2. 1996 Kentucky
The 1996 Kentucky and the 2012 Kentucky team’s are probably interchangeable here.
Both were extremely dominant, full of NBA talent, coached by legends, lost in the SEC Championship game, and only suffered two losses on the season.
But I gave the nod to the ’96 Wildcats due to their dominance in the NCAA tournament.
Down the stretch they didn’t really have a scare, which is unheard of during the Big Dance.
With an average margin of victory of 21.5 points per game in the tournament, Kentucky took care of business when the lights were the brightest.
Led by Tony Delk, Antoine Walker and a prime Rick Pitino, the Wildcats went 34-2 which included a 27-game winning streak.
Often forgotten for his less than stellar NBA career, Delk was a first team All-American, SEC Player of the Year, and the 1996 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
“The Untouchables” as they were called, included a future nine NBA players: Derek Anderson, Tony Delk, Walter McCarty, Ron Mercer, Nazr Mohammed, Mark Pope, Jeff Sheppard, Wayne Turner, and Antoine Walker.
The legacy of this Kentucky team is tough to match. As the Preseason favorite, they delivered expectations and did it without breaking a sweat.
The only thing keeping them from the top spot is that they didn’t do it twice.