The Ultimate 64: Deciding the greatest all-time NCAA champion - Final Four
The Ultimate 64 is an undertaking which will determine the greatest NCAA tournament champion of all time from a field made up exclusively of NCAA tournament champions.
The teams will be judged based on record, quality of wins, overall talent, star power and entertainment value, among other criteria.
The teams have been divided into regions based on their geographical location.
With each region decided, the time has come to determine The Ultimate Champion.
Ultimate 64 Schedule
Midwest Region
West Region
East Region
South Region
Final Four
Final Four
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National Semifinals
There have been seven undefeated NCAA tournament champions. The most recent, and the only one to qualify for the Final Four in this tournament, is the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers. While UCLA lost one game in 1968, that loss came eight days after Lew Alcindor was hospitalized for three days after suffering a scratch on his left cornea. The Bruins lost to Houston by two points, but got their revenge in the Final Four when they knocked off the Cougars by a score of 101-69. ... North Carolina had a ton of talent on its 1982 squad, with Michael Jordan, James Worthy, and Sam Perkins on the roster. Even still, that team won its tournament games by an average margin of 3.8 points. Rick Pitino's 1996 Kentucky Wildcats posted a tournament record combined margin of victory of 129 points.
Championship
The combined margin of victory of 129 points the 1996 Kentucky Wildcats won their tournament games by averages out to 21.5 points per game. When UCLA won the national title in 1968, it was asked to play only four games. In those tournament games, the Bruins outscored their opponents by an average of 21.3 points, including wins of 32 and 23 points in the Final Four. ... While UCLA had four undefeated champions, this one-loss team stands out above the rest. Why? Because John Wooden said so himself. "It would be hard to pick a team over the 1968 team," Wooden said. "I will say it would be the most difficult team to prepare for and play against offensively and defensively. It created so many problems. It had such great balance."
Image courtesy Associated Press.
