Best NCAA Basketball programs of all-time: 24. Oklahoma basketball
Another football school that has found their way into the all-time basketball top 25, Oklahoma has produced several great spurts in their program history despite never really being considered a true power program.
The Sooners have also yet to win a national championship but have made the Final Four five times, advancing to the title game in 1947 and 1988. In fact, they made the postseason 25 consecutive years from 1982-2006, which was the longest stretch in that span. Throw in 14 conference regular-season championships and nine Elite Eight appearances, and you have a top-tier program.
Oklahoma has a knack from developing top-tier players as well. Wayman Tisdale dominated for the Sooners in the early 1980s and is still the only player in program history to be named an All-American multiple times on top of being the program’s all-time leading scorer. The last decade has been dominated by Blake Griffin, Buddy Hield, and Trae Young. All three of them were first-team All-American selections, and both Griffin and Hield won Big 12 Player of the Year.
This represents a common theme with the Sooners – they’re capable of being great but often have mediocre stretches in between. They won seven conference titles (regular season and tournament) from 1984-1990, yet didn’t win another until 2001. And that started a stretch of three consecutive Big 12 Tournament titles.
That trend has hurt some of Oklahoma’s overall statistics as they rank 32nd in all-time wins and 36th in program win percentage. So, while the Sooners have accomplished some great things, that program inconsistency keeps them at No. 24 on this list.