Other teams that were considered
Indiana
The Resume: 8 Final Four Appearances, 5 National Championships, 10th in All-Time Wins (1,836)
I can see the argument to be made for Indiana. That resume is stacked. If I had been creating this list 10 years ago they probably would have made it. In the end you are really talking about success of one man over a 29 year period. When you think Indiana basketball, you think Bobby Knight. Branch McCracken won a couple titles as well, but you think Bobby Knight and his 659 wins.
If Indiana had managed to keep Kelvin Sampson after his NCAA investigation for text messages during the dead period, this might be a different conversation. Sampson was slapped with a show-cause for sending text messages to recruits and lost his job at Indiana. Meanwhile, Sean Miller and Will Wade are still employed at their respective Universities. How the landscape has changed. Sampson was 43-15 in a shade under two full seasons in Bloomington.
Temple
The Resume: 2 Final Four Appearances, 0 National Championships, 5th in All-Time Wins (1,926)
You can point to the Owls being the beneficiary of longevity if you would like. Regardless, being the program not named Duke, Kentucky, Kansas or Carolina with the most wins in college basketball history gets you a mention on this list.
Ultimately, the lack of NCAA Tournament success keeps them from being a true blue blood. They are however, possibly the ultimately model for consistency. This program has had exactly three losing seasons in the last 40 years, the same amount as Duke.
Gonzaga
The Resume: 1 Final Four Appearance, 0 National Championships, 37th in All-Time WIns (1,668)
Hear me out. While Gonzaga lacks a long history of tournament success, their resume’ over the last twenty years tells you that few programs have been better. Going back to 1997-98 this program has NEVER recorded few than 23 victories in a season. Kentucky can’t say that (5x). Since 1998-99 they have never missed an NCAA Tournament. North Carolina can’t say that (3x).
The Bulldogs (yes Bulldogs, not “The Zags”) have won 102 games over the past three seasons, none of the four traditional Blue Bloods can even come close to that number. They may not be ready for consideration quite yet, but they are well on their way to history and are absolutely one of the best programs in the country at present time.