Monday night No. 1 overall seed Kentucky defeated Kansas to win its first National Championship since 1998, and head coach John Calipari earned his first ever title. He has been shuffling around college basketball for years now, bringing under-the-radar teams into the spotlight with his aggressive recruiting techniques.
But this season was his most explosive class yet. Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Marquis Teague joined the likes of Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb to form a starting lineup of all potential lottery picks.
With the common belief that Calipari's attempts to win it all with a team monopolized of freshman would never work, his group of underclassmen proved doubters wrong.
No longer is it a question whether or not this group is the best in the nation. But is it the most talented team in college basketball history?
Yes.
When was the last time a team had an entire six-man rotation made up of first round draft picks? Two of which will likely be in the top five overall (Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist).
This season they suffered only two losses, a buzzer-beating 3-pointer against a streaky Indiana team, and a loss in the SEC championship game to Vanderbilt proved to be a wakeup call to its youthful squad heading into the NCAA tournament.
Throughout their breathtaking season they produced victories over North Carolina, Baylor, Louisville, Kansas twice, and Florida three times - all teams who at least reached the Elite Eight.
Davis won Naismith player of the year, and broke Kentucky's single-season blocks record at the season's midpoint. His performance throughout the season was arguably one of the best for a freshman ever.
All five starters chipped in for at least 10 points per game, and three averaged at least seven rebounds a game. Kentucky's lone spark off the bench is no slouch either. Senior Darius Miller averaged nearly 10 points a game as well and is expected to be drafted.
Even with that, there are a few other programs in the past 50 years that would love to give Kentucky a run for their money.
The 2009 North Carolina crew has a firm argument. They returned three potential first round draft picks to compliment Tyler Hansbrough, but although he is widely considered to be one of the best college players ever, he is no Anthony Davis. Nor was Wayne Ellington or Danny Green comparable to Jones or Kidd-Gilchrist.
So what about the '76 Indiana squad (32-0), which is the most recent team to have an undefeated season and win the title? The dominance was there, but was the NBA talent? Scott May, Kent Benson, and Quinn Buckner are only lingering memories in the mind of a true sports guru.
Now we are left with any of the 10 UCLA Bruins teams to win a title. The Bruins' 1968 squad is considered to be the best my most and more specifically legendary coach John Wooden himself. That Bruins team had what I consider the greatest player in college basketball history, Lou Alcindor (a.k.a. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). After the '68 team won the title, Wooden was quoted saying, "I've never come out and said it, but it would be hard to pick a team over the '68 team." Strong words from a man who won 10 NCAA titles in a 12-year span with UCLA. But even that team only had two promising NBA players on it.
Player by player, there is no team in the history of college basketball that can match up with the talent this Kentucky team put out on the floor at each position. It achieved it all this year. It had the best player in the country, (will have) multiple first round draft picks, and most importantly, a National Championship and the rights to cut down the nets.
If by some miracle Calipari persuades his starting five to return for one more season and attempt to repeat as champions, you can bet a number of teams will throw in the towel before the season even begins.
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