ESPN is doing a countdown of the top college basketball programs of the 64-team era, which started in the 1984-85 season. The network is using some convoluted scoring system to determine the best team, and that was probably designed to put Duke and North Carolina as the top two. I kid, of course, or do I? Anyway, I have my own system in place, and I’m ready to rank the top ten as I see them.

Teams that just missed the cut: Arkansas, Louisville, Memphis, Purdue, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Florida and Syracuse.

10. Oklahoma Sooners

Believe me, I was as surprised to see Oklahoma jump some of these teams as you were. This is mainly because they were one of the best teams in the country throughout the 80s, then after the transition period between Billy Tubbs and Kelvin Sampson, they managed to stay near the top of their conference. When Sampson left to put Indiana on probation, Jeff Capel came in, and with his recruiting prowess, Oklahoma should stay on this list.

9. Georgetown Hoyas

Fun fact: Georgetown was a #1 seed more times in the 80s than any other team. They managed to stay in the tournament during most of the 90s, including a really nice run in the mid-90s with Allen Iverson. When John Thompson retired, the program went down, but when John Thompson III took over, it was restored. Like most of the teams at the bottom of this list, Final Fours are keeping them from being any higher.

8. Indiana Hoosiers

I’m probably giving these guys a hard time, but I can’t stand Indiana. They hit a downward spiral after 1993, and save for a miracle Final Four run in 2002, they haven’t gotten back to the level of basketball they played when Bob Knight was at his peak. Also, I can’t in good conscience put a school that hired Kelvin Sampson, knowing that he was doing illegal stuff at Oklahoma, too high on my list.

7. Michigan State Spartans

MSU fans can thank Tom Izzo for this. Sparty fielded a couple good teams in the 80s and 90s with Scott Skiles, Steve Smith and Shawn Respert, but they were hit or miss. It wasn’t until Izzo showed up that MSU became a perennial powerhouse. They’ve tailed off somewhat since the initial big run with the Flintstones, but with the recruiting class they have coming in, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them higher on the next list.

6. UCLA Bruins

This is a bit of a shock, but UCLA was very bad during most of the 80s, and they were inconsistent to awful in between their 1995 championship and Ben Howland’s first season. I applaud what they’ve been able to do and how they’ve been able to recruit with such a horrific style, but that isn’t good enough to offset some of the 80s years, and you could say the same thing about the end of the Steve Lavin tenure.

5. Arizona Wildcats

Two things put Arizona at #5: The tainted championship of 1997 and the consecutive tournament streak that they have had since the mid-80s. Those are enough to put them this high on the list. I know nobody has mastered the postseason collapse quite like Lute Olson, and the hiring of Kevin O’Neill was just atrocious, but they still have four Final Fours and a title, and I can’t take that away from them, as much as I want to take that title away.

4. Kentucky Wildcats

Yes, that’s right. We’re #4. I can’t put us ahead of either of the top 3 because of the probation of 1989, the mediocrity of the mid-80s and the Final Four drought after 1998. We’ve still won our fair share of games, but whether it’s Joe Hall, Eddie Sutton or Tubby Smith, it hasn’t translated to postseason success as much as I or anybody else would have liked. This will change after a couple of years, or I’m not Seth Stogsdill.

3. North Carolina Tar Heels

That’s right, Carolina is only #3. I knew who my #1 team would be as soon as I took on this project. In deciding between #2 and #3, I looked at each team’s worst period during the era. For the #2 team, the one year they missed the tournament was because of a sanction. For Carolina, they missed two tournaments because of incompetent recruiting (Bill Guthridge) and bad coaching (Matt Doherty). That’s worse than a sanction because that team on probation had some good players that would later go to a Final Four. I remember the Carolina team that lost 20 games. To say they sucked is an epic understatement.

2. Kansas Jayhawks

Kansas only has one less Final Four during this period than North Carolina. Kansas has put some good ones in the NBA, and they have two titles, just like North Carolina. I put Kansas ahead of Carolina, not just because of the crap that was the Guthridge/Doherty era, but also because Kansas hasn’t missed an NCAA Tournament since that sanction year of 1989, and most of those years, either under Roy Williams or Bill Self, they’ve been title contenders.

1. Duke Blue Devils

Yes, I hate Duke. Yes, I think Coach K has lost his recruiting mojo and relies too much on dorky white guys. Yes, I think the American Express commercial had nothing to do with a credit card and everything to do with a recruiting pitch by Duke University. Yes, Duke has three titles and ten Final Fours in this period of time, which is really what it’s all about.

That’s my list. ESPN’s list won’t look like this, but I don’t care because I value my own judgment a lot more than theirs.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, unless we don’t move up that list in a couple years, in which case I’m clearly not.