference tournament crown (both in 2015), but they spent much of the first half of the decade as a national championship contender. 

People may point to Virginia's loss to UMBC in the 2018 NCAA Tournament and feel the Cavs need to be knocked down this list quite a bit. That one game doesn't define their decade, certainly after they came back to win the championship in 2019. Look what Tony Bennett has done in Charlottesville: won four regular-season ACC championships in the last six years despite playing in a conference where two teams that are high on this list reside; have gone 89-19 in league play in that span, which is downright stunning when you add in that seven of those losses came in 2016-2017. Also, their defensive system is ridiculous, and they are getting NBA talent now. What does knock them down on this list is that it has been a slow build that saw them miss three of the first four tournaments this decade before finally winning their first national championship. 

Why so low for a program that won two championships this decade? First off, those two championship teams may be the worst two of the 2010s — the 2014 team was a No. 7 seed and nearly lost its first round game. The Huskies also missed the tournament six times during the decade, which usually wouldn't put you anywhere near this high on a list like this. The end of the Jim Calhoun era was met with some issues and even led to the program being banned from the 2013 tournament due to its low APR. The end of the Kevin Ollie era was also messy as the school maintains that he was fired for just cause; however the money situation has left a stain on the program. UConn initially lost out in the conference realignment by being left out of the Big East, having to hunker down in The American where it had no natural rivals. The highs were certainly high with Kemba Walker's amazing run in 2011 and Shabazz Napier in 2014. Aside from that, it hasn't been the best of times in Storrs.

The Wolverines have enjoyed their best run of success since the Fab Five days. While Michigan didn't win a national championship, it did reach the title game twice this decade. John Beilein built a great defensive program that benefited from having the right amount of offensive firepower. Whether it was Trey Burke (who won a Naismith Award), Nik Stauskas or Mo Wagner, Michigan had tough guys who were leaders on and off the court. Michigan won only two Big Ten titles and went to five Sweet 16s. Not the flashiest of teams, as you had to bring your lunch pail to deal with this tough-minded group.

Michigan State didn't get to a championship game this decade, but this has been one of the more successful runs in program history. The Spartans won four Big Ten regular-season titles (and finished in the top three in eight years) in that time and reached the Sweet 16 six times. Sparty has produced three Big Ten Players of the Year (Draymond Green, Denzel Valentine, Cassius Winston). 

A lot has happened to the Cardinals this decade. They started in the Big East and spent a year in The American Athletic Conference before moving on to the ACC. They won the 2013 national championship, though it has since been vacated due to an improper benefits scandal and had a nasty divorce with head coach Rick Pitino. Yes, the sex scandal and the FBI investigation stunned the school and stunted the growth of one the fastest rising programs in the country. On the court, the Cardinals made two Final Four runs (both vacated), three regional finals (all vacated) and four Sweet 16s (and, well, you know). The record books won't be as kind to the Cardinals as anyone who watched this program during this turbulent time.

These Wildcats really rode high in the second half of the decade. Kris Jenkins' shot at the buzzer to beat North Carolina in the 2016 national championship game was one of college hoops' biggest moments and gave 'Nova its first title in 31 years. It would be just two years before the Wildcats would get another when the 2018 team rode one of the most efficient and lethal offenses in history to coast to the title. That three-year stretch was as dominant as any program has had this decade. The problem is that Villanova is boom-or-bust: It has reached the second weekend of the tournament only twice all decade. The Wildcats either win the whole thing, or they're not even close. That puts them in the back of the pack of programs that consistently make deep runs and win rings.  

It has been quite a decade for Carolina fans. The Tar Heels entered the decade as defending champions but missed the 2010 tournament. They went through a lengthy academic scandal that affected their recruiting yet made it to the 2016 national championship game and lost on a buzzer-beater by Villanova's Kris Jenkins. Their "redemption" tour got them back to the Final Four the next season where they beat Gonzaga for their sixth national title, the scandal resulted in no sanctions and now the Heels are back among the heavyweights in recruiting. Through all of this and the strengthening of the ACC, Carolina won at least a share of five conference regular-season championships and went to six ACC tournament finals. 

The Jayhawks have been the picture of consistency in regard to excellence. They won every Big 12 regular season title from 2010 to 2018 and reached the Elite Eight five times. They went to two Final Fours and played that juggernaut Kentucky team in the 2012 national championship game. No national championships, but Kansas continues to be a title contender every year as it has embraced the one-and-done culture yet continues to have four-year guards who lead the program. Kansas has been bitten by some controversy as well, as players have had their eligibility questioned and an FBI investigation into college sports has touched the program. As a whole KU has been dominant in its league, filling the NBA with players even if the team failed to grab the biggest prize. 

It has been an interesting decade for Duke. The Blue Devils won the 2010 national championship behind upperclassmen and then would win the 2015 national championship with a foursome of fabulous freshmen. That team wouldn't even be Duke's most hyped freshman phenom squad of the decade, as the 2018-2019 players Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones were followed around as if they were the Dream Team. Last year's squad didn't get to a Final Four, though, which is also part of Duke's legacy of the last 10 years: just two Final Fours with all that collection of talent. Mike Krzyzewski has run away as the all-time leader in wins and has arguably overtaken John Calipari in the one-and-done game. 

The decade began with John Calipari bringing his one-and-done style to Lexington and creating a new culture in college basketball. He was unashamed at promoting his program as a stop for elite high school talent to spend their mandatory gap year before sauntering on to the NBA. It worked. The NBA is filled with former Wildcats, and Kentucky has benefited from their brief time there. They have been to seven Elite Eights and four Final Fours, and the 2012 team, arguably the best team of the decade, won the national championship. The 2014-15 team became the first to stay undefeated to the Final Four since UNLV in 1991.