What’s the greatest college basketball team of all time? Comparison, expert odds

Americans love a good ol’ fashioned hypothetical sports debate.

For example, one of my first bar arguments as a Boston resident involved the 1986 Celtics against the 2017 Golden State Warriors. This was almost three years ago, and I still vividly remember a guy from Prince Street proudly proclaiming, “Nobody on Golden State could stick Larry Bird.”

There’s no right or wrong answer, but the conversation can live forever.

With the NCAA men’s Final Four tipping off Saturday night in Glendale, the FOX Sports editorial team thought it would be a fun idea to pit the greatest college basketball programs of all time against each other.

I took the liberty of picking eight programs — Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, UConn, UCLA and UNLV — and filling out a starting lineup for each one. 

As for criteria, my lineups initially spanned across 70 years, but I quickly decided to remove legends like Bill Walton, Kent Benson, Louie Dampier, Phil Ford, Gail Goodrich and JoJo White to provide more of a “modern feel.”

While I tried to pick players from the “modern era,” Lew Alcindor and Wilt Chamberlain did make the cut.

I also tried my best to avoid one-and-done players to choose guys that had lasting impacts as their respective schools.

Building the teams was the easiest part. Things became much more complex when it came time to rank these college super teams in order. I needed a mathematical mind with a Las Vegas background to create power ratings.

Enter Motoi Pearson.

The Vegas lifer and current WynnBET senior trader initially balked at the make-believe matchmaking request, saying he didn’t “want to screw it up.” Five minutes later, though, he peeped the lineups and the wheels started spinning.

“Give me an hour,” Pearson said.  

A little over an hour later, we hopped on the phone and went over all eight teams one by one with his reactions, thoughts and numbers.

“I found the best team and went from there,” Pearson explained. “North Carolina was my clear favorite and I built from there down. And I tried to make the most sense on the appropriate bottom. You can’t make the gap too big between two of the perceived best teams ever. It’s hard to quantify the worst-best team ever, you feel? Six points felt fair enough.”

MOTOI PEARSON’S ALL-TIME POWER RATINGS

99 – UNC Tar Heels
98 – Duke Blue Devils
96 – UCLA Bruins
95 – Kansas Jayhawks
95 – UConn Huskies 
94 – Kentucky Wildcats 
94 – UNLV Runnin’ Rebels
93 – Indiana Hoosiers

With those numbers, Carolina would be -6 on Indiana.

Let’s jump into the rosters.

1. North Carolina (99)

Ty Lawson
Michael Jordan
Antawn Jamison
James Worthy
Tyler Hansborough

Pearson: “That backcourt is crazy between Lawson and MJ. I don’t know much about Michael Jordan, but I did see Space Jam (lol). Jamison and Worthy are unreal scorers and Hansborough is an all-time college player. That’s the deepest five.”

It was tough, but I went with Lawson over RJ Davis and Kenny Smith.

“He’s one of the fastest guards to ever lace ‘em up,” Pearson said of Lawson. “He was unreal in college. Just push the pace, get the ball up the floor and dish it to one of four superstars. If this team dictates pace, they’re extremely tough to beat.”

2. Duke (98)

Jay Williams
JJ Redick
Grant Hill
Christian Laettner
Zion Williamson

Pearson: “Lots of experience and lots of winning. Jay Williams is one of the better college players of our time and Redick is a lethal shooter. Zion is a menace underneath. The Blue Devils are the second-best team on this list.”

3. UCLA (96)

Lonzo Ball
Reggie Miller
Jason Kapono
Ed O’Bannon
Lew Alcindor

Pearson: “Kapono threw me through a loop at first, but O’Bannon and Alcindor are insane off the rip. My dad loved the O’Bannons back in the day. This would be so much fun for Lonzo Ball. You’ve got Kapono on one wing, the unguardable Reggie Miller on the other, and two monsters in the paint.”

4. Kansas (95)

Sherron Collins
Paul Pierce
Danny Manning
Nick Collison
Wilt Chamberlain

Pearson: “Having Wilt is kind of a big deal. Danny Manning the miracle. Pierce and Collins are really good guards. Pierce, the basketball player, runs circles around Pierce, the podcaster. And you have the ultimate glue guy in Collison.”

5. UConn (95)

Kemba Walker
Ray Allen
Richard Hamilton
Donovan Clingan
Emeka Okafor

Pearson: “I’m a sucker for Kemba Walker. He was incredible in March. I almost made UConn a little higher with Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton. On any given day, those guards could win out if they’re making shots. Okafor was a dominant rim protector and Clingan is probably winning back-to-back ships.”

6. Kentucky (94)

Tony Delk
Jamal Murray
Tayshaun Prince
Jamal Mashburn
Anthony Davis

Kentucky was easily the most fascinating team to piece together. I could’ve easily made a lineup with John Wall, Malik Monk, Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns and DeMarcus Cousins, but I wanted guys that made bigger impacts.

Pearson: “Toughest team to price by far. It feels like a lot of Kentucky’s most stacked teams never won. How does this year’s squad lose to Oakland? Granted, this joint you put together is a lot more seasoned. You’ve got some upperclassmen, which is a big deal in pressure situations.”

What’s Kentucky’s number if John Calipari isn’t coaching?

“Probably a 102,” Pearson cracked.

7. UNLV (94)

Greg Anthony
Stacey Augmon
Isiah Rider
Larry Johnson
Sidney Green

Pearson: “I personally wanted to make UNLV a 98, but then I wouldn’t write any money on them. That high-speed offense worked under [Jerry Tarkanian] because of the personnel and conditioning. And I’m convinced Larry Johnson could be a one-man wrecking crew and keep them in most games.”

8. Indiana (93)

Isiah Thomas
Steve Alford
Calbert Cheaney
Scott May
Trayce Jackson-Davis

Pearson: “You’ve got three national champions here. That’s where you start. They’re not as talented as the other teams. This will probably get my head bit off from the Hoosier faithful. I hope Isiah reads this, too. He’ll be pissed.”

Last but certainly not least, Pearson created a future pool (with a 12% hold), assuming the eight teams competed first in pool play, then single elimination.

UNC +275
Duke +350
UCLA +650
Kansas +700
UConn +800
Kentucky +800
UNLV +1000
Indiana +1200

Our work here is done. Now it’s your turn.

Who wins this college basketball Superteam Battle Royale?

Sam Panayotovich is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and NESN. He previously worked for WGN Radio, NBC Sports and VSiN. He’ll probably pick against your favorite team. Follow him on Twitter @spshoot.

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