ESPN Ranks Louisville Basketball As 6th Best Program In the Last 50 Years

Using a point system devised by the ESPN Stats & Information department, ESPN.com is counting down the 50 most successful basketball programs of the past 50 years. The University of Louisville program came in at #6. Click here for an explanation of the scoring system. Below is an excerpt. Here is a running list of the 6-50 rankings.

6. Louisville (547 points)

Positives: Won a pair of national titles in the 1980s; also made six other Final Fours; 21 regular-season conference titles; five first-team consensus All-Americans; nine top-10 picks.

Negatives: Lost 10 points due to sanctions; hasn’t reached the national championship game in 26 years; had an eight-year stretch without a conference title (1996-03).

Fun fact: Louisville received negative points in just three of the 50 seasons in this study.

Rank by the decade 
1962-69: 48 (19th)
1970-79: 116 (8th)
1980-89: 194 (3rd)
1990-99: 75 (23rd)
2000-present: 114 (19th)

50 in 50 starting five (1962-present)

G – Darrell Griffith (1976-80)
G – DeJuan Wheat (1993-97)
F – Rodney McCray (1979-83)
F/C – Pervis Ellison (1985-89)
C – Wes Unseld (1965-68)

Top options off the bench
Butch Beard (1966-69)
Derek Smith (1979-82)
Milt Wagner (1981-86)

50 in 50 coach: Denny Crum (1971-2001)

Best teams (1962-present)
1979-80 (33-3, NCAA national champions)
1982-83 (32-4, NCAA national semifinals)
1985-86 (32-7, NCAA national champions)