NCAA Basketball: Ranking of 20 best college teams from last 20 years
By Joey Loose
2. 2015 Kentucky
This was the best team in decades and the one that looked like it could complete that undefeated run to the national championship. John Calipari had built just a stunning roster full of 5-star talent who played great basketball together. With height, shooting talent, and prestige, Kentucky marched to a 38-0 start and another Final Four appearance, but there’s certainly a reason this team isn’t atop this list.
This paragraph isn’t enough time to praise everyone from this team, but we’ll start with freshmen stars Karl-Anthony Towns (10.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and Devin Booker (10.0 ppg), who are both NBA stars now seven years later. Twin brothers Aaron and Andrew Harrison were exceptional, while Willie-Cauley-Stein, Trey Lyles, and Dakari Johnson produced an effective and heightened frontcourt. All of these players, plus Tyler Ulis and Alex Poythress, not only saw time and made NBA rosters but were top 50 recruits scooped up by Calipari.
There were a few close calls, but the Wildcats were taking care of business all season long, including a 39-point smacking of West Virginia in the Sweet Sixteen. What came between this team and the history books was a fantastic game from Wisconsin the Final Four, ending the Wildcats’ dream at 38-1. Somehow, this remains the most recent Kentucky team to make the Final Four, though it’s hard to argue against it being Calipari’s very best.