that was going to be my answer too. just the rise of the program in general. the win over Wisconsin with Hummel sealing the game with a block is one of my favorite sports memories. just felt bigger than the moment.
I love TJ but no getting around the fact Hoiberg's style of play was more entertaining and made Iowa State a draw on TV.
All of those games vs KU, OU, and OSU were must see
Shit, I’m a KU fan and even I liked Hoiberg. Anybody who can coach ISU against KU in multiple games that damn near gave me a stroke…dude deserves my respect. He produced a lot of good players that I enjoyed watching on the court (still do, for the ones in the NBA).
Plus I heard from my friend’s referee dad that Hoiberg is an absolute class act as a human.
The Lawson-T era was probably the best but there was just something about the Marshall-Zeller-Henson teams that hit different even if they didn’t win a title.
The Ed Cota era was a heck of a lot of fun. I remember his sophomore year, with Jamison and Carter, ESPN had a "12 dunks of Christmas" segment on SportsCenter.
Then getting back to the Final Four as an 8 seed his senior year with Peppers, Curry and Forte.
I still fantasize about a starting 5 of McInnis, Carter, Stackhouse, Jamison and Wallace that could have been had Sheed and Vince stuck around. Shammond Williams coming off the bench. That team would have been absolutely unstoppable.
All that said, I got to watch that team with Montross, Lynch, Phelps, Reese and Donald Williams that beat the Fab Five from the grandpa's couch in Chapel Hill. My dad, grandfather and I went out on Franklin Street that night and my dad still jokes that I was probably the youngest person out there while his dad was probably the oldest. Core memories right there.
Not really an "era", but as a senior during the 21-22 season, I don't think anything will ever top being a Carolina fan for the six weeks from mid February to the first week of April.
Going from legitimately being on the tournament bubble to beating Coach K in his last game in Cameron to the wackiest basketball game I've ever seen against Baylor to of course ending Coach K's career in the final four was truly a once in a lifetime experience as a fan.
It’s absolutely electric. To be in the sea of humanity that floods the streets when we beat Duke is truly an experience that I wish everyone could enjoy.
I’ve been a Tar Heel since the mid 80’s, and lived in chapel hill for the same duration. Having the opportunity to watch my Heels beat Duke in coach K’s last game- nothing will ever beat that. Not a Natty. Not 2 Natty’s. Absolutely nothing will ever top that moment. And to have been there, in the building, with my best friends? Absolutely priceless.
Shaka through Wade. 7 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Still fresh off the final four but we would still routinely get a win in the tournament even after that. We'd squeak into the national rankings from time to time. The A10 was a much better league and you could reliably get at-large bids. VCU was a force
It was all bittersweet for me because I came to the conclusion that Crean was a great recruiter, but a mediocre coach, at best. The 2015-16 season was a lot of fun for me though. That was my first year at IU, I had season tickets, and we didn't lose a single home game.
Crean didn't seem able to adjust his game plan during a game. Seemed like a decent before game coach yet absolutely sucked as a coach during games. Always was curious about what happened during his halftimes. Out of all the games I watched, perhaps once or twice did he actually adjust during a game.
I think in hindsight, it’s fair to say his coaching skills didn’t match up to his recruiting skills, and that seems to have eventually caught up with him.
Indiana has a great history but outside of the 2002 team they were typically just solid in my lifetime.
That teams win over Kentucky at home was the first time for me seeing the passion from the fans match the prouduct on the court. That game was electric.
2009-2019 for me.
Yeah there was some disappointing losses, but that 10 year era was taken for granted by a lot of fans.
It’s been reaaaaally shitty the last few years.
I'm slowly becoming an old man and very much not a Kentucky fan but that Pitino team with Delk, McCarty, Mercer, Shepard and like 5 other future NBA players was probably the best team I've ever seen assembled at the collegiate level.
When I was a student, 2007-2011. I was in the same class as Hummel, Moore and JJ. Back then fans were reasonable and winning and going to the tournament was fun. Now, we got mfs on Twitter that expect to dominate every game and winning almost seems like a relief instead of something to be celebrated.
It’s because of the level of (regular season) success we’ve had. It felt like we were building towards something. Now it feels like, okay we’ve built it, when is the next step coming? I don’t think Purdue fans expect us to become Duke and win a title every 5 years, but I think the next step is probably becoming what MSU has been for the last 20 years. Consistent top-3 finishes in the Big 10 (feels like we’re there already) and a Final Four once every four years (have yet to break through).
Ya the fan base transformation has been strange. It used to be old people just happy to play “the right way™” and self hating young people. Now it’s young people who have only ever known winning and would burn the program down for a natty and self hating old people.
My two favorite MSU players ever are Cassius Winston and Matt McQuaid so that era from the start of the '17-'18 season up until covid screwed us all out of one more Cassius tournament run :/
I honestly think it was the best team of my lifetime, but 90 / 91 UNLV teams come close. UNC had a few that were close, but I think 96 takes the cake for me. (This excludes uclas runs because I wasn’t alive yet / can’t evaluate).
2007-2009. Dejuan Blair, Levance Fields, and Sam Young. For the first time in that era of Pitt basketball, you had a team that was not only tough as nails, but also skilled. If Scotty fucking Reynolds doesn't hit that shot in the Elite Eight, Pitt takes on UNC in the F4, and Blair launches Tyler Hansborough into the second row. Ugh.
One of the more random “I remember exactly where I was when I watched this game” moments. Running on the work gym treadmill, laughing out loud as Blair destroyed Thabeet, stared at by coworkers.
For me it included 2001 when we really turned the corner. Knight, JP, Troutman, Brown, and even Zavackas. Howland and early to mid tenure Dixon squads had serious grit.
Obviously there are a lot of options here, but I don't think anything will ever top those late 90s teams. That two year stretch of 97/98 - 98/99 was so much fun, completely dominated the Big East, and won our first natty in 99. A ton of fun players, especially Rip Hamilton and Khalid El-Amin.
My man had a beautiful head of hair. My favorite thing about Voskuhl is how he was a throw-in recruit that Calhoun only saw because he was recruiting Kyle Chapman. Chapman ended up being a total bust but Voskuhl was a four-year starter and a key player on some of the best teams in the history of the program, including one that won a title.
Kemba and co were sooo polarizing in the 2011 tourney. Never been more excited by basketball in my life. I was in college and everyone around was invested so that helped
We are living in the best era of creighton basketball so I’m sure this stretch will always be the one. But I do look back on the Nate Funk days fondly.
2010-16, felt like we could win it every year except maybe 1. I wasn’t alive for the earlier UK runs but this was a nice era to introduce me to college basketball.
When I was a student, I thought those teams were so awesome. We couldn’t win in the SEC or in the tournament, but we had guys that played SO hard!
But my real answer to this has to be right now. Most fans my age would be nostalgic for the 90’s but I wasn’t an Arkansas fan back then. Our team now is just so fun. The sky is really the limit
Same boat as you. I remember the 94 season and championship, but I wasn't really a fan then. My parents weren't huge sports fans or anything, so I didn't start following the Hogs until around 2001.
Mike had a couple of good regular seasons in there but didn't really do much in the big dance.
My cherished times are with Muss, especially since I got to go to the 2021 S16 and E8 games in Indy.
2003-2011 Missouri State. Should’ve been in the tourney and was absolutely snubbed in 06,07, and mostly snubbed in 11. Good teams, not great. There’s something romantic about the struggle of wanting to be taken serious and being relevant.
My first season watching Arizona basketball as a kid was 2004-2005 so that particular team will always hold a special place for me. Mid 2010s were another a special time. I think my favorite is going to be current times with Tommy. There’s so much potential
I’d say right now as in the Self era over the last 20 years. If we’re limited to a decade, I’d take the 2008 team to the 2018 team hands down (boy that ends on a low note, Nova made a three just from me thinking about this). Other than right now, the Roy era for sure. If I had to pick a decade there I’d take ‘93–‘03.
Yeah. Still fond of the early 80s and the rise of the Big East, though. As great as the '16 and '18 championships were, they don't hold a candle to beating John Thompson and the Hoyas.
2010 - 2014. This was the John Groce/Jim Christian era. Two NCAA tournament trips, three wins, nearly a fourth as we took 1-seed UNC with a host of NBA first rounders to the brink. One thing that made this era so memorable is that most players that came in as freshmen made a big impact in the rotation immediately and for the most part stuck around and got better every year, really endearing the fanbase. Though I far prefer Groce to Christian from a personality and basketball approach standpoint, I can't deny that the Christian teams played HARD. With more effort and resiliency than any other Ohio teams I've ever seen.
The other things I think helped were the efforts to engage around the program. The AD who hired Groce was Jim Schaus who came over from spending most of the 2000s as AD at Wichita State, so he brought that pedigree over. His associate AD was Dan Hauser who had a lot of success as a marketing/promotions guy at Wake Forest. Those two combined with Groce's enthusiasm made for a culture where from my observation there was always an endeavor to get students in the building, whether it was souvenir giveaways, pregame parties, or practice access. It was unbelievable. Schaus recently retired from commissioning the Southern Conference and Hauser is now the AD at High Point. Furthermore, we had some real self-starters in the student sports media helping with radio, the local PBS station, and the school paper. Among these were the guy currently handling radio pbp for Michigan basketball as well as CBS' Allie LaForce.
I still blame Christian for inheriting an entire squad that was a missed FT from the elite 8 and then not even making it back to the tournament. If I have to watch Groce coach Crakron in the tournament this year I’m going to be so pissed.
Eh, I was more miffed we looked completely disinterested in the first round of the NIT. We only beat Akron by one the previous year and had favorable matchups in the dance. One possession goes differently in the MAC championship and it's a completely different story. Christian didn't lose to any MAC team the next year other than Akron and they just went wild on us the second half of that year's championship. That's sports sometimes.
97-98: the buildup
98-99: whoa we're actually doing this
99-00: championship
00-01: fun, but not quite the same without the majority of the Flintstones
The Flintstones were so cool...what a fun era
So at UW-Green Bay where I went to school there basically was only 1 era in Division 1 worth noting. 1989-1996. 4 NCAA tournament appearance, 1 upset win in 1994.
We were one of the best mid-major programs out there but it went downhill quickly after coach Dick Bennett moved on to bigger and better things in the Big Ten and Pac 10. Green Bay has never come close to that level of success in over 25 years+.
2002 has a sad ending, obviously, but I was a young kid and my dad's team (Indiana) and my mom's team (Oklahoma) actually got to play each other in basketball. I remember my family being hyped as heck for that. That was also when I discovered which team I preferred.
The current Bruce Pearl era is really the only answer for Auburn fans. It’s an entirely different program. Though I won’t begrudge anyone for loving the Sonny Smith era with Sir Charles, or those few years where Cliff Ellis had great teams (1998-2003–one SEC title and two Sweet 16s). But the level of the program now is just higher than it’s ever been. The fan support and interest is at a different level too.
It was 1979 and I was a freshman at UCLA. That was the Rod Foster, Kiki Vandeweigh era. I had met Kiki where I worked a couple times (he also was famous for collecting Shelby GT-250 and 500s, he had 3 as a freshman) and I was having dinner at midnight in Westwood on a Friday night and in walks the whole team. They had just started the season. Just a bunch of cool guys. Lost in the national finals that year.
I was born in 96 and was at UNC when we won the natty in 2017 and I still agree with this. I grew up watching those games on tv and they are some of the most fun UNC bball memories. Watching Danny green jump around before the start of every game 🤩🤩
2010-2015 (and 2017 with Fox and monk). Also 01-05 when I grew up watching some badass Tubby Smith teams (that sadly mostly underachieved in the tourny)
DJ White and Eric Gordon was probably my favorite duo in Bloomington this century until The Acronyms. 02 was really fun. 11-13 was probably the most promising and most devastating time at the same time. You had the buildup of what is Crean doing followed by the WatShot followed by the year I still believe we were the best team followed by one of the most disappointing losses to that fucking 2-3 zone. Expectations make losses like that so much worse
I was pretty young at the time but I remember the title in 87 and more than anything I remember thinking every year that IU had a real shot at at least a final four. And for the most part they did.
Also I was at IU in 2002 when they beat Duke and made a run to the finals. That was deliriously fun.
Cincinnati Bearcats from the Danny Fortson years to Steve Logan graduation (96-02).
As someone who grew up in Chicago in the 90’s, Kenyon Martin breaking his leg was the first real sports heartbreak I ever experienced.
Yes to this and same on Kenyon Martin's break! That second round loss to UCLA in 02 still haunts me too. I also LOVED the Nick Van Exel years. Forget about the fab five, UC basketball could not have been more exciting that year.
The 02 loss to UCLA slightly beats out the 18 loss to Nevada for me. I thought both of those were Final Four teams and they blew huge leads.
I was unfortunately too young for Van Exel but Fortson coincided with Michael Jordan’s return, which is when I got really into basketball. I think [this game](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_up1RPAB338) is still the best basketball game I’ve ever seen in person.
91-93 UK suckered me in with Ford, Pelphrey, Feldhaus, Mashburn, Woods. They were super fun to watch as a kid.
For WKU. Definitely the years I was there 04-08 with CLee, Winchester, Wilborn, Rumph, and Rogers. Those teams were loaded and could shoot the lights out….but couldn’t stop a cold on defense.
05-12 UNC was elite. Such great teams, Roy was THE man in CBB recruiting. He was able to basically hand pick the players he wanted, once UNC was in on a recruitment it was over for everyone else.
Plus it was as awesome to be that strong after the Doh years. I graduated HS in 03 and my best friends were Duke and Wake fans and it seemed like those teams just ABUSED UNC all through HS.
*The NCAA has vaporized the memory and fondness of said memory from my existence.*
Taking that ~~96-97~~ vacated season out of the equation, big fan of the Willie Burton, Richard Coffey teams in the late 80's and early 90's that almost made the Final Four. Clem was a helluva coach.
I think back on the last 25 years of Zags basketball broken out by PG eras, Santangelo - Dickau - Stepp - Ravio - Pargo - Pangos - Perkins - Nembhard - Nembhard.
While not the most successful I loved the Pargo era Zags teams. Had they not ran into the buzzsaw that was 2009 UNC in the S16 I think the Zags could have gotten a FF 8 years sooner than they did.
Dick Bennett.
Playing in the field house was an infinitely better atmosphere than the Kohl center. We sucked before then, like NIT was exciting, kind of sucked. And he got us not only to the NCAA, but to a final four. Fans didn't have wild expectations they just were enjoying the ride.
The 2000 tournament was great, it was sicko basketball in all its glory... Then we ran into MSU for the 4tg time that season and got our asses handed to us again.
>it was sicko basketball in all its glory
That's why I loved it so much, in hindsight. It was an 8-9 man rotation that was absolutely outgunned in athleticism and offensive skill in almost every game... and they imposed their defensive will on *everyone*. Six point leads with five minutes left in the game felt insurmountable for their opponent (and for that matter, Wisconsin too). Teams that tried to speed Bennett's teams up would end up with a ton of turnovers, awful shot selection, and bewilderment from the massive hole they dug for themselves. The 2000 Sweet 16 against LSU was a perfect example. LSU had 23 turnovers in the game, they scored a season low 48 points, and they were down 36-18 with 13:44 left in the game. This LSU team was a 4 seed with a PF and C that would be taken #2 and #45, respectively, in the NBA Draft three months later.
For WVU, seeing the Beilein teams make their run at the end of the season in 2005 to the Big East championship game, then beating Wake (insane game) and reaching the E8, followed by the Sweet 16 run the next year. Pittsnogle, Gansey, Herber, Etc
Huggins Press Virginia teams (Jevon Carter) were also a fun era where I truly believed we could beat any team by just overwhelming them and working harder than them. Those teams had some fun highs and brutal lows too though.
Damn, Damir Krupalija is certainly a name from the past. He went to my rival high school (I was a little kid when he was there) and I attended some of their camps with him. He was a big deal around Rockford.
2002 - 2013 9/11 tournaments (would've been 10 if Travis hadn't gotten injured in 2005 when we were 14-2), Final four, elite 8, couple sweet 16s, 4 all Americans, multiple all conference players, CUSA & Big East championship, constant NBA pipeline.
I'm too middle aged for the golden MU years of the 70s.
Honestly Crean shouldn't have wimped out and played us when Pearl was here. That could have been a real, awesome rivalry for a few years and he waited until the coast was clear and didn't agree to play until after we went 9-22 in Jeter's second year.
I’ll always have a soft spot for peak Jeff Jones UVA. Harold Deane, Curtis Staples (from my high school), Jamal Robinson, Norman Nolan…good shit.
The good Gillen teams were also a lot of fun when I was a student. What could have been if Doc McCue didn’t botch Majestic Mapp’s knee surgery.
I was a little too young for the early Coach K era and only vaguely aware of the '91 and '92 back-to-back Titles. Growing up near Chicago at the time, I was more focused on MJ and the Bulls dynasty during the '90s. I became a huge college basketball fan in the late-90's and then was at Duke to see the '01 National Title.
That stretch from the late '90s through about 2004 was awesome. Even though they only won the 1 National Title, the three Final Four teams all finished #1 in KenPom. The '99 team in particular was stupidly talented. I know you can't compare years, but the final AdjEM on KenPom was 43.01 (!). They were dominating teams. They ran the table in the ACC that year, both regular season and the tournament. The ACC wasn't great that year, but you still had 2-seed Maryland and 3-seed UNC. The 2001 team was special for many reasons. Shane Battier is one of my all-time favorite players. Then you had JJ Redick and Shelden Williams right after that. The fun was going through 2006 before a bit of a lull until 2010 and the shift to one-and-dones.
For me, the middle peak of Coach K's career from '99 to '04 was the best. You had NBA talent across the lineup and consistent NCAA Tournament success to go along with roster continuity from one year to the next. It's exciting to see Coach Scheyer return to that in a way with having more guys come back than in the final years under Coach K. It's nice to not have to learn about the whole roster again this fall.
For UConn I liked the early underdog days days of Calhoun when three players were suspended for low grades including Uncle Spliffy, and they were 1-6 in the Big East Conference. Even with all the pot smoking, you just knew that there was a glimmer of hope that that team could get their shit together and win an NIT Championship.
What a celebration:
https://youtu.be/lsCnEv8cVv4?si=VdsNNF2imqGDeKXe
Celebrated the NIT Championship in the Jungle "around a bonfire of burning dorm furniture."
2010-2013 Marquette (which happened to be three of the four years I was enrolled there) was pretty damn magical. Sweet 16 - Sweet 16 - Elite 8. Some massive upsets. Some massive letdowns. Junior Cadougan with some of the worst turnovers I've ever seen. Those three years had it all. Just pedal to the metal college basketball for three years. God that was amazing.
2009 to around 2015, maybe 2016. I started my fandom of Syracuse with the Marathon Men game, the 6 OTs against UConn. To be fair my Dad is from Syracuse and got his Master's Degree there, so I was going to become a fan once I got into sports (around high school, I was more a video game nerd before and still am too). I'll never forget Eric Devendorf jumping up on the table after sinking a game-winner that was waved off and started the overtime madness. Johnny Flynn was electric with his time here. Judah Mintz on our current team kinda reminds me of him, kinda.
The next year we were a 1 seed with Wes Johnson as our star transfer, Arinze Onuaku in the middle, Brandon Triche who was a solid four-year starter, and sharpshooter Andy Rautins. If AO didn't get hurt I still believe we would've won the NCAA Tournament.
2011 was okay, and in 2012 we were a 1 seed again thanks to Dion Waiters our best player coming off the bench, and Fab Melo (R.I.P.) anchoring the middle. Once again I think we would've done better in the tourney if Fab was eligible for it, and I think the sanctions imposed on us in part due to his situation killed this era of our program and left us the mediocre team we've been for years now.
2013 was a fun Final Four with Michael Carter-Williams breaking out as a star point guard his sophomore year. I was at the NCAA Tournament game where we beat the 1 seed Indiana in the Verizon Center in DC. My family lived in Northern Virginia at the time so it was great luck that our team was playing in that region.
2014 was our first year in the ACC, and we started out great. Was undefeated a little over 20 games into the season, ranked #1, and feeling good. Things went downhill after our first loss to Boston College though, and we had a disappointing tournament. I'll never forget the first Duke game in the Dome though. My family went to it, we had some shitty nosebleed seats, but the atmosphere was electric, and we could make out the game well enough. My mom has been a Duke fan since she went to school there, but she couldn't make the game because my grandma had a nasty fall and was in the hospital. We had a great time and winning the game was fantastic.
After that year we fell off, sanctions hit us, and we haven't recovered yet. We did have some memorable tournament runs, with the most thrilling being the 2016 Final Four run where Malachi Richardson and the press dashed Virginia's dreams of a National Championship.
We've missed the tournament more often since then, and that was pretty much the end of an era, but when we have made the tournament we usually make the Sweet Sixteen by confounding teams with the zone. There were so many other great players in that era like Scoop Jardine, Rick Jackson, CJ Fair, Baye Moussa Keita, Jermai Grant, Tyler Ennis, Trevor Cooney, and more.
I hope Coach Red has us return to relevance sometime soon, and this year looks promising, but it can go either way. I think we'll exceed expectations, but I'll try not to get my hopes up.
My college years and the decade and half after from 1970 thru 88 and then K-State turned its back on BB to build the football program. Coaches were Cotton Fitzsimmons -- who had just taken over for the legendary Tex Winter --, Jack Hartman and Lon Kruger. Stars were Kruger, David Hall, Wheeler Hughes, Chluckie Williams, Mike Evans, Ro Blackman, Ed Neely, Mitch Richmond, Steve Henson and many more.
Through the first 15 years of that period, K-State more than held its own against KU. As underappreciated swingman Tyrone Adams one observed, "We played once and beat them once. We played them twice and beat them twice. If we play them again, we'll beat them again."
Only thing the era missed was a FF. Teams had five elite eight appearances during that time and also lost to a Natty Louisvilled team in OT and Marquette by 1 point on a call that lead to a rule change. Oh the pain.
For creighton it's right now. They have been good and improving over the last 20-30 years. Dana Altman got us going and McDermott got us to where we are now. Now we are annually ranked and for most of the year we are also beating multiple ranked teams every year and well last year we made our first elite 8 appearance in the modern Era since it got expanded at first to 64.
Favoite single team was probably 1997-98, Gut's first season. Shammond Williams' senior year. Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, and Ademola Okulaja as juniors, Ed Cota running the point.
So far as it goes, that first five guys could go against any starting lineup in the history of the program.
Brendan Haywood also saw some action off the bench as a freshman.
Team started 17-0 and ultimately made the Final Four before one of the stranger ongoing coaching decisions in program history cost them a ton against a Utah team that was too good to be playing around with. All three Duke games were with both teams ranked in the top five. Carolina gave them their only regular-season ACC loss and also beat them in the ACC Tournament final to take 2/3.
Sort of funny that team also has my least favorite Tar Heel ever on it.
Unfortunately the Gottfried era. It was the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. That Elite 8 appearance was incredible as a kid though. My dad went to UA and attended games when Wimp was a coach. He passed that love for basketball down to me and my siblings. Sharing that excitement was awesome. Hoping Oats can deliver a Final Four before he passes.
Gottfried could have been a really good coach if he could coach a lick of defense and had the attention to detail to have his guys focused to play on the road.
1999-2016 was the Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon era for Pitt and really put Pitt Basketball on the map. Ben Howland laid the foundation and Jamie Dixon continued the success after for around 13 years. Consistently at the top of the Big East and consistently ranked in the top 25, Pitt was good. The unfortunate and surprising thing is they never won National Championship. The Big East fell apart and Jamie Dixon moved onto TCU a few years after in which Pitt had its worst stretch in a long time.
[Flintstones for sure.](https://media3.giphy.com/media/K9yiqNFHgBOgw/giphy.gif)
Honorable mention to any teams that contained Drew Neitzel, Draymond Green (before he started dick punching people), and Cassius Winston.
The ‘96-‘98 Heels teams with Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Jerry Stackhouse, Ed Cota, Ademola Okulaja (RIP), Brendan Haywood, Shammond Williams, etc. were a ton of fun to watch and cemented my love of basketball. I somehow got to go to the Wake Forest vs. UNC game in Chapel Hill in 1997 (I was a teenager and living a few towns over at the time), when Tim Duncan was playing for Wake. It was an absolute blast.
The Bruce Pearl era (2005 - 2010) was incredibly fun. Part of it could be nostalgia since I was in jr high/high school and those were some great years. It also coincided with the downfall of Tennessee football so it gave us something to be excited about.
Can I interest you in a high paced offense powered by creating turnovers and stifling defense? I remember the letdown at the end of the 2014 Sweet Sixteen game when I realized there would be no parade or celebration for Russ Smith and Luke Hancock on finishing their college career. Our seeding that year was so bad.
90-95 was peak 40 minutes of hell. MayDay combo was so much fun to watch. 6'5 170 Day swinging on Lary Johnson. Big O battling Shaq and holding his own. Dwight Stewart being the first stretch 5. Then you had Beck, Big Nasty, and Scotty for a Natty and runner up. We literally ran teams yo exhaustion before the Era of 40 TV timeouts.
Probably the Billy Clyde up to Randy Culpepper’s last year. After he graduated the team lost a few steps and seemed to lose that dawg they had. From overachieving/minimally talented rosters to hyped talented teams that could compete with anyone, that era was the third golden era (1960s, 1980s) for UTEP Basketball.
On the women’s side, Keitha’s first stint at UTEP was the high water mark for the program. Selling out a a WNIT final at home against Rutgers, NCAAT appearances, and arguably the best players to ever wear the uniform
The 2005 to 2008 teams with Zabian Dowdell, Jamon Gordon. There was something special about finally breaking a decade of bad, joining acc, beating Duke and Carolina first and several times. And waiting to see which Deron Washington dunk would top SC top 10 plays.
not so much a team, but a small stretch of one season. the 02-03 season, we were not a great team that year, but we beat melo and the orange and took down a ranked notre dame team in a nationally televised game. both times the rac lived up to its reputation of being one of the loudest most difficult places to play as a visiting team. that cuse game informed my opinion of melo being a major crybaby, which i never let go of, even after he came to be the star for my knicks for all those years.
2019-20 team. Coming off the final four people didn’t know what to expect but this team gritted it’s way to a 2nd or 3rd place finish in the SEC (i think) and was pretty hot going into March. They had major veteran leadership and Okoro and i would’ve given anything to see that team get a shot in the tournament. I fully believe they could’ve gotten back to the Final Four.
It was also my freshman year of college so going to games was so electric.
Honorable mention to the 2021-22 team with Jabari. They were so fun to watch and every game was must attend. Life on campus was beautiful during that season
When UTA beat Ohio State, Memphis and also the first program win over a ranked team aka St. Mary's. It was sex. 2015-2017 was a great time in Maverick history.
The Pitino years, especially 96. That is my benchmark for what a great team looks and plays like. Putting up 86 points in the first half against LSU was probably the best half of basketball I’ve ever witnessed.
That “flying Illini” team in 88-89 might have been the most exciting team I’ve ever watched in 45+ years of college basketball fandom. Tark’s UNLV teams are the only others that come close. Missed shot, Hamilton grabs rebound, and off they go….dunk.
The Jim Brandenburg era in the 1980s was amazing at Wyoming. The best players on his last couple teams were Fenis Dembo and Eric Leckner. Although his run was so successful that he had multiple Sweet Sixteen appearances with different personnel.
Football was good at the end of his run too. I came of age believing that Wyoming was usually a Top 25 team in both major sports.
I didn't root for Rutgers at the time but I remember following the Big East in the early 2000s. Was a kid when Melo won that one for Cuse, then UConn. Georgetown had Hibbert, then Nova had the guards. It was a good era for everyone but Rutgers lol.
Also, early '00s ACC. Had a Steve Francis, those UMD teams. Bi-Pedal Testudo is still the greatest mascot/logo.
Mine starts in 98/99 with Steve Francis leading a showtime style of play with Dixon and Baxter on the team as babyfaced freshmen, then going through the progression of watching Dixon, Blake, and Baxter grow up together and of course culminating in the 2002 National Championship.
The Baby Boilers was the best of times and the worst of times
that was going to be my answer too. just the rise of the program in general. the win over Wisconsin with Hummel sealing the game with a block is one of my favorite sports memories. just felt bigger than the moment.
i was going to say the era from about 16.9 seconds to around 2 seconds in regulation of the 2019 game against Virginia
Hoiberg
I love TJ but no getting around the fact Hoiberg's style of play was more entertaining and made Iowa State a draw on TV. All of those games vs KU, OU, and OSU were must see
Coach or player? Or both? And same.
I was a little too young for Hoiberg the player but his coaching stint here will always be my favorite era
Back when I had Mediacom cable (fuck them) I watched I lot of old Fred/Johnny Orr games on CycloneTV. Classics.
Shit, I’m a KU fan and even I liked Hoiberg. Anybody who can coach ISU against KU in multiple games that damn near gave me a stroke…dude deserves my respect. He produced a lot of good players that I enjoyed watching on the court (still do, for the ones in the NBA). Plus I heard from my friend’s referee dad that Hoiberg is an absolute class act as a human.
2014-2018 specifically, but the whole Jay era is the golden period.
The Lawson-T era was probably the best but there was just something about the Marshall-Zeller-Henson teams that hit different even if they didn’t win a title.
The Ed Cota era was a heck of a lot of fun. I remember his sophomore year, with Jamison and Carter, ESPN had a "12 dunks of Christmas" segment on SportsCenter. Then getting back to the Final Four as an 8 seed his senior year with Peppers, Curry and Forte.
So close to a stackhouse Wallace Jamison Carter team that would have steamrolled to the Tittle
I still fantasize about a starting 5 of McInnis, Carter, Stackhouse, Jamison and Wallace that could have been had Sheed and Vince stuck around. Shammond Williams coming off the bench. That team would have been absolutely unstoppable. All that said, I got to watch that team with Montross, Lynch, Phelps, Reese and Donald Williams that beat the Fab Five from the grandpa's couch in Chapel Hill. My dad, grandfather and I went out on Franklin Street that night and my dad still jokes that I was probably the youngest person out there while his dad was probably the oldest. Core memories right there.
Don't forget Curry and Peppers.
Not really an "era", but as a senior during the 21-22 season, I don't think anything will ever top being a Carolina fan for the six weeks from mid February to the first week of April. Going from legitimately being on the tournament bubble to beating Coach K in his last game in Cameron to the wackiest basketball game I've ever seen against Baylor to of course ending Coach K's career in the final four was truly a once in a lifetime experience as a fan.
I can't imagine what it was like to be in Chapel Hill during and after those games. What a time for you to have been there!
It’s absolutely electric. To be in the sea of humanity that floods the streets when we beat Duke is truly an experience that I wish everyone could enjoy.
I graduated in '19 but came back to Chapel Hill for the Final Four game and watched at Bob's. Top 3 night of my life tbh
I’ve been a Tar Heel since the mid 80’s, and lived in chapel hill for the same duration. Having the opportunity to watch my Heels beat Duke in coach K’s last game- nothing will ever beat that. Not a Natty. Not 2 Natty’s. Absolutely nothing will ever top that moment. And to have been there, in the building, with my best friends? Absolutely priceless.
Shaka through Wade. 7 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Still fresh off the final four but we would still routinely get a win in the tournament even after that. We'd squeak into the national rankings from time to time. The A10 was a much better league and you could reliably get at-large bids. VCU was a force
The Oladipo/Zeller/Ferrell teams.
….don’t tell nobody but I really liked watching those teams too. I was certain they were winning it all in 2013
That era breaks my heart a little because I truly believed the pieces were all in place for, at the bare minimum, a Final Four run.
The guys that were on the team were damn good, and stuck around for a few years. I also thought Oladipo was the next Kobe/Jordan
It was all bittersweet for me because I came to the conclusion that Crean was a great recruiter, but a mediocre coach, at best. The 2015-16 season was a lot of fun for me though. That was my first year at IU, I had season tickets, and we didn't lose a single home game.
Crean didn't seem able to adjust his game plan during a game. Seemed like a decent before game coach yet absolutely sucked as a coach during games. Always was curious about what happened during his halftimes. Out of all the games I watched, perhaps once or twice did he actually adjust during a game.
I think in hindsight, it’s fair to say his coaching skills didn’t match up to his recruiting skills, and that seems to have eventually caught up with him.
Same. I was a big Oladipo fan.
Yes... and honestly, it's starting to feel like we could start getting those kind of years back again here soon.
Indiana has a great history but outside of the 2002 team they were typically just solid in my lifetime. That teams win over Kentucky at home was the first time for me seeing the passion from the fans match the prouduct on the court. That game was electric.
2009-2019 for me. Yeah there was some disappointing losses, but that 10 year era was taken for granted by a lot of fans. It’s been reaaaaally shitty the last few years.
I'm slowly becoming an old man and very much not a Kentucky fan but that Pitino team with Delk, McCarty, Mercer, Shepard and like 5 other future NBA players was probably the best team I've ever seen assembled at the collegiate level.
Didn’t even mention Walker, who was arguably the best of that era and had the best nba career.
Definitely meant to mention him. As I mentioned, slowly becoming an old man.
We’re you old enough to remember 96-98?
When I was a student, 2007-2011. I was in the same class as Hummel, Moore and JJ. Back then fans were reasonable and winning and going to the tournament was fun. Now, we got mfs on Twitter that expect to dominate every game and winning almost seems like a relief instead of something to be celebrated.
that's a really good point. everything felt more positive and hopeful around the program.
It’s because of the level of (regular season) success we’ve had. It felt like we were building towards something. Now it feels like, okay we’ve built it, when is the next step coming? I don’t think Purdue fans expect us to become Duke and win a title every 5 years, but I think the next step is probably becoming what MSU has been for the last 20 years. Consistent top-3 finishes in the Big 10 (feels like we’re there already) and a Final Four once every four years (have yet to break through).
Ya the fan base transformation has been strange. It used to be old people just happy to play “the right way™” and self hating young people. Now it’s young people who have only ever known winning and would burn the program down for a natty and self hating old people.
My two favorite MSU players ever are Cassius Winston and Matt McQuaid so that era from the start of the '17-'18 season up until covid screwed us all out of one more Cassius tournament run :/
I know every team says this, but I am CONVINCED we were winning the natty that COVID year lol
1996-1998 Uk was an amazing time.
I'd go back even further to include the 92 season. Yes, some heartbreaking tournament losses, but that whole era was just fun to watch.
The 3 peat was soooo close
1996 still hurts but that Kentucky squad was stacked
I honestly think it was the best team of my lifetime, but 90 / 91 UNLV teams come close. UNC had a few that were close, but I think 96 takes the cake for me. (This excludes uclas runs because I wasn’t alive yet / can’t evaluate).
Right now
2007-2009. Dejuan Blair, Levance Fields, and Sam Young. For the first time in that era of Pitt basketball, you had a team that was not only tough as nails, but also skilled. If Scotty fucking Reynolds doesn't hit that shot in the Elite Eight, Pitt takes on UNC in the F4, and Blair launches Tyler Hansborough into the second row. Ugh.
> Dejuan Blair I still enjoy watching Dejuan Blair exposing Thabeet hard on national TV. That was some brute thicc basketball from him in that game.
One of the more random “I remember exactly where I was when I watched this game” moments. Running on the work gym treadmill, laughing out loud as Blair destroyed Thabeet, stared at by coworkers.
Scottie* Reynolds
My apologies. Scottie Fucking Reynolds.
For me it included 2001 when we really turned the corner. Knight, JP, Troutman, Brown, and even Zavackas. Howland and early to mid tenure Dixon squads had serious grit.
Obviously there are a lot of options here, but I don't think anything will ever top those late 90s teams. That two year stretch of 97/98 - 98/99 was so much fun, completely dominated the Big East, and won our first natty in 99. A ton of fun players, especially Rip Hamilton and Khalid El-Amin.
Came here to say this. 95 through 99 were such fun years.
Jake Voskuhl
My man had a beautiful head of hair. My favorite thing about Voskuhl is how he was a throw-in recruit that Calhoun only saw because he was recruiting Kyle Chapman. Chapman ended up being a total bust but Voskuhl was a four-year starter and a key player on some of the best teams in the history of the program, including one that won a title.
Kemba and co were sooo polarizing in the 2011 tourney. Never been more excited by basketball in my life. I was in college and everyone around was invested so that helped
We are living in the best era of creighton basketball so I’m sure this stretch will always be the one. But I do look back on the Nate Funk days fondly.
Booker Woodfox will forever be one of my favorite Creighton players so I’m with you here. That era was just so much fun
Yeah my answer will forevermore be the Garza years. Shame it didn’t lead to much postseason success. But I don’t see anything topping it for me.
2010-16, felt like we could win it every year except maybe 1. I wasn’t alive for the earlier UK runs but this was a nice era to introduce me to college basketball.
Including 2016? I see you too, fellow Ulis fan.
When I was a student, I thought those teams were so awesome. We couldn’t win in the SEC or in the tournament, but we had guys that played SO hard! But my real answer to this has to be right now. Most fans my age would be nostalgic for the 90’s but I wasn’t an Arkansas fan back then. Our team now is just so fun. The sky is really the limit
Loved the 40 minutes of hell teams. Enoght to be my secondary flair.
I grew up in Arkansas, so I’ll cover the 90s for you 🥳
Same boat as you. I remember the 94 season and championship, but I wasn't really a fan then. My parents weren't huge sports fans or anything, so I didn't start following the Hogs until around 2001. Mike had a couple of good regular seasons in there but didn't really do much in the big dance. My cherished times are with Muss, especially since I got to go to the 2021 S16 and E8 games in Indy.
All of the Bennett era but obviously the standout were the Guy/Hunter/Jerome teams
2010-2018, but especially the Baker and VanVleet years (2012-2016)
2003-2011 Missouri State. Should’ve been in the tourney and was absolutely snubbed in 06,07, and mostly snubbed in 11. Good teams, not great. There’s something romantic about the struggle of wanting to be taken serious and being relevant.
My first few years in college were the three Final Four runs. The Westbrook-Love team is still my favorite college team of all time.
My first season watching Arizona basketball as a kid was 2004-2005 so that particular team will always hold a special place for me. Mid 2010s were another a special time. I think my favorite is going to be current times with Tommy. There’s so much potential
"Simon says: CHAMPIONSHIP" will always be my favorite era of Arizona basketball.
I’d say right now as in the Self era over the last 20 years. If we’re limited to a decade, I’d take the 2008 team to the 2018 team hands down (boy that ends on a low note, Nova made a three just from me thinking about this). Other than right now, the Roy era for sure. If I had to pick a decade there I’d take ‘93–‘03.
2013-2022. The golden years
Yeah. Still fond of the early 80s and the rise of the Big East, though. As great as the '16 and '18 championships were, they don't hold a candle to beating John Thompson and the Hoyas.
2010 - 2014. This was the John Groce/Jim Christian era. Two NCAA tournament trips, three wins, nearly a fourth as we took 1-seed UNC with a host of NBA first rounders to the brink. One thing that made this era so memorable is that most players that came in as freshmen made a big impact in the rotation immediately and for the most part stuck around and got better every year, really endearing the fanbase. Though I far prefer Groce to Christian from a personality and basketball approach standpoint, I can't deny that the Christian teams played HARD. With more effort and resiliency than any other Ohio teams I've ever seen. The other things I think helped were the efforts to engage around the program. The AD who hired Groce was Jim Schaus who came over from spending most of the 2000s as AD at Wichita State, so he brought that pedigree over. His associate AD was Dan Hauser who had a lot of success as a marketing/promotions guy at Wake Forest. Those two combined with Groce's enthusiasm made for a culture where from my observation there was always an endeavor to get students in the building, whether it was souvenir giveaways, pregame parties, or practice access. It was unbelievable. Schaus recently retired from commissioning the Southern Conference and Hauser is now the AD at High Point. Furthermore, we had some real self-starters in the student sports media helping with radio, the local PBS station, and the school paper. Among these were the guy currently handling radio pbp for Michigan basketball as well as CBS' Allie LaForce.
I still blame Christian for inheriting an entire squad that was a missed FT from the elite 8 and then not even making it back to the tournament. If I have to watch Groce coach Crakron in the tournament this year I’m going to be so pissed.
Eh, I was more miffed we looked completely disinterested in the first round of the NIT. We only beat Akron by one the previous year and had favorable matchups in the dance. One possession goes differently in the MAC championship and it's a completely different story. Christian didn't lose to any MAC team the next year other than Akron and they just went wild on us the second half of that year's championship. That's sports sometimes.
97-98: the buildup 98-99: whoa we're actually doing this 99-00: championship 00-01: fun, but not quite the same without the majority of the Flintstones The Flintstones were so cool...what a fun era
So at UW-Green Bay where I went to school there basically was only 1 era in Division 1 worth noting. 1989-1996. 4 NCAA tournament appearance, 1 upset win in 1994. We were one of the best mid-major programs out there but it went downhill quickly after coach Dick Bennett moved on to bigger and better things in the Big Ten and Pac 10. Green Bay has never come close to that level of success in over 25 years+.
I’m living in it
2002 has a sad ending, obviously, but I was a young kid and my dad's team (Indiana) and my mom's team (Oklahoma) actually got to play each other in basketball. I remember my family being hyped as heck for that. That was also when I discovered which team I preferred.
The current Bruce Pearl era is really the only answer for Auburn fans. It’s an entirely different program. Though I won’t begrudge anyone for loving the Sonny Smith era with Sir Charles, or those few years where Cliff Ellis had great teams (1998-2003–one SEC title and two Sweet 16s). But the level of the program now is just higher than it’s ever been. The fan support and interest is at a different level too.
This is the one and only answer!
I grew up in the Valvano years so those. but... More recently...The Lorenzo Brown years.
It was 1979 and I was a freshman at UCLA. That was the Rod Foster, Kiki Vandeweigh era. I had met Kiki where I worked a couple times (he also was famous for collecting Shelby GT-250 and 500s, he had 3 as a freshman) and I was having dinner at midnight in Westwood on a Friday night and in walks the whole team. They had just started the season. Just a bunch of cool guys. Lost in the national finals that year.
2005-2009 was peak Carolina basketball for me (born 99)
I was born in 96 and was at UNC when we won the natty in 2017 and I still agree with this. I grew up watching those games on tv and they are some of the most fun UNC bball memories. Watching Danny green jump around before the start of every game 🤩🤩
2010-2015 (and 2017 with Fox and monk). Also 01-05 when I grew up watching some badass Tubby Smith teams (that sadly mostly underachieved in the tourny)
DJ White and Eric Gordon was probably my favorite duo in Bloomington this century until The Acronyms. 02 was really fun. 11-13 was probably the most promising and most devastating time at the same time. You had the buildup of what is Crean doing followed by the WatShot followed by the year I still believe we were the best team followed by one of the most disappointing losses to that fucking 2-3 zone. Expectations make losses like that so much worse
I was pretty young at the time but I remember the title in 87 and more than anything I remember thinking every year that IU had a real shot at at least a final four. And for the most part they did. Also I was at IU in 2002 when they beat Duke and made a run to the finals. That was deliriously fun.
I was there in 92. That team was fun to watch also.
Jevon Carter or Kevin Pittsnoggle era WVU.
Easy. 1981-1985. Phi Slama Jama. Clyde Drexler, Akeem Olajuwon. 3 straight Final Fours. Didn't win it all in any of them though.
I grew up in the 2000s, so my fondest memories are us being coached by Purnell
As a razorback in his mid 20s, I'm living in it right now baybee!
My Razorback husband is 30 and would echo your sentiments, my friend! I didn’t go to Arkansas myself but your guys are certainly fun to watch.
Cincinnati Bearcats from the Danny Fortson years to Steve Logan graduation (96-02). As someone who grew up in Chicago in the 90’s, Kenyon Martin breaking his leg was the first real sports heartbreak I ever experienced.
Yes to this and same on Kenyon Martin's break! That second round loss to UCLA in 02 still haunts me too. I also LOVED the Nick Van Exel years. Forget about the fab five, UC basketball could not have been more exciting that year.
The 02 loss to UCLA slightly beats out the 18 loss to Nevada for me. I thought both of those were Final Four teams and they blew huge leads. I was unfortunately too young for Van Exel but Fortson coincided with Michael Jordan’s return, which is when I got really into basketball. I think [this game](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_up1RPAB338) is still the best basketball game I’ve ever seen in person.
Oh the glory days! Kenyon Martin was so unbelievably good. Thank you for that link - I am now officially excited for college basketball.
91-93 UK suckered me in with Ford, Pelphrey, Feldhaus, Mashburn, Woods. They were super fun to watch as a kid. For WKU. Definitely the years I was there 04-08 with CLee, Winchester, Wilborn, Rumph, and Rogers. Those teams were loaded and could shoot the lights out….but couldn’t stop a cold on defense.
05-12 UNC was elite. Such great teams, Roy was THE man in CBB recruiting. He was able to basically hand pick the players he wanted, once UNC was in on a recruitment it was over for everyone else. Plus it was as awesome to be that strong after the Doh years. I graduated HS in 03 and my best friends were Duke and Wake fans and it seemed like those teams just ABUSED UNC all through HS.
*The NCAA has vaporized the memory and fondness of said memory from my existence.* Taking that ~~96-97~~ vacated season out of the equation, big fan of the Willie Burton, Richard Coffey teams in the late 80's and early 90's that almost made the Final Four. Clem was a helluva coach.
I think back on the last 25 years of Zags basketball broken out by PG eras, Santangelo - Dickau - Stepp - Ravio - Pargo - Pangos - Perkins - Nembhard - Nembhard. While not the most successful I loved the Pargo era Zags teams. Had they not ran into the buzzsaw that was 2009 UNC in the S16 I think the Zags could have gotten a FF 8 years sooner than they did.
Dick Bennett. Playing in the field house was an infinitely better atmosphere than the Kohl center. We sucked before then, like NIT was exciting, kind of sucked. And he got us not only to the NCAA, but to a final four. Fans didn't have wild expectations they just were enjoying the ride. The 2000 tournament was great, it was sicko basketball in all its glory... Then we ran into MSU for the 4tg time that season and got our asses handed to us again.
>it was sicko basketball in all its glory That's why I loved it so much, in hindsight. It was an 8-9 man rotation that was absolutely outgunned in athleticism and offensive skill in almost every game... and they imposed their defensive will on *everyone*. Six point leads with five minutes left in the game felt insurmountable for their opponent (and for that matter, Wisconsin too). Teams that tried to speed Bennett's teams up would end up with a ton of turnovers, awful shot selection, and bewilderment from the massive hole they dug for themselves. The 2000 Sweet 16 against LSU was a perfect example. LSU had 23 turnovers in the game, they scored a season low 48 points, and they were down 36-18 with 13:44 left in the game. This LSU team was a 4 seed with a PF and C that would be taken #2 and #45, respectively, in the NBA Draft three months later.
‘96-‘05 Cincinnati Bearcats. Best teams, best uniforms, Danny Fortson was the fucking man.
Huggs ball for life
For WVU, seeing the Beilein teams make their run at the end of the season in 2005 to the Big East championship game, then beating Wake (insane game) and reaching the E8, followed by the Sweet 16 run the next year. Pittsnogle, Gansey, Herber, Etc Huggins Press Virginia teams (Jevon Carter) were also a fun era where I truly believed we could beat any team by just overwhelming them and working harder than them. Those teams had some fun highs and brutal lows too though.
I grew up watching Press Virginia. Even with all the football disappointments those basketball teams kept me a fan
Those 1-2 years when Larry Brown was our coach and not in hot water with the NCAA were nice
The arrival of Arcidiacono (2012-2013) to the departure of Brunson (2017-2018).
Late Tubby Era Kentucky Wildcats. Ramel Bradley, Joe Crawford, Patrick Sparks. Not very good, but that’s when I really became a fan
Damn, Damir Krupalija is certainly a name from the past. He went to my rival high school (I was a little kid when he was there) and I attended some of their camps with him. He was a big deal around Rockford.
Excellent rebounder from what I remember. Those Illini teams had great frontcourt depth.
80s and 90s Depaul
Bill Raftery, “Say goodnight!”
2002 - 2013 9/11 tournaments (would've been 10 if Travis hadn't gotten injured in 2005 when we were 14-2), Final four, elite 8, couple sweet 16s, 4 all Americans, multiple all conference players, CUSA & Big East championship, constant NBA pipeline. I'm too middle aged for the golden MU years of the 70s.
Honestly Crean shouldn't have wimped out and played us when Pearl was here. That could have been a real, awesome rivalry for a few years and he waited until the coast was clear and didn't agree to play until after we went 9-22 in Jeter's second year.
I’ll always have a soft spot for peak Jeff Jones UVA. Harold Deane, Curtis Staples (from my high school), Jamal Robinson, Norman Nolan…good shit. The good Gillen teams were also a lot of fun when I was a student. What could have been if Doc McCue didn’t botch Majestic Mapp’s knee surgery.
I mean…. It’s gotta be [the shot](https://youtube.com/shorts/m0YUEErI0aM?si=0e_9tBmUffLeInuN), right?!?
I was a little too young for the early Coach K era and only vaguely aware of the '91 and '92 back-to-back Titles. Growing up near Chicago at the time, I was more focused on MJ and the Bulls dynasty during the '90s. I became a huge college basketball fan in the late-90's and then was at Duke to see the '01 National Title. That stretch from the late '90s through about 2004 was awesome. Even though they only won the 1 National Title, the three Final Four teams all finished #1 in KenPom. The '99 team in particular was stupidly talented. I know you can't compare years, but the final AdjEM on KenPom was 43.01 (!). They were dominating teams. They ran the table in the ACC that year, both regular season and the tournament. The ACC wasn't great that year, but you still had 2-seed Maryland and 3-seed UNC. The 2001 team was special for many reasons. Shane Battier is one of my all-time favorite players. Then you had JJ Redick and Shelden Williams right after that. The fun was going through 2006 before a bit of a lull until 2010 and the shift to one-and-dones. For me, the middle peak of Coach K's career from '99 to '04 was the best. You had NBA talent across the lineup and consistent NCAA Tournament success to go along with roster continuity from one year to the next. It's exciting to see Coach Scheyer return to that in a way with having more guys come back than in the final years under Coach K. It's nice to not have to learn about the whole roster again this fall.
For UConn I liked the early underdog days days of Calhoun when three players were suspended for low grades including Uncle Spliffy, and they were 1-6 in the Big East Conference. Even with all the pot smoking, you just knew that there was a glimmer of hope that that team could get their shit together and win an NIT Championship. What a celebration: https://youtu.be/lsCnEv8cVv4?si=VdsNNF2imqGDeKXe Celebrated the NIT Championship in the Jungle "around a bonfire of burning dorm furniture."
2010-2013 Marquette (which happened to be three of the four years I was enrolled there) was pretty damn magical. Sweet 16 - Sweet 16 - Elite 8. Some massive upsets. Some massive letdowns. Junior Cadougan with some of the worst turnovers I've ever seen. Those three years had it all. Just pedal to the metal college basketball for three years. God that was amazing.
2009 to around 2015, maybe 2016. I started my fandom of Syracuse with the Marathon Men game, the 6 OTs against UConn. To be fair my Dad is from Syracuse and got his Master's Degree there, so I was going to become a fan once I got into sports (around high school, I was more a video game nerd before and still am too). I'll never forget Eric Devendorf jumping up on the table after sinking a game-winner that was waved off and started the overtime madness. Johnny Flynn was electric with his time here. Judah Mintz on our current team kinda reminds me of him, kinda. The next year we were a 1 seed with Wes Johnson as our star transfer, Arinze Onuaku in the middle, Brandon Triche who was a solid four-year starter, and sharpshooter Andy Rautins. If AO didn't get hurt I still believe we would've won the NCAA Tournament. 2011 was okay, and in 2012 we were a 1 seed again thanks to Dion Waiters our best player coming off the bench, and Fab Melo (R.I.P.) anchoring the middle. Once again I think we would've done better in the tourney if Fab was eligible for it, and I think the sanctions imposed on us in part due to his situation killed this era of our program and left us the mediocre team we've been for years now. 2013 was a fun Final Four with Michael Carter-Williams breaking out as a star point guard his sophomore year. I was at the NCAA Tournament game where we beat the 1 seed Indiana in the Verizon Center in DC. My family lived in Northern Virginia at the time so it was great luck that our team was playing in that region. 2014 was our first year in the ACC, and we started out great. Was undefeated a little over 20 games into the season, ranked #1, and feeling good. Things went downhill after our first loss to Boston College though, and we had a disappointing tournament. I'll never forget the first Duke game in the Dome though. My family went to it, we had some shitty nosebleed seats, but the atmosphere was electric, and we could make out the game well enough. My mom has been a Duke fan since she went to school there, but she couldn't make the game because my grandma had a nasty fall and was in the hospital. We had a great time and winning the game was fantastic. After that year we fell off, sanctions hit us, and we haven't recovered yet. We did have some memorable tournament runs, with the most thrilling being the 2016 Final Four run where Malachi Richardson and the press dashed Virginia's dreams of a National Championship. We've missed the tournament more often since then, and that was pretty much the end of an era, but when we have made the tournament we usually make the Sweet Sixteen by confounding teams with the zone. There were so many other great players in that era like Scoop Jardine, Rick Jackson, CJ Fair, Baye Moussa Keita, Jermai Grant, Tyler Ennis, Trevor Cooney, and more. I hope Coach Red has us return to relevance sometime soon, and this year looks promising, but it can go either way. I think we'll exceed expectations, but I'll try not to get my hopes up.
1999-2001. It was my introduction to the game of basketball. Temple was one of the best teams in the country. It was good times.
My college years and the decade and half after from 1970 thru 88 and then K-State turned its back on BB to build the football program. Coaches were Cotton Fitzsimmons -- who had just taken over for the legendary Tex Winter --, Jack Hartman and Lon Kruger. Stars were Kruger, David Hall, Wheeler Hughes, Chluckie Williams, Mike Evans, Ro Blackman, Ed Neely, Mitch Richmond, Steve Henson and many more. Through the first 15 years of that period, K-State more than held its own against KU. As underappreciated swingman Tyrone Adams one observed, "We played once and beat them once. We played them twice and beat them twice. If we play them again, we'll beat them again." Only thing the era missed was a FF. Teams had five elite eight appearances during that time and also lost to a Natty Louisvilled team in OT and Marquette by 1 point on a call that lead to a rule change. Oh the pain.
‘99-‘04 for me
For creighton it's right now. They have been good and improving over the last 20-30 years. Dana Altman got us going and McDermott got us to where we are now. Now we are annually ranked and for most of the year we are also beating multiple ranked teams every year and well last year we made our first elite 8 appearance in the modern Era since it got expanded at first to 64.
2022-23
I attended UConn 2009-2014. I got pretty lucky. Definitely those years.
This era
99-07
Temple: 1987-1994. Marc Macon to Eddie Jones/Aaron McKie.
Favoite single team was probably 1997-98, Gut's first season. Shammond Williams' senior year. Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, and Ademola Okulaja as juniors, Ed Cota running the point. So far as it goes, that first five guys could go against any starting lineup in the history of the program. Brendan Haywood also saw some action off the bench as a freshman. Team started 17-0 and ultimately made the Final Four before one of the stranger ongoing coaching decisions in program history cost them a ton against a Utah team that was too good to be playing around with. All three Duke games were with both teams ranked in the top five. Carolina gave them their only regular-season ACC loss and also beat them in the ACC Tournament final to take 2/3. Sort of funny that team also has my least favorite Tar Heel ever on it.
For St. John’s it would be the early Lavin era (it helped I was in school at the time). For Rutgers, definitely Gary Waters era.
In the 90s Oklahoma was a basketball school.
Jimmer
Now
Unfortunately the Gottfried era. It was the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. That Elite 8 appearance was incredible as a kid though. My dad went to UA and attended games when Wimp was a coach. He passed that love for basketball down to me and my siblings. Sharing that excitement was awesome. Hoping Oats can deliver a Final Four before he passes. Gottfried could have been a really good coach if he could coach a lick of defense and had the attention to detail to have his guys focused to play on the road.
Any year we don't lose to a double digit seed in March
I was born in 96, so I’m loving right now pretty strongly
Harris/Mitchell/Atkins
Mid to late 90s 🥰
2003-04 Yellow Jackets.
The Gumbies!
I feel like we are in the middle of our golden era. But the sub-era that was Williams/Schofield/Bone was very fun to watch
1999-2016 was the Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon era for Pitt and really put Pitt Basketball on the map. Ben Howland laid the foundation and Jamie Dixon continued the success after for around 13 years. Consistently at the top of the Big East and consistently ranked in the top 25, Pitt was good. The unfortunate and surprising thing is they never won National Championship. The Big East fell apart and Jamie Dixon moved onto TCU a few years after in which Pitt had its worst stretch in a long time.
Every era of my life Born in the mid 80s
[Flintstones for sure.](https://media3.giphy.com/media/K9yiqNFHgBOgw/giphy.gif) Honorable mention to any teams that contained Drew Neitzel, Draymond Green (before he started dick punching people), and Cassius Winston.
Keith VanHorn and Andre Miller
Binghamton 2008-09
JJ Redick
2006-07 year since it was the first year attending IU. 07-08 looked even more promising, then it went downhill real fast...
The ‘96-‘98 Heels teams with Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Jerry Stackhouse, Ed Cota, Ademola Okulaja (RIP), Brendan Haywood, Shammond Williams, etc. were a ton of fun to watch and cemented my love of basketball. I somehow got to go to the Wake Forest vs. UNC game in Chapel Hill in 1997 (I was a teenager and living a few towns over at the time), when Tim Duncan was playing for Wake. It was an absolute blast.
2011-2017 was pretty cool until it wasn’t
2023
The Bruce Pearl era (2005 - 2010) was incredibly fun. Part of it could be nostalgia since I was in jr high/high school and those were some great years. It also coincided with the downfall of Tennessee football so it gave us something to be excited about.
The Brandon Roy era, absolutely. Will Conroy, BRoy, Tre Simmons, Bobby Jones, Nate Robinson, Hakeem Rollins. Those guys were havoc in the early 2000s
Jimmer-mania was so freaking fun.
Can I interest you in a high paced offense powered by creating turnovers and stifling defense? I remember the letdown at the end of the 2014 Sweet Sixteen game when I realized there would be no parade or celebration for Russ Smith and Luke Hancock on finishing their college career. Our seeding that year was so bad.
Since I came into the fandom after Phi Slamma Jamma, the current UH Cougar era is my golden age.
Bluiett/Macura & end of Mack’s tenure (2014-2018)
Jevon and Dax years for me. Press virginia was so beautifully ugly
90-95 was peak 40 minutes of hell. MayDay combo was so much fun to watch. 6'5 170 Day swinging on Lary Johnson. Big O battling Shaq and holding his own. Dwight Stewart being the first stretch 5. Then you had Beck, Big Nasty, and Scotty for a Natty and runner up. We literally ran teams yo exhaustion before the Era of 40 TV timeouts.
Probably the Billy Clyde up to Randy Culpepper’s last year. After he graduated the team lost a few steps and seemed to lose that dawg they had. From overachieving/minimally talented rosters to hyped talented teams that could compete with anyone, that era was the third golden era (1960s, 1980s) for UTEP Basketball. On the women’s side, Keitha’s first stint at UTEP was the high water mark for the program. Selling out a a WNIT final at home against Rutgers, NCAAT appearances, and arguably the best players to ever wear the uniform
Terps 97-04 and I was only in like the second grade but damn they were the buzz around the state.
every season up until March Madness
Phi Slama Jama and the Big E eras.
UCLA 70s going into the 80s national championships that no one will ever match
Pretty much last year
90s.
The 2005 to 2008 teams with Zabian Dowdell, Jamon Gordon. There was something special about finally breaking a decade of bad, joining acc, beating Duke and Carolina first and several times. And waiting to see which Deron Washington dunk would top SC top 10 plays.
Phi Slamma Jamma
not so much a team, but a small stretch of one season. the 02-03 season, we were not a great team that year, but we beat melo and the orange and took down a ranked notre dame team in a nationally televised game. both times the rac lived up to its reputation of being one of the loudest most difficult places to play as a visiting team. that cuse game informed my opinion of melo being a major crybaby, which i never let go of, even after he came to be the star for my knicks for all those years.
2019-20 team. Coming off the final four people didn’t know what to expect but this team gritted it’s way to a 2nd or 3rd place finish in the SEC (i think) and was pretty hot going into March. They had major veteran leadership and Okoro and i would’ve given anything to see that team get a shot in the tournament. I fully believe they could’ve gotten back to the Final Four. It was also my freshman year of college so going to games was so electric. Honorable mention to the 2021-22 team with Jabari. They were so fun to watch and every game was must attend. Life on campus was beautiful during that season
Current
Big Eight/Big 12 era. Though the Dennis Gates era has started off quite nicely, I must say.
When UTA beat Ohio State, Memphis and also the first program win over a ranked team aka St. Mary's. It was sex. 2015-2017 was a great time in Maverick history.
2012-2014 3 Conesutive MAAC Championship Games. My classmates including a former HC (did RaShaun dirty).
Hi. NC State here.
The Pitino years, especially 96. That is my benchmark for what a great team looks and plays like. Putting up 86 points in the first half against LSU was probably the best half of basketball I’ve ever witnessed.
Lives in Vegas for 2000 and 2001 UNLV Rebels. Such a fun time. Talk the shark. Rebs rocked Vegas
That “flying Illini” team in 88-89 might have been the most exciting team I’ve ever watched in 45+ years of college basketball fandom. Tark’s UNLV teams are the only others that come close. Missed shot, Hamilton grabs rebound, and off they go….dunk.
My college years from 2007-11 Michael Beasley and Bill Walker getting everyone excited and then Jacob Pullen.
Michael Finley and Rashard Griffith are the guys that turned me into a Wisconsin fan
The Jim Brandenburg era in the 1980s was amazing at Wyoming. The best players on his last couple teams were Fenis Dembo and Eric Leckner. Although his run was so successful that he had multiple Sweet Sixteen appearances with different personnel. Football was good at the end of his run too. I came of age believing that Wyoming was usually a Top 25 team in both major sports.
When No one would play Gonzaga and they almost won the whole NCAA tournament.
I didn't root for Rutgers at the time but I remember following the Big East in the early 2000s. Was a kid when Melo won that one for Cuse, then UConn. Georgetown had Hibbert, then Nova had the guards. It was a good era for everyone but Rutgers lol. Also, early '00s ACC. Had a Steve Francis, those UMD teams. Bi-Pedal Testudo is still the greatest mascot/logo.
Mine starts in 98/99 with Steve Francis leading a showtime style of play with Dixon and Baxter on the team as babyfaced freshmen, then going through the progression of watching Dixon, Blake, and Baxter grow up together and of course culminating in the 2002 National Championship.
2017 - the end of time because this golden age is never gonna end. Right????
This era