Early in John Calipari’s tenure in Lexington, he proclaimed that Kentucky was the gold standard of college basketball.
According to Mark Story of the Herald-Leader, that is no longer the case. Story says the Kansas Jayhawks are now the gold standard in college hoops.
Here is an excerpt from Story’s article:
With Mike Krzyzewski in retirement, Kansas and Bill Self have, to coin a phrase, emerged as the “gold standard” among the primary men’s college hoops blue bloods — Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina.
(I would argue that Villanova, Connecticut and Gonzaga have in the 21st century become “new blood, blue bloods,” while Indiana and UCLA have fallen from the ranks of traditional blue bloods due to a lack of sustained, modern success. Those are, however, topics for a different column).
Among the four traditional blue bloods:
▪ Kansas has won the most total games over the past five seasons: 1. Kansas 137; 2. Duke 129; 3. Kentucky 112; 4. North Carolina 110.
▪ Kansas has won the most NCAA Tournament games over the past five seasons: 1. Kansas nine; 2. Duke eight; 3. North Carolina seven; 4. Kentucky four.
▪ Kansas has won the most total games over the past 10 seasons: 1. Kansas 284; 2. Duke 272; 3. Kentucky 264; 4. North Carolina 252.
▪ Kansas has won the second-most NCAA Tournament games over the past 10 seasons: 1. North Carolina 22; 2. Kansas 21; 3. Duke 20; 4. Kentucky 19.
▪ Kansas also has won the most recent NCAA championship: 1. Kansas 2022; 2. North Carolina 2017; 3. Duke 2015; 4. Kentucky 2012.
