NCAA Basketball: 25 most successful programs of the 21st century

DURHAM, NC - MARCH 03: (L-R) Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils talks to head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels before their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 3, 2018 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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ATLANTA, GA – APRIL 08: Peyton Siva (C) #3 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrates. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

10. Louisville Cardinals

Regardless of your opinions on Louisville or Rick Pitino as a coach/individual, you cannot deny that the program was extremely successful under his leadership. In Pitino’s 16-year reign at the helm of the program, the Cardinals missed the Big Dance on just two occasions and was a top-4 seed in 10 different tournaments.

In addition, he led the program to three Final Four appearances as well as a national championship. (As a quick reminder before you jump into my Twitter mentions, this article does take into account vacated results, hence Louisville’s location.) Of course, the program has dealt with its fair share of hurdles in recent years but this does not take away from how successful the program was for the entire century.

Louisville reached the Big Dance as a member of three different conferences during this century (CUSA, Big East, ACC) and is now heading in a different direction for the future with former Xavier head coach Chris Mack leading the way.

Russ Smith (2x), Terrence Williams, and Reece Gaines were all named AP All-Americans while with Louisville.

21st Century Highlights:

.719 winning percentage
4 AP All-America selections
13 NCAAT appearances (28-12)
7 Sweet 16’s
3 Final Fours
2013 National Championship

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