The 2023-24 UConn Huskies just took the top spot in the annual Candid Coaches series, grabbing 17% of the votes for the best college basketball team since 2000. It wasn’t a runaway win, but that Huskies squad was absolutely dominant. The thing is, this question of the greatest single-season team of the 21st century is a total barroom brawl, and a lot of folks, including the CBS Sports college hoops crew, think there are other teams with an even stronger case.
Mike Krzyzewski’s 2000-01 Duke Team Was Just Built Different
Matt Norlander from CBS Sports made his pick, and he went with the 2000-01 Duke Blue Devils. Now, this wasn’t even Coach K’s best team by record in his third title season, but what they did in the NCAA Tournament was insane. They won every single one of their tournament games by double digits. Think about that for a second. That’s a feat no other school has pulled off since the expanded tournament kicked off in 1985. The clincher for Norlander? This is the *only* team in history to have two teammates win national player of the year awards in the same season, with Shane Battier and Jay Williams absolutely tearing it up. Those two are easily in the top ten players Coach K ever had. Throw in Carlos Boozer, Chris Duhon, and Mike Dunleavy Jr. to round out that starting five, and you’ve got a quintet that could hang with anyone in the past 26 seasons.
These Blue Devils finished 35-4 and absolutely pummeled opponents, winning by an average margin of 20.2 points. That’s one of the largest margins by any team in the last 50 years! Their KenPom efficiency margin was almost five points better than the No. 2 team, Stanford, marking one of the three largest gaps between first and second in KenPom’s 30-year database. And if that wasn’t enough, they beat 13 ranked opponents, second only to Arizona last season. Their last-minute comeback win on the road against Maryland? Pure classic.
The “What If” Kentucky Team And The Endless Debate
It’s clear there’s no real consensus on this question, even among the coaches. What’s wild is that if just one game had gone differently in the last 26 years, we might have had a clear answer. We’re talking about the 2014-15 Kentucky team. If Wisconsin hadn’t pulled off that 71-64 win against them on April 4, 2015, the story could be totally different. This debate just shows how many truly elite teams have come through college basketball since 2000.
So, while UConn might have the most recent bragging rights in the coaches’ poll, the numbers for that 2000-01 Duke team are just jaw-dropping. It’s a debate that’ll rage on, probably for another 26 years. You gotta love college hoops, right?
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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