[Comey]

The National Landscape

While I plan on not breaking the fourth wall too often, there should be a look at how the nation shapes up as this enters the 1982-83 season.

100 Prestige Teams (4)

NC State
Southern California
Texas A&M
Western Kentucky

Oregon (98)
BYU (97)
UTEP (96)
Austin Peay (93)
Baylor (93)
Eastern Kentucky (93)
Maryland (91)

California (87)
Virginia (87)
Arizona (85)
SMU (85)
UCLA (84)
Texas Tech (83)
Kansas (82)
Washington (82)
Princeton (76)

Those can be considered the most consistent programs in the country. Four conferences, the ACC, Ohio Valley, Pac-8, and WAC have the highest prestige. The Ivy League and Southwest Conference are on the next tier. There are 73 Independents, a figure that may or may not change over the course of time.

The best teams in history could be the 1950-51 UCLA Bruins, which went 34-0 and won the championship by 20 over San Francisco. Or it could be the UCLA Bruins of the following season, which also went 34-0. Several teams have entered the tournament undefeated since, but have not won the title. A few teams have been one-loss champions, including the 1953-54 UCLA team (their four-year run was 133-2, and both losses were to Dayton, one in the 1953 Final Four, the other the following season). North Carolina went 38-1 and beat Nebraska 85-59 for the 1970-71 championship. Kansas went 36-1 the following season, beating BYU 83-57. Texas A&M went 36-1 the next season, beating Kansas 94-91.

Most recently, Western Kentucky put forth a dominant run of 136-13 over four years, including a NCAA title and a loss in the title game. The Ohio Valley Conference is the hot conference in the nation, playing home to Western Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky, the best rivalry in the nation, an all-OVC title game (WKU crushed Tennessee Tech), and the current defending NCAA champs, Austin Peay.

Texas A&M may be the current dynasty overall, with three straight FInal Fours. Kansas State reached four straight Final Fours from 1964-67. UCLA is the current king, with five straight from 1950-54, and six in seven years.

In terms of wins, UNC has 914 wins (914-199); WKU (897) and NC State (894) will reach 900 this year. UTEP (873) could with a solid season. Kansas has been to more Sweet Sixteens (25) than anyone (UTEP has 23, UNC and NC State with 22). Kansas has also been to more Final Fours than anyone, with 12. UTEP and UNC have been to 11, while UCLA has been to ten. North Carolina and UCLA both have six titles, while UTEP has four. Texas A&M and Kansas both have three. Nobody else has more than one. That group includes WKU, BYU, Austin Peay, Baylor, Clemon, Kansas State, Penn, Arkansas, Dayton, and Jacksonville (who has only advanced to the Sweet Sixteen once, and parlayed that 1956 run into a legendary title run).

Alabama has three NIT titles, while American and Vandy have two.

There are two tournaments, a 64-team NCAA and a 32-team NIT. The NCAA was a 32-team tournament until roughly 1960.

Last point: Nobody is allowed to declare. Everyone stays. I prefer dynasties and seeing players grow. I like those stories more.

And now, on with the show.