UK Men’s Basketball Ranked No. 1 All-Time Program by Associated Press

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The “greatest tradition in the history of college basketball” and the nation’s all-time leader in wins and NCAA Tournament victories has a new descriptor it can add to its storied name: the best all-time team in college basketball.

That’s according to the Associated Press.

The AP, using a formula of its all-time polls, determined Wednesday, March 29, that UK is the top program in the sport, ranking UK ahead of bluebloods North Carolina, Duke, UCLA and Kansas – in that order.

To determine the all-time Top 100, the AP used a formula that counted poll appearances (one point each) to mark consistency and No. 1 rankings (two points each). The list focuses on those programs that consistently appear in the poll and/or are at the top during the regular seasons.

The AP has been ranking teams in its week-by-week polls since January 1949. A total of 200 schools have been ranked in more than 1,100 polls by the AP throughout the 68 years of its rankings.

According to the AP, UK has appeared in 75.37 percent of all of its polls with its first appearance on Jan. 18, 1949. The Wildcats have been ranked No. 1 a total of 124 times, third most all-time.

The AP lists the 1950s as Kentucky’s best decade with the Wildcats appearing in 89.63 percent of the polls. The 1990s were a close second, as UK appeared in 89.33 percent of the rankings during that period.

A testament to Kentucky’s consistent success, the schools has missed appearing at least once in the polls for only three seasons (1952-53, 1988-89 and 1989-90) during the 68-year history of the poll, the fewest poll-less seasons of any program, according to the AP.

Kentucky leads college basketball with 2,237 all-time wins in addition to a nation-leading 124 NCAA Tournament victories. The Wildcats are among the country’s leaders in national championships (eight) and Final Four appearances (17).