Rivals.com has ranked the top 10 college basketball teams of the 64-team NCAA Tournament era. Topping the list are the 1990 UNLV Rebels, who compiled a 35-5 record and stomped Duke 103-73 in an NCAA finals that bored the hell out of everyone outside of Las Vegas.
The 1994 national champion Arkansas Razorbacks are ranked No. 8 on the list. In the accompanying profile of the team, former Duke star Grant Hill gushes, "I remember watching the film of Arkansas as we prepared to play them and seeing all the weapons they had. You realized they could embarrass you. They were the kind of team that could blow you out." Did I mention that I’ve always liked Grant Hill? (Of course, Arkansas did anything but embarrass the Blue Devils in that year’s tournament finals, as the two battled to the end, setting the stage for Scotty Thurman's late-game heroics and the Razorbacks’ One Shining Moment.)
I didn’t leave the list feeling all fuzzy and gooey inside, though. Ranked one spot ahead of the Hogs is the team that foiled their attempt at back-to-back titles and a little slice of hoops history: the evil 1995 UCLA Bruins. Thurman, for one, doesn't give his victorious opponent too much credit, telling Rivals.com, "If we had played our best ball, we would have won easy."
Let go of your pain, Scotty - and when you do, let me know how you did it.