Few college basketball programs have hit Cincinnati's highs. Multiple national titles and Final Fours, legendary players and a bevy of conference crowns make the Bearcats among the all-time elite.

They've hit some lows, too. Cincinnati's endured some serious Big Dance drought and heartbreak through the years, not to mention its off-court issues.

Still, it's impossible to overlook how good the Bearcats have been. If not for its forgettable seasons between 1978 and Bob Huggins' arrival in 1989, Cincinnati likely would've been higher than No. 11 on the list of the greatest college basketball programs. (Having Sandy Koufax as a hoops recruit doesn't hurt the school's lore, either.)

First, the good stuff. Actually, it's really good stuff.

• Cincinnati reached five straight Final Fours from 1959-1963, including back-to-back titles in '61 and '62. Only UCLA and Duke have matched that run of success.
• Forty-five weeks atop the AP poll is fifth best in NCAA history.
• The Bearcats sport 24 NCAA tourney appearances and 22 regular-season conference titles and routinely fill the NBA with their players, six of whom have been consensus All-Americans.
• Few teams can match Cincy's recent success – 399 wins in 16 years under Bob Huggins – while winning 1,535 games (more than UConn or Villanova) at a .6301 clip (just behind Louisville) is pretty sweet.
• And any program that can point to Oscar Robertson as its best player deserves plenty of props – even if the "Big O" never did cut down the nets. But don't hold it against him. The three-time player of the year and All-American did nearly everything else during his three years in Cincinnati.

Robertson, a 6-5, 220 pound guard who could play any position, is considered one of the game's greatest players with good reason. He led the NCAA in scoring every season, averaging 33.8 ppg and was the career scoring leader until Pete Maravich came along.

He hit the boards – 15.2 a game – and got teammates involved – better than 7 assists an outing. His teams won, too. Cincy was 79-9 and reached back-to-back Final Fours during his three seasons.

Watching him on video now, it's clear Robertson was bigger, faster and stronger than most players, but he was also a smart, unselfish player who rarely coasted on his natural abilities. This excellent piece from longtime NBA reporter Sam Smith details Robertson's on- and off-court gifts.

If all that's not enough praise, his jersey was retired before he even left school, while the United States Basketball Writers Association annual award to the nation's best player is called the Oscar Robertson Trophy.

Still, it's amazing that the Bearcats were even better after Robertson left.

George Smith, who recruited Robertson and nearly every player behind Cincy's golden era, became the athletic director when Robertson left and promoted his assistant, Ed Jucker, to head coach. Cincy started 5-3, then ripped off 22 straight victories, including a national championship game victory against defending champion and in-state rival Ohio State.

If that start wasn't impressive enough, the Bearcats stretched their win streak to 37 games and capped the 1961-62 season with another title-game victory against Ohio State.

Jucker's crew had a chance at a three-peat, but lost to Loyola of Chicago in the 1963 title game, failing to maintain a 15-point lead in the second half.

However, that kind of success wore on Jucker, an intense, devoted and excitable coach. After the 1965 season, he retired with a 113-28 record, including an 11-1 mark in the Big Dance, still the NCAA standard.

"I hardly know my family," he said. "I have four children growing up who hardly know me. They have got to come first."

Jucker's departure didn't crush the program, but it failed to reach the same heights for quite some time. A short resurgence in the 1970s (three-straight NCAA berths) was just a blip until Huggins came to town.

He started fast, too. By his third season, he had the Bearcats in the Final Four, a glorious resurgence that established them as a perennial contender. Between 1993 and 2002, Cincinnati was a No. 2 or 3 seed seven times and averaged nearly 28 wins a season.

That success also brought hard falls. After the Final Four run, the Bearcats made it past the NCAA's opening weekend just three times during the rest of Huggins' tenure. Whether it was not meeting preseason expectations or bad luck (such as when national player of the year and future No. 1 NBA draft choice Kenyon Martin broke his leg before the NCAA tournament), Cincy couldn't get back to the Final Four.

Complicating things more were Huggins' clashes with the NCAA and players' off-court issues.

Huggins often defended the school's graduation rate – usually cited as zero, but not always the case – and seemingly had a player in trouble with the law every season.

As a result, the school had a rough image surrounding it. It won games, but wasn't upheld as an ideal program. That seemed to be confirmed in 1998 when the school lost three scholarships and was placed on probation for lack of institutional control.

When Huggins ran into troubles of his own in 2004, it signaled the beginning of the end for him at Cincinnati.

The school's missed the NCAA tourney ever since and has had one winning season post-Huggins. Cincy should recover, though. It's not the first time it's had to replace a hoops icon.

Next Tuesday, No. 10 on the list of greatest programs.

No. 12, Utah.

No. 13: Villanova.

No. 14: Illinois.

No. 15: Michigan State.

No. 16: Georgetown.

No. 17: Arkansas.

No. 18: Ohio State.

No. 19: St. John's.

No. 20: UNLV.

No. 21: Texas.

No. 22: Notre Dame.

No. 23: Temple.

No. 24: Oklahoma.

No. 25: N.C. State.   

Everyone loves rankings. Whether it's the AP, coaches, the nation's top colleges, weekend box office results or the best Donkey Kong player ever, people love 'em.

Especially when it comes to sports rankings.

People want to see how their favorite team or player compares to everyone else. They want to argue about placement, ranking methodology or how they could change. They'll commiserate about a perceived bias or revel in a result.

And, after 15 installments of ranking the greatest college basketball programs, it was awesome to see ESPN's Prestige Rankings this week.

For those that haven't seen it, the simple version is that ESPN weighted 21 categories of hoops success – and failure – and ranked the top 300 teams in what they termed the "modern era," or when the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams for the 1984-85 season.

(There's far more involved than just that when it comes to breaking everything down, so click here for more.)

Anyway, the results had some surprises – it was a small surprise to see Michigan State out of the top 10 and seeing St. John's still in the top 40 – but after culling all the numbers for my rankings, not a lot.

As for everyone else on the net, the reaction was mostly small grumblings, but not much more.

The biggest gripe – not surprisingly – was Duke at No. 1. There was mention of ESPN just wanting to focus attention on their TV coverage or hype up Duke and Carolina.

But that's just the nature of rankings. People take issue with your methodology or the parameters (in ESPN's case, the era involved) and cut loose.

Still, that's the point, right? Get people reading and talking about it? That's the best part of rankings, no matter how they might fall.

Nearly every team on this top 25 list of the greatest college basketball programs comes from a BCS conference: The Big Ten, ACC, Big East, Big 12, SEC or Pac-10. Those schools usually receive more media exposure, tend to draw highly touted prospects and feature plenty of big-name coaches.

So what to make of the schools on the list that aren't from a BCS conference?

What to make of Utah, which lands at No. 12 on this list?

Simply put, the Utes have been one college basketball's most consistent and most impressive winners since the 1920s. (Click here for an impressive run of video highlights and here for an impressive list of players on the school's all-century team.)

Compare the Utes' 1,613 victories and .6554 win percentage to a school like Indiana, one of the NCAA's legendary powerhouses. The Hoosiers have just 22 more victories, won at a .6493 clip.

Also on an impressive hoops résumé:

• Utah is among the handful of schools that have won an NCAA title (1944) and an NIT crown ('47).
• Only Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Penn have more regular-season conference championships than the Utes' 31.
• Utah's 26 NCAA appearances are more than Georgetown, Michigan State or Ohio State. Its four Final Four appearances are equal to Arizona and Syracuse.
• The Utes have had six players as consensus All-Americans, including three since 1997 in Keith Van Horn, Andre Miller and Andrew Bogut. Bogut also was the player of the year in 2005.
• And few teams racked up wins the way Utah did in the early- and mid-90s under coach Rick Majerus.

It's enough to make some wonder if Utah should really be part of the Pac-10, rather than the Mountain West. That kind of success isn't normal for a non-BCS team, but it's not surprising coming from Utah.

When Majerus was hired in 1989, the Utes were already a school with a proud hoops tradition. Jack Gardner left Kansas State – with two Final Four berths already to his credit – for Utah in 1953, because of the program Vadal Peterson built. Between 1927 (Peterson's first year) and 1971 (Gardner's last) Utah claimed 13 conference titles, reached three Final Fours and won those NCAA and NIT titles. That's an impressive run for any school.

Peterson, still Utah's all-time winningest coach, was the guiding force behind those two titles, while Arnie Ferrin, a four-time All-American (also a future Utah athletic director and soon-to-be-inductee into the hoops hall of fame) was the driving force behind those teams.

Oddly enough, that NCAA title almost didn't happen.

Utah turned down the NCAA's offer to play in the 1944 tournament, opting instead for the NIT, which was the more prestigious tourney at the time. An opening-round loss to Kentucky (a continual postseason opponent through the years) ended that tourney, but when Arkansas withdrew from the NCAAs, the Utes jumped at the chance to be a replacement.

Their overtime win against Dartmouth remains one of the school's proudest moments, though it was capped soon after during a Red Cross benefit game against NIT champion St. John's. Ferrin stole the show in a 43-36 victory, which effectively put Utah atop the hoops nation.

Three years later, Utah beat Kentucky in the NIT championship game.

The Gardner era began a few years later. His fast-breaking teams were a postseason mainstay, which was no easy feat in those days. Utah's best showings were a couple of Sweet 16 seasons (sporting records of 24-4 and 26-3) until 1961 when it ran all the way to the Final Four and lost to eventual champion Cincinnati.

That team featured one of the school's first dominant big men in Billy McGill, who would be the top pick in the 1962 NBA draft. Gardner needed players like McGill to compete in Utah, let alone on the national stage. Both BYU and Southern Utah featured competitive teams, but Gardner's attention to detail and willingness to recruit outside of the state proved to be big advantages.

A return trip to the Final Four in 1966 established Gardner as the first coach in NCAA history to take two different schools to two Final Fours, but Utah lost to eventual champion Texas Western.

Pimm's teams didn't have the same NCAA tournament success of the Peterson and Gardner squads, though they were no less talented. The 1981 team started the season 21-1 and featured future NBA players in Tom Chambers and Danny Vranes, but lost to North Carolina in the Sweet 16.

And once Majerus arrived, things really started to resemble the 40s and 50s.

The Utes finished 30-4 and reached the Sweet 16 in Majerus' second season, the second round two years later, then went on a tear, averaging 26 victories a season, winning seven consecutive regular-season titles (he would win 10 during his tenure) and snagging at least one victory in the Big Dance each year.

And if not for Kentucky, Utah might've had even more to show for this era. The 'Cats – who, along with Duke, were the dominant program of the '90s – beat the Utes in the NCAA tourney in '93, '96, '97 and '98.

Kentucky went to the Final Four in each of those seasons – and beat the Utes for the '98 crown. But that Utah team nearly pulled off one of the great upsets in college hoops history.

After Miller's triple-double against Arizona sent Utah to the Final Four, the Utes stunned North Carolina, which featured lottery picks and all-ACC players in Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter. Of course, Utah feature lottery picks of its own in Miller and Michael Doleac, but few expected Utah to actually pull off the win.

It established the Utes as the smart, lovable underdog and cemented Majerus' reputation as a big-time coach (though some of his faults have surfaced recently). Even blowing a 10-point halftime lead to Kentucky in the championship didn't hamper the program. It continued to win and attract star players (like Bogut), though the last three seasons have been tough.

Under new coach Jim Boylen, Utah finally got back to the postseason (even if it was the CBI) and figures to be among the Mountain West's contenders. A program like this can't stay down for long.

Next Tuesday, No. 11 on the list of greatest programs.

No. 13: Villanova.

No. 14: Illinois.

No. 15: Michigan State.

No. 16: Georgetown.

No. 17: Arkansas.

No. 18: Ohio State.

No. 19: St. John's.

No. 20: UNLV.

No. 21: Texas.

No. 22: Notre Dame.

No. 23: Temple.

No. 24: Oklahoma.

No. 25: N.C. State. 

Any mention of Villanova basketball always circles back to the 1985 national champions. It just can't be helped.

That Wildcats team pulled off one of college hoops' most memorable upsets, beating defending national champion Georgetown, a squad analysts had been trying to place among the all-time greats. The 'Cats made 90 percent of their field-goal attempts in the second half, and shot nearly 80 percent for the game, a remarkable feat on the national stage.

It could go on and on (in fact, more later). But that's the point. Villanova has more hoops lore than just than '85 team.

• 'Nova will hit 1,500 wins next season, placing it ahead of UConn and Michigan State, while its .634 win percentage is higher than Cincinnati and Georgetown.
• The Wildcats' 29 NCAA tourney berths are 10^th most all-time.
• They've won more than 60 percent of their games in the Big Dance, better than Illinois and Arkansas.
• Villanova's always been good in the NIT (no matter the era) and it's produced a healthy number of NBA players.

The 'Cats are another example of sustained excellence (they're one of two programs to play in the Big Dance in each decade) and recent success to pair with a strong tradition. Add it up, and Villanova is No. 13 on the list of the greatest college basketball programs.

So, instead of focusing only on that '85 team, let's start at the beginning. After all, 'Nova may have one of the biggest NCAA tourney wins, but it also has the first.

Under coach Al Severance (whose 413 wins are the most in school history), the Wildcats snagged that first win (it was against Brown), played in four NCAA tourneys, helped establish Philadelphia's Big Five tradition in 1955 (and played some classic games against former Palestra co-habitant St. Joe's in the process) and featured the best player to ever put on a Wildcats uniform, Philly native Paul Arizin.

Arizin, who died in 2006 at the age of 78, played for La Salle High School in Philly, served in the Marine Corps and enrolled at 'Nova in 1946. The story goes that Severance saw the 6-foot-4 Arizin shooting jumpers in the gym and promptly got him on the team.

Is the story true? Who knows? What matters is that Arizin was amazing. He torched Navy for 85 points in 1949 – still a Philly-area record – and was revolutionary with his one-handed jump shot, a skill few players featured then.

"It came by accident," Arizin would recall many years later in an interview with The Christian Science Monitior. "Some of our games were played on dance floors. It became quite slippery. When I tried to hook, my feet would go out from under me, so I jumped. I was always a good jumper. My feet weren't on the floor, so I didn't have to worry about slipping. The more I did it, the better I became. Before I knew it, practically all of my shots were jump shots."

After Arizin, Villanova continued to produce good players, notably Larry Hennessy and Bob Schafer. And 'Nova continued its winning ways under new coach Jack Kraft, who guided the team to its second Final Four berth in 1971 behind the brilliant play of three-time All-American Howard Porter.

'Nova's "Iron Men" finished the season 27-9, crushed a previously unbeaten Penn team 90-47 in the NCAA tourney and gave UCLA a scare in the championship game, losing 68-62 – the closest any team came to dethroning the Bruins during their seven-year title run. The "mesmerizing" Porter was named the tourney's most outstanding player, a rare feat for a player from the runner-up.

Yet it wasn't a happy ending. Porter had signed a contract with the ABA's Pittsburgh Condors during his senior year. That rules violation cost Porter his MOP and the NCAA vacated 'Nova's Final Four appearance.

(Porter later drifted into a failed NBA career and drug use, but by '89 he had cleaned himself up. When he died from injuries sustained during a beating in Minneapolis, memories of Porter detailed the life of a supremely gifted player who never did quite recover from that error in his senior year.)

Rollie Massimino took over the program in 1973, started to thrive in the late '70s and early '80s (notably with cool Rory Sparrow at the helm). His teams won five Big East regular-season titles, thriving during the league's initial years.

But nothing ever came close to '85.

Seeded eighth in the first year of the NCAA tournament's expansion to 64 teams, the Wildcats beat Dayton (at Dayton), stunned top-seeded Michigan, scooted past Maryland and No. 2 seed UNC before surprising Memphis State in the Final Four.

With Big East rival Georgetown looming in the championship, Massimino's squad had already lost two close games to the Hoyas, but were "nearly perfect" in their 66-64 victory. (For perspective, the Hoyas were no slouches themselves. They made 55 percent of their 53 field-goal attempts, hardly a poor performance.)

The game turned Massimino into a 'Nova icon, made Final Four MOP Ed Pinckney into an NBA lottery pick (talking about the win "never gets old" for him) and established the Wildcats as one of the memorable hoops underdogs.

(For a fabulous recap on that season and what followed, click here.)

Under Steve Lappas and current coach Jay Wright, Villanova has been one of the consistent title contenders (Big East player of the year Kerry Kittles was a personal fave), most recently with the 2005-06 squad that featured a three-guard attack of Randy Foye, Allan Ray and Kyle Lowry that was ousted in the Elite Eight by eventual national champ Florida.

With star guard Scottie Reynolds (no scoring slouch himself), 'Nova is the premier hoops destination in Philly, a hoops hotbed all its own. (Indeed, if Massimino had paid more attention to the Philly prep players, he might still be at 'Nova).

Phillys a town that loves its pro teams, but Villanova is a college where the rules don't apply, says Soft Pretzel Logic's Jonathan Tannenwald. Credit for that goes to Wright, a natty dresser and even better coach.

"Kids want to play in that kind of environment," Tanenwald says.

And that kind of environment makes for great hoops.

Coming next week: No. 12 on the list of greatest programs.

No. 14: Illinois.

No. 15: Michigan State.

No. 16: Georgetown.

No. 17: Arkansas.

No. 18: Ohio State.

No. 19: St. John's.

No. 20: UNLV.

No. 21: Texas.

No. 22: Notre Dame.

No. 23: Temple.

No. 24: Oklahoma.

No. 25: N.C. State. 

Lute Olson isn't going to recruit one-and-done type players anymore?

Yeah, right.

It's easy to understand Olson's frustration. When your best player bolts after one season and an incoming recruit decides to play in Europe instead, that'd make anyone cranky. (Nevermind that Olson must be feeling a little more apprehension than normal about the upcoming season. A self-imposed one-year leave of absence can do that.)

But essentially announcing that you won't recruit the country's best players sounds farfetched, especially when Arizona's always featured star guards and wings.

As coaches hit the recruiting road throughout July, they're all on the lookout for a player that will make their team better. Some of those players are glue guys and role players. Some are reliable four-year players who may eventually be stars. And some are future NBA players who aren't likely to stay in school very long.

Coaches want all of those players. And to say that a high-profile school like Arizona won't go after the stars is just unbelievable. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim – who's had his share of one-and-dones, including Carmelo Anthony – said as much.

"We don't know who's going to go," Boeheim told the L.A. Times. "You try to get the best 11 players you can. Guys will leave . . . it's a fact of life . . . but you still have 10 guys. When we recruit, we try to get the best one we can and hope he's good enough to win you a national championship, like Carmelo Anthony. But you have to be prepared for guys leaving, like Carmelo did."

Jerryd Bayless was just the latest guard to light it up for the 'Cats. Brandon Jennings would have been the next. Olson may not have a freshman or sophomore on his roster like that next season, but he still has future NBA players on it.

Chase Budinger came to Arizona slated as a one-and-done player. (Brandon Rush was the same way at Kansas.) But he's back for his junior season in Tucson and will be one of the country's best players. Once he does head to the NBA, Olson will have to have someone of Budinger's caliber to step in or the odds of Arizona isn't likely to remain an elite program.

Of course, Olson could change his stance. He'll turn 74 in September and wants to stay at Arizona through his contract, which runs through 2011. Olson's always been a winner, but winning in today's game without elite talent would be a remarkable coaching feat, even for him.

No team on the list of the 25 greatest college basketball programs is underrated. They've all been considered an elite team or been consistently good throughout the years.

But some simply get more attention than the others. And some can get outright overlooked.

Which brings us to No. 14 on this list, Illinois.

The Illini are ranked the highest of six teams in this top 25 without an NCAA tournament title (they also have the most Final Four berths among schools without a crown). Also, they stunk last season, which never helps in this age of short-term memory.

Still, this list is recognition of college hoops history that acknowledges success in several areas, not just winning it all. And that sums up the Illini perfectly.

• Illinois has more wins in school history than Arizona, UConn or Cincinnati and has a better overall win percentage than Arkansas, Villanova and every other Big Ten school. Yes, even better than Indiana and Michigan State.
• The Illini's five Final Fours are one behind the Spartans' six, but Illinois also scores big thanks to 27 NCAA tourney appearances, 17 Big Ten conference titles and a host of NBA players produced (slightly fewer than Duke or St. John's).
• Illinois players have been named consensus All-Americans six times and the Illini's 17 weeks atop the rankings are more than Georgetown or Arkansas.

That kind of résumé is more than enough to land in the top 15. And at some point, it seems likely that Illinois will break through for that long-awaited title.

After all, they've been on the cusp several times.

The first frustration – though it wasn't seen that way at the time – was during the 1942-43 season. At 17-1 and 12-0 in the Big Ten, Illinois would've been a lock for an NCAA berth and one of the favorites to win.

Except for one thing. The team's "Whiz Kids" elected to enlist in World War II rather than play hoops. Would Illinois have won? Perhaps. National champ Wyoming was 31-2 that season, but Illini fans have been wondering about the possibilities ever since.

Under Harry Combes, a legendary Illinois high school coach, the Illini claimed third place in the NCAA tournament in four seasons – twice losing to eventual national champ Kentucky.

They won 316 games in Combes' 20 seasons, but could never break through.

When the Lou Henson era began in the mid-70s, the Illini always had talented teams, but seemed stuck behind Indiana in the Big Ten (or Purdue, or Michigan State, or Michigan; the Big Ten always featured a multitude of title contenders).

When Henson's famed 'Flyin' Illini' " squad ran its way to a 31-4 record and a spot in the 1989 Final Four, that seemed like the Illini's year. With future NBA players on the roster like Kendall Gill, Nick Anderson, Marcus Liberty and Kenny Battle, Illinois was a blast to watch and a nightmare for opponents.

Yet, it couldn't get past eventual national champ Michigan in the Final Four (the Wolverines also were loaded with NBA talent in Glen Rice, Loy Vaught, Terry Mills and Sean Higgins).

Henson never reached another Final Four, though he did win enough games to have the street outside Assembly Hall named after him and make a strong case as a Hall of Fame coach.

After solid seasons under Lon Kruger and Bill Self, Illinois again reached the cusp in 2004-05 with its marvelous 37-2 runner-up squad. BillBruce Weber was named coach of the year for taking a team few expected to be this good and turning them into one of the best single-season teams we've seen recently.

Behind its three-guard attack of Dee Brown, Luther Head and future NBA star Deron Williams, Weber's team tied an NCAA mark for wins in a season before losing the title game to a UNC team loaded with NBA talent. Who knew '89 would repeat itself?

Both teams will be entrenched in Illini fans' mind for some time. During Illinois' run to the '05 title game, people wanted to compare the '89 team vs. '05. The toughest part of the comparison? Both talented groups fell short of their goal.

But falling short shouldn't cause Illinois to be overlooked on a list like this. If anything, the Illini's stature will only rise when that elusive title does come.

Next Tuesday: No. 13 on the list of greatest programs.

No. 15: Michigan State.

No. 16: Georgetown.

No. 17: Arkansas.

No. 18: Ohio State.

No. 19: St. John's.

No. 20: UNLV.

No. 21: Texas.

No. 22: Notre Dame.

No. 23: Temple.

No. 24: Oklahoma.

No. 25: N.C. State.  

The Brandon Jennings watch continues.

Jennings, the McDonald's All-American point guard, is still waiting to see if he'll be ruled eligible for next season after taking his third SAT. Those scores won't be released until July 11^th. And all of those delays just brew even more talk about Jennings possibly playing in Europe next season.

It's like the Brett Favre un-retirement talk, but for us hoops junkies…

Quick back story on Jennings: He's a B student at Oak Hill (Va.), but has had to take the SAT three times. The first time the score wasn't high enough to qualify him academically for Arizona. The second was high enough, but he told ESPN he was red-flagged because of the extreme jump in his scores, thus the third test.

As Jennings waited, the debate began about what was best for him – should he bolt the U.S. to play in Europe? The usual answer was no.

Mike DeCourcy's Sporting News analysis gives all the pertinent details (it wouldn't be lucrative or help his draft stock), while Doug Gottlieb spares no feelings as to why he'd be foolish to go (he's not a European-style point guard, he turns the ball over too much, he's too short, etc), though both admit it would improve Jennings as a player because it would help him gain experience.

And both say it would hurt his draft stock, without question. (Especially since he wouldn't benefit from the exposure that comes with playing at Arizona.)

The more interesting thing to me? That he could be a Kevin Garnett, of sorts.

Good piece here from AOL Fanhouse about Jennings serving as a test case for future prospects. Namely, if Jennings goes to Europe, thrives and sees his draft stock soar as a result, future prospects would do the same thing, just like when Garnett's moderate NBA success as a rookie didn't close the door for future prep-to-pro players.

If that happens, get ready for two things: More players following Jennings' lead and ESPN showing more European games in the future.

Gotta love the names from Michigan State hoops. Magic and Mateen. Jud and Izzo. Smooth Steve Smith. Shootin' Shawn Respert. The Izzone.

There was plenty of game behind those names, making it easy to place the Spartans at No. 15 on the list of the greatest college basketball programs.

MSU's been to six Final Fours (more than Georgetown or Cincinnati), has won 67 percent of its NCAA tournament games (better than Indiana), has logged 22 appearances in the Big Dance, has 10 regular-season conference titles to go with 1,418 wins, more than its fair share of great NBA players and hasn't missed an NCAA tourney since 1997.

And probably most memorable, they've cut down the nets twice in the NCAAs – the first of which vaulted the NCAA tournament into must-see TV.

Much has been written of Magic Johnson's Spartans beating Larry Bird's Indiana State Sycamores, usually as the start of a wonderful rivalry, which always elevates that 1979 title game ever higher. Watching it again, it's not an especially dramatic game. The Spartans defense negated a struggling Bird and Magic ran the show much the way he did for the Lakers later on – with ease and flair.

Still, it's tough to ever talk about MSU hoops without talking about that talented squad. After a 25-5 record and a spot in the Elite Eight the season before, pundits thought MSU would be a contender (Magic, then known simply as Earvin, was on SI's cover). Three players from that title team – Magic, Greg Kelser and Jay Vincent – have had their jerseys retired. The school's only done that for five other players.

Simply put, Jud Heathcote's crew set a standard that would be tough for any MSU team to match, even with stars on the roster.

• Scott Skiles took MSU to a 23-8 mark and a Sweet 16 in 1986.
• Smith bettered that four years later when the Spartans snagged their first No. 1 seed in the NCAA tourney, a spot in the Sweet 16 and a 28-6 record (not that he'd ever brag about it).
• Respert – among the NCAA's career scoring leaders –is the only Spartan with a player of the year award to his name, but never made it past the NCAA's second round.

Indeed, MSU seemed to be cursed when it came to March. A 1986 loss to Kansas was marred by a shot-clock mix-up that helped the Jayhawks reach the Final Four. After escaping in 1990 vs. 16-seed Murray State (still the only time a No. 1 seed has gone to overtime in the opening round), Georgia Tech sent a game with Sparty into OT on a Kenny Anderson shot, which replays showed was launched after time expired. Another Final Four chance, gone.

When Heathcote retired in 1995 after five decades of basketball, he established Michigan State as a  defensive-oriented team that no one wanted to play. It made sense that his successor and longtime assistant, Tom Izzo, would continue that thread.

But who knew Izzo would take the program to new heights?

After a couple of .500 seasons, MSU took off. The Spartans won 115 games in four years, reached three Final Fours and won a title in 2000 with one of the most complete, physically tough teams the game's seen in the last 15 years.

To play Michigan State around the turn of the century meant losing the rebounding battle (I can't do this justice, so I'll let spartansweblog give the details) and trying to contain one of the game's great floor leaders in Mateen Cleaves.

Cleaves, who took MSU "to another level during his four years," missed the first 13 games of the championship season with a stress fracture in his right foot. It's no coincidence that four of the Spartans' seven losses that season came when he was out.

After the title, Michigan State reached Final Fours in '01 and '05 and an Elite Eight in '03. Izzo's teams earned a reputation for thriving in the NCAAs, which helped establish them as one of the country's premier programs – no small feat for a school vying against the likes of Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina.

Next season will bring high expectations to East Lansing. Sure, MSU was 27-9 and reached the Sweet 16 – Izzo's 7^th since '98 – but fans want a spot as a "super-elite" program.

Actually, the Spartans are already there.

Next Tuesday: No. 14 on the list of greatest programs.

No. 16: Georgetown.

No. 17: Arkansas.

No. 18: Ohio State.

No. 19: St. John's.

No. 20: UNLV.

No. 21: Texas.

No. 22: Notre Dame.

No. 23: Temple.

No. 24: Oklahoma.

No. 25: N.C. State.