The Decade's Best: 2-1

The 8 teams already listed were all very good teams, all deserving of their place in championship history. The two remaining teams just have that little extra to put them over the top. First, they both get bonuses for schedule strength, because their conferences were so stacked. Second, they both have NBA talent abounding. Two players from each team received the bonus points.

2.) 2004 UConn 33-6 (+11) Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon led the most complete team in the country to the title. Charlie Villanueva, Josh Boone, and the rest of the '04 Huskies receive bonuses for the bullseye factor, Gordon and Okafor's star power and conference strength, while their negative points for their 6 losses are the only thing separating them from our number 1 team...

1.) 2001 Duke 35-4 (+13) After going 29-5 in the 2000 season, Duke came into 2001 a little more mature and with a lot more expected of them. With National Players of the Year (different publications picked both) Shane Battier and Jason Williams leading the Blue Devils, it was championship or failure to Duke fans.

Although they were uber-talented, luck played a part as well. As I have been reminded, the tournament title game was not without controversy. Jason Williams had two first-half fouls and was allowed a very questionable no-call that could have saddled him with his third in the first half. Gilbert Arenas, Richard Jefferson, and Luke Walton's Wildcats were unable to overcome the Blue Devil onslaught and Duke cut down the nets for the third time in school history, winning 82-72.

In what some (Brad) call the weakest decade of NCAA tournament history, these 10 teams spanned the gap between star-studded and blue collar, from hard-nosed to finesse. Each one of them brought something different to the table, so forgive me if you think they should be placed differently!