In order, whats your top 10 mens basketball programs of all time?

[TopCatCal]

Mine Are
1. Kentucky- The Gold Standard
2. UCLA- 11 National Championships
3. North Carolina- They should be stripped of 2 NCs and about 500 to 600 wins, but it won't happen.
4. Duke- 5 National Championships
5. Kansas- 2nd most wins in history
6. Indiana- 5 national championships
7.Louisville- Got to give the devil their due.
8. Michigan State- 9 final fours
9. UCONN- A Johnny come lately. But 4 national championships.
10. Florida- 5 Final Fours, 2 National Championships. yeah, yeah I know the Florida fans don't care about basketball, but their on court success says Top 10.

 

[MKGMVP]

UK
UNC
Duke
Kansas
UCLA
Indiana
Louisville
Michigan St.
Syracuse
UCONN

 

[TruBluCatFan]

1. UK
2. UK
3. UK
4. UK
5. UK
6. UK
7. UK
8. UK
9. UK
10. UK

 

[Bkocats]

1. UK
2. UK
3. UK
4. UK
5. UK
6. UK
7. UK
8. UK
9. UK
10. UK

^^ this

 

[wcc31]

I take all things into consideration- including titles, F4s, wins, consistency and tradition. UCLA's 11 titles can't trump UK and UNC, but I can't ignore them compared to KU's 3 titles or Duke's 30 years of excellence (although they were a really good program before that). Kansas gets a bump for their historical significance. Things get very messy after #7.

1. Kentucky
2. North Carolina
3. UCLA
4. Kansas
5. Duke
6. Indiana
7. Louisville
8. UConn
9. Michigan State
10. Ohio State

 

[Clive Gollings]

I take all things into consideration- including titles, F4s, wins, consistency and tradition. UCLA's 11 titles can't trump UK and UNC, but I can't ignore them compared to KU's 3 titles or Duke's 30 years of excellence (although they were a really good program before that). Kansas gets a bump for their historical significance. Things get very messy after #7.

1. Kentucky
2. North Carolina
3. UCLA
4. Kansas
5. Duke
6. Indiana
7. Louisville
8. UConn
9. Michigan State
10. Ohio State

I'd drop UCLA to 5th, but I was born in 75. The rest of 1-9 I agree with. 10th place could be a toss up.

 

[JonathanW]

1 UK (obvious)
2 UNC (despite the 18 years of cheating, that just puts them closer to 3-5 than 1)
3 UCLA (90% of their success occurred during an 11 year period, outside of that window they probably wouldn't even be top 10)
4 Duke (I came close to putting them 3rd, they had some success before K)
5 Kansas (only think missing is more titles)
6 Indiana (not a lot of success the last 20+ years, they are close to dropping 2-3 spots
7 UL
8 Michigan St
9 UConn
10 Syracuse

On the vertical visual analog scale it is like this:

UK




UNC
UCLA
Duke
KU



IU
UL
MSU
UConn

Cuse

 

[WeWant9]

I think 1-6 will be consistent with what teams people choose: UK, UNC, UCLA, Duke, KU, and IU. In whatever order the picker sees fit. After that you can make a case for a lot of different teams, especially if we're looking at all time top 10. I guess id go with MSU, UL, and UCONN. As for the last team I don't know, you could plug in a handful of teams that would be worthy.

 

[ganner918]

1: Kentucky
2: UNC
3: UCLA
4: Duke
5: Kansas
6: Indiana
7: Louisville
8: UConn
9: Syracuse
10: Michigan State

Honorable mentions to Ohio State, Cincinnati (who, btw OP, has as many titles and one additional FF compared to Florida), and Villanova (who has an equal number of titles and FFs as Florida)

I take into account championships, runners up, Final Fours, and all time winning %.

 

[BBUK]

1. UK
2. UK
3. UK
4. UK
5. UK
6. UK
7. UK
8. UK
9. UK
10. UK

Is there another team?

 

[wcc31]

IMO, if you're going to slight UCLA for doing most of their work in 12 years, then you also need to take into consideration the fact Duke got all of their titles (less than half of UCLA's 11) in 32 years.

 

[TexKat]

Hey, I'm all for calling out the Tarheels, but let's keep a few facts in mind so we don't embarrass ourselves in the process.

First, UNC has one major NCAA infraction (so far) in men's basketball and I think it dates back to the 60's. We have four.

Second, UK received what was equivalent to the death penalty in the early 50's soon after the NCAA was granted enforcement authority by the members. The infractions included things that had gone on during our championship years of 1948, 1949 and 1951. I'm not sure why the NCAA didn't strip us of those banners, but they could have.

Third, we were on probation for a major NCAA infraction when we won the title in 1978.

Maybe we shouldn't be talking smack.

I say horseshit, yes we should be talking smack! No embarrassment whatsoever imo

 

[Jkwo]

Hey, I'm all for calling out the Tarheels, but let's keep a few facts in mind so we don't embarrass ourselves in the process.

First, UNC has one major NCAA infraction (so far) in men's basketball and I think it dates back to the 60's. We have four.

Second, UK received what was equivalent to the death penalty in the early 50's soon after the NCAA was granted enforcement authority by the members. The infractions included things that had gone on during our championship years of 1948, 1949 and 1951. I'm not sure why the NCAA didn't strip us of those banners, but they could have.

Third, we were on probation for a major NCAA infraction when we won the title in 1978.

Maybe we shouldn't be talking smack.

Hey there, troll. UK's biggest scandal in history (death penalty! wooo! scary!) didn't offer any competitive advantage - it was point shaving - and UNC had a point shaving scandal just a few years later under first year coach Dean Smith, who ironically had been promoted to clean things up after Chancellor Aycock forced Frank Mcguire to resign for leaving UNC on probation.

For emphasis: The guy you hired specifically to clean up your program was the originator of what is hands down the worst CBB scandal in history. No CBB fan who is not a tarheel disagrees with that label, either.

So you guys can match our worst, and yet it's still not even close to your worst.

Because again, in case you forgot in the last 5 seconds, you're responsible for the unequivocal largest and most embarrassing scandal in CBB history, whether the idiots at the NCAA let you off the hook (because your athletes cheating to stay eligible is fine if tons of your students earned fraudulent degrees ) or not.

So go home and sip a nice co' colar, maybe take one more pass through Cat in the Hat - I hear the Lit 201 final at UNC is a real bear.

 

[michaeluk26]

Remember when trolls would at least try to blend in for a while before outing themselves?

 

[TexKat]

Remember when trolls would at least try to blend in for a while before outing themselves?

Hogs can't smell their own filth nowadays. Yeah I reckon troll etiquette is a thing of the past

 

[TexKat]

There are those who would like to believe that UK’s first Major NCAA Infraction was simply about participation in a gambling scandal that surfaced in 1951. That's not the case. The aforementioned gambling scandal brought to light the myriad of wrongdoings that had long been taking place in Lexington. Once these wrongdoings surfaced in court, a reluctant NCAA had no choice but to take action. Furthermore, when the NCAA finally did take action, it was not to further investigate and punish for point-shaving participation. Instead, the NCAA investigated and punished for other infractions exposed by the government's gambling investigation and prosecution.

Also, of note. UNC did, in fact, give Frank McGuire the boot for their one major infraction that took place in the early 60's. Compare that to what we did with Coach Rupp. After receiving the "death penalty" in 1952, we allowed him to coach for another twenty years. And that's after the following as regards the point-shaving trials ...

When handing down the sentences of the Kentucky players, Judge Saul Streit unleashed a blast against the school and Rupp, calling Kentucky “the acme of commercialization and overemphasis.” He further said “I found covert subsidization of players, ruthless exploitation of athletes, cribbing at examinations, ‘illegal’ recruiting, a reckless disregard of the physical welfare, matriculation of unqualified students, demoralization of the athletes by the coach, alumni, and townspeople and the flagrant abuse of the athletic scholarship.” He said that Rupp "failed in his duty to observe the amateur rules, to build character, and to protect the morals and health of his charges." And he especially reprimanded Rupp for his association with Ed Curd, acknowledged as the biggest bookmaker in Lexington.

Get a rope guys!

 

[YourPublicEnemy]

1. Kentucky
2. UCLA
3. Duke
4. UNC
5. Kansas
6. UConn
7. Indiana
8. Louisville
9. Michigan State
10. Syracuse

 

[Jkwo]

There are those who would like to believe that UK’s first Major NCAA Infraction was simply about participation in a gambling scandal that surfaced in 1951. That's not the case. The aforementioned gambling scandal brought to light the myriad of wrongdoings that had long been taking place in Lexington. Once these wrongdoings surfaced in court, a reluctant NCAA had no choice but to take action. Furthermore, when the NCAA finally did take action, it was not to further investigate and punish for point-shaving participation. Instead, the NCAA investigated and punished for other infractions exposed by the government's gambling investigation and prosecution.

We'll make the comparison on this in just a second.

Also, of note. UNC did, in fact, give Frank McGuire the boot for their one major infraction that took place in the early 60's. Compare that to what we did with Coach Rupp. After receiving the "death penalty" in 1952, we allowed him to coach for another twenty years. And that's after the following as regards the point-shaving trials ...

Sure, a lot of things were allowed to slide in the wild west old days of the sport, when the money began to quickly outpace regulation and national oversight - no question about it.

And if that happened at UK in 2016, I'd want to get rid of the coach. By contrast, Roy allowed the worst scandal in history to go on (as did your hero Mr. Duckbill Deano), and it happened in the modern context, and he's getting teary eyed just thinking about the rabid, unthinking support he's gotten from the UNC administration and fans. This would be a solid point if not for that.


Now let's look at the good judge's analysis:

a reckless disregard of the physical welfare, demoralization of the athletes by the coach, alumni, and townspeople

No idea what this is about, but it sounds to me like a 50s problem more than a Kentucky problem. Most coaches back then were physically reckless towards their players' safety by most reasonable standards. Ever watch footage of old football drills before pads?

And he especially reprimanded Rupp for his association with Ed Curd, acknowledged as the biggest bookmaker in Lexington.

Again, you guys matched this, and it doesn't even come close to approaching your biggest offense, while it's a cornerstone in our biggest black eye.

“the acme of commercialization and overemphasis.” “ruthless exploitation of athletes, cribbing at examinations, matriculation of unqualified students, and the flagrant abuse of the athletic scholarship.” He said that Rupp "failed in his duty to observe the amateur rules, to build character, and to protect the morals and health of his charges."

With 60+ years worth of CBB since this was written, it's now understood by every non-Carolina fan that the athletic brothel known as UNC is the complete and total embodiment of this summary. Minus the "health of his charges" bit, at least.

For every single item listed up there, no school has ever more egregiously fit the bill (in the name of basketball, at least) than North Carolina. The facts are the facts whether you like them or not.

covert subsidization of players

If you're winning championships with kids who graduate without going to class, then have that fact removed from the record because the rest of your student body doesn't go to class either, are a few $100 handshakes really out of the question?

 

[Bkocats]

Hey, I'm all for calling out the Tarheels, but let's keep a few facts in mind so we don't embarrass ourselves in the process.

First, UNC has one major NCAA infraction (so far) in men's basketball and I think it dates back to the 60's. We have four.

Second, UK received what was equivalent to the death penalty in the early 50's soon after the NCAA was granted enforcement authority by the members. The infractions included things that had gone on during our championship years of 1948, 1949 and 1951. I'm not sure why the NCAA didn't strip us of those banners, but they could have.

Third, we were on probation for a major NCAA infraction when we won the title in 1978.

Maybe we shouldn't be talking smack.

you're missing the point of the problem
yes, we did get in trouble: BUT WE PAID THE PENALTY
unc** has not, and will not; therein lies the issue

 

[jrpross]

At least he's not making himself obvious.

 

[Federal Cat]

1. UK
2. UK
3. UK
4. UK
5. UK
6. UK
7. UK
8. UK
9. UK
10. UK

I'm gonna have to agree with this, can't like or root for any rival.

 

[Xception]

If UNC did in the 50's what they did today , the judge and NCAA would make UNC stop playing sports for many years . It's stupid to even compare judgements 60+ years apart , were values different then as compared to now . Duh . It was different in the 80's as well but times change when big money flows through the NCAAs pockets and it gets harder to appropriately punish cheaters as they should .

What do you think happens to Louisville if they buy prostitutes for their players on campus in the 50's , coaches go to prison is what happens . You can use death penalty to hide the fact that UNC's cheating is the most deplorable along with the hooker school in college history , nice conference .

 

[MdWIldcat55]

Hey, I'm all for calling out the Tarheels, but let's keep a few facts in mind so we don't embarrass ourselves in the process.

First, UNC has one major NCAA infraction (so far) in men's basketball and I think it dates back to the 60's. We have four.

Second, UK received what was equivalent to the death penalty in the early 50's soon after the NCAA was granted enforcement authority by the members. The infractions included things that had gone on during our championship years of 1948, 1949 and 1951. I'm not sure why the NCAA didn't strip us of those banners, but they could have.

Third, we were on probation for a major NCAA infraction when we won the title in 1978.

Maybe we shouldn't be talking smack.

Is that you Rashad McCants? Probably not -- this is more words total than he put down on paper while making the Dean's List at UNC-Cheats with all As in classes he admits he never attended in 2005.

Maybe this is something originally drafted by Tami Hansborough while shacking up with a UNC administrator on a fraudulent trip paid for by NC tax payers to watch her Notre Dame son pay.

If it were translated from Swahili it might be the work product of Julius Peppers, who stayed eligible in TWO sports only through fake AF-AM classes, according to his leaked transcript.

Maybe Will Graves wrote it in his spare time between selling nickel bags out of that house owned by Roy Williams. So many possibilities.

But one thing we know for sure -- only a fraud and a phony would be an apologist for a basketball program that has taken no responsibility in terms of making things right for what many have called the worst cheating scandal in NCAA history.

 

[Xception]

UK overall cannot be matched
Duke consistent for a long time
UCLA the most titles
Kansas consistent and history
IU just as many titles as UNC with less cheating

UNC a complete whore of a school and I can issue judgements
UCONN lately
UL
MSU
Syracuse

 

[wcc31]

Hey, I'm all for calling out the Tarheels, but let's keep a few facts in mind so we don't embarrass ourselves in the process.

First, UNC has one major NCAA infraction (so far) in men's basketball and I think it dates back to the 60's. We have four.

Second, UK received what was equivalent to the death penalty in the early 50's soon after the NCAA was granted enforcement authority by the members. The infractions included things that had gone on during our championship years of 1948, 1949 and 1951. I'm not sure why the NCAA didn't strip us of those banners, but they could have.

Third, we were on probation for a major NCAA infraction when we won the title in 1978.

Maybe we shouldn't be talking smack.

First post and defending UNC. Very smooth.

UNC is a fraud. Dean Smith was a fraud. The entire athletic department led by basketball is a fraud. Might want to hang your hat on something else, you self-righteous blowhard. You may skate but we all know it was 25 years of blatant cheating. You make me sick.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

Hey there, troll. UK's biggest scandal in history (death penalty! wooo! scary!) didn't offer any competitive advantage - it was point shaving - and UNC had a point shaving scandal just a few years later under first year coach Dean Smith, who ironically had been promoted to clean things up after Chancellor Aycock forced Frank Mcguire to resign for leaving UNC on probation.

For emphasis: The guy you hired specifically to clean up your program was the originator of what is hands down the worst CBB scandal in history. No CBB fan who is not a tarheel disagrees with that label, either.

So you guys can match our worst, and yet it's still not even close to your worst.

Because again, in case you forgot in the last 5 seconds, you're responsible for the unequivocal largest and most embarrassing scandal in CBB history, whether the idiots at the NCAA let you off the hook (because your athletes cheating to stay eligible is fine if tons of your students earned fraudulent degrees ) or not.

So go home and sip a nice co' colar, maybe take one more pass through Cat in the Hat - I hear the Lit 201 final at UNC is a real bear.

 

[ganner918]

Let's take a moment to look at the only other post @That GI Guy has made:

I was at UK when Rex Chapman was playing and had an opportunity to "permanently borrow" the athletic supporter he had removed after a team practice.

I never washed it and have worn it under my shorts or pants for every UK game I've seen since, televised or in person.

Pretty cool, huh?

 

[catdance]

Hey, I'm all for calling out the Tarheels, but let's keep a few facts in mind so we don't embarrass ourselves in the process.

First, UNC has one major NCAA infraction (so far) in men's basketball and I think it dates back to the 60's. We have four.

Second, UK received what was equivalent to the death penalty in the early 50's soon after the NCAA was granted enforcement authority by the members. The infractions included things that had gone on during our championship years of 1948, 1949 and 1951. I'm not sure why the NCAA didn't strip us of those banners, but they could have.

Third, we were on probation for a major NCAA infraction when we won the title in 1978.

Maybe we shouldn't be talking smack.

Go to hell Carolina.

 

[GOING FOR #9]

UK
UCLA
Wo a doubt. Now it gets trickier...
Duke
IU
Kansas
UNCheat
Meaningless after UNCheat

 

[ruppcat]

Mine Are
1. Kentucky- The Gold Standard
2. UCLA- 11 National Championships
3. North Carolina- They should be stripped of 2 NCs and about 500 to 600 wins, but it won't happen.
4. Duke- 5 National Championships
5. Kansas- 2nd most wins in history
6. Indiana- 5 national championships
7.Louisville- Got to give the devil their due.
8. Michigan State- 9 final fours
9. UCONN- A Johnny come lately. But 4 national championships.
10. Florida- 5 Final Fours, 2 National Championships. yeah, yeah I know the Florida fans don't care about basketball, but their on court success says Top 10.

I'd have to reverse UK and UCLA. In this country we measure greatness by championships. In any other sport that's what counts. And I hate having to say that!

Are Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw and Tom Brady the best QBs? Why? titles

Are the NY Yankees the best baseball team? Why titles

Are the Packers the best football team? Why? titles

Is Richard Petty the best NASCAR driver? Why? wins

Is Alabama the best college football team? Why? titles

Is the US the best Olympic team? Why? Medals at 2,681! and 1,072 gold medals. ( I didn't know this)

 

[GOING FOR #9]

I'd have to reverse UK and UCLA. In this country we measure greatness by championships. In any other sport that's what counts. And I hate having to say that!

Are Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw and Tom Brady the best QBs? Why? titles

Are the NY Yankees the best baseball team? Why titles

Are the Packers the best football team? Why? titles

Is Richard Petty the best NASCAR driver? Why? wins

Is Alabama the best college football team? Why? titles

Is the US the best Olympic team? Why? Medals at 2,681! and 1,072 gold medals. ( I didn't know this)

No false. Not when it comes to franchises and programs. You cannot compare individuals to teams. UCLA has not sustained greatness. They went on a dynasty run. They sucked before that and they sucked after that. UK has done it with 4 different coaches and it's been done over a 70 year period. We have more wins than uCLA and lead in just about every other metric. The Yankees I'll take that bc they have done it FAR more than any other team and over the last century. USA is a country so that's not apples to apples. The packers? Again more like UK than UCLA. They have done it over a long stretch. Nope I don't agree as a matter of fact you are completely wrong. Now if UCLA had 15 championships and did it over many decades that would be a different story.

 

[Xception]

I'd be ashamed to be a fan of UNC , no program has cheated for decades continuously . Thank you Kris Jenkins , you served that cheater some touch you pie .

 

[SCChucktownCat]

Lexington Herald-Leader
Section: "UK 100: A Century of Basketball"; Page 36
December 22, 2002
Writers: John Clay, Mike Fields, Mark Story and Jerry Tipton


A LITANY OF WRONGDOING

Scandal has been as much a part of the University of Kentucky's basketball history as triumph. Here are the lowlights:

1952

The aftermath of a severe point-shaving scandal made UK, in effect, the first school to get the death penalty.

In November, the NCAA asked its member schools not to play Kentucky in men's basketball during the 1952-53 season.

The NCAA cited at least four instances over a four-year period of UK supporters giving Kentucky players money.

As a result, UK canceled its basketball season.

Had the Wildcats been allowed to play, a team with stars Cliff Hagan and Frank Ramsey probably would have led Adolph Rupp to his fourth NCAA championship in six seasons.

The examples of illegal subsidization of players came to the attention of the NCAA after they arose in court documents relating to the massive point-shaving scandal of the 1940s.

That national scandal ensnared at least 31 players from around the United States.

Adolph Rupp, who had publicly vowed that gamblers "couldn't get to our players with a 10-foot pole," was embarrassed when ex-UK stars Ralph Beard and Alex Groza admitted accepting cash.

Kentucky's 7-1 center, Bill Spivey, was also accused of shaving points. Though he passed a lie-detector test and a New York jury hung 9-3 in favor of his acquittal, Spivey was nonetheless banned from basketball.

1976

Kentucky hit the daily double of cheating, going on probation in both football and men's basketball at the same time.

Among violations the NCAA cited were cars and cash apparently offered to UK players, as well as some recruits who chose other schools.

At the time, 12 Kentucky boosters were ordered to disassociate themselves from UK athletics.

The basketball program, which was deemed to have the least serious offenses, was given two years of probation and limited to signing three new players in both 1978 and 1979.

Coach Joe B. Hall's Wildcats were on probation when they won UK's fifth NCAA title in 1978.

1985

In a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative series, the Herald-Leader reported that 26 former UK basketball players said they accepted either cash or gifts from boosters.

After investigating for almost three years, the NCAA said in March 1988 that it had been unable to substantiate the infractions by the newspaper. The NCAA reprimanded UK for not cooperating with the investigation.

1988

Some 28 days after the NCAA concluded its previous investigation, an air-freight package sent by UK to the father of a basketball recruit "popped open" in Los Angeles, revealing $1,000 in $50 bills.

In addition to that infraction, the NCAA subsequently alleged that UK player Eric Manuel cheated on his ACT to earn a score high enough to qualify for eligibility.

Ultimately, Kentucky was hit with three years of probation, including a two-year tournament ban and a one-year live TV blackout.

Only the cooperation of then-UK president David Roselle in the investigation kept Kentucky from getting the death penalty, the NCAA said.

Yep, all 30 year old crap, meanwhile, none of that is as bad as UNC cheating over the past 20+ years. I wish that clown Dean Smith was still alive to defend himself. He and UNC are the biggest losers/cheaters I can think of in my nearly 50 years of life.

 

[Mojocat]

There are only 4:

UK
UNC
Duke
KU

Ten is a nice round number, but nah. There used to be 6 - that was the right answer to this question. But, just like Army and Vandy used to be football powers and are no longer relevant, so IU and UCLA.....

 

[JonathanW]

IMO, if you're going to slight UCLA for doing most of their work in 12 years, then you also need to take into consideration the fact Duke got all of their titles (less than half of UCLA's 11) in 32 years.

Disagree, 11 years is a third as long as 32 years. Another way to look at it is:
- UCLA was historically great for roughly 10% of their existence, and only ok much of the other 90%
- Duke had had a great 30 year run, about 30% of their existence, and have had some good years during the other 70%

 

[wcc31]

Disagree, 11 years is a third as long as 32 years. Another way to look at it is:
- UCLA was historically great for roughly 10% of their existence, and only ok much of the other 90%
- Duke had had a great 30 year run, about 30% of their existence, and have had some good years during the other 70%

But UCLA was about 10x as great during their run as Duke was during theirs and also have national titles under two coaches- F4s under 4 coaches. Six more titles overall. When you get past the media and recency bias, IT ISN'T CLOSE.

UK- titles under 5 coaches
KU- titles under 3
UNC- titles under 3
IU- titles under 2
UCLA- titles under 2

 

[Jkwo]

Only the cooperation of then-UK president David Roselle in the investigation kept Kentucky from getting the death penalty, the NCAA said.

Only the fact that your university is literally saturated in academic fraud from top to bottom has kept your program from being gutted of 3 of its 5 titles after using players who had never seen the inside of a classroom.

 

[TexKat]

Lexington Herald-Leader
Section: "UK 100: A Century of Basketball"; Page 36
December 22, 2002
Writers: John Clay, Mike Fields, Mark Story and Jerry Tipton


A LITANY OF WRONGDOING

Scandal has been as much a part of the University of Kentucky's basketball history as triumph. Here are the lowlights:

1952

The aftermath of a severe point-shaving scandal made UK, in effect, the first school to get the death penalty.

In November, the NCAA asked its member schools not to play Kentucky in men's basketball during the 1952-53 season.

The NCAA cited at least four instances over a four-year period of UK supporters giving Kentucky players money.

As a result, UK canceled its basketball season.

Had the Wildcats been allowed to play, a team with stars Cliff Hagan and Frank Ramsey probably would have led Adolph Rupp to his fourth NCAA championship in six seasons.

The examples of illegal subsidization of players came to the attention of the NCAA after they arose in court documents relating to the massive point-shaving scandal of the 1940s.

That national scandal ensnared at least 31 players from around the United States.

Adolph Rupp, who had publicly vowed that gamblers "couldn't get to our players with a 10-foot pole," was embarrassed when ex-UK stars Ralph Beard and Alex Groza admitted accepting cash.

Kentucky's 7-1 center, Bill Spivey, was also accused of shaving points. Though he passed a lie-detector test and a New York jury hung 9-3 in favor of his acquittal, Spivey was nonetheless banned from basketball.

1976

Kentucky hit the daily double of cheating, going on probation in both football and men's basketball at the same time.

Among violations the NCAA cited were cars and cash apparently offered to UK players, as well as some recruits who chose other schools.

At the time, 12 Kentucky boosters were ordered to disassociate themselves from UK athletics.

The basketball program, which was deemed to have the least serious offenses, was given two years of probation and limited to signing three new players in both 1978 and 1979.

Coach Joe B. Hall's Wildcats were on probation when they won UK's fifth NCAA title in 1978.

1985

In a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative series, the Herald-Leader reported that 26 former UK basketball players said they accepted either cash or gifts from boosters.

After investigating for almost three years, the NCAA said in March 1988 that it had been unable to substantiate the infractions by the newspaper. The NCAA reprimanded UK for not cooperating with the investigation.

1988

Some 28 days after the NCAA concluded its previous investigation, an air-freight package sent by UK to the father of a basketball recruit "popped open" in Los Angeles, revealing $1,000 in $50 bills.

In addition to that infraction, the NCAA subsequently alleged that UK player Eric Manuel cheated on his ACT to earn a score high enough to qualify for eligibility.

Ultimately, Kentucky was hit with three years of probation, including a two-year tournament ban and a one-year live TV blackout.

Only the cooperation of then-UK president David Roselle in the investigation kept Kentucky from getting the death penalty, the NCAA said.

WTF are you even here for? To show us something we haven't read before? Be gone with ya. Go Cats!

 

[Xception]

UNC running a semi pro team out of college or better yet using college to hide it , UNC hasn't had student athletes for decades . Just players they gave grades to , going so far as having them on the deans list for nothing . But hey , look what UK did in nineteen fiddy . I never thought it would be this satisfying when UNC's cheating machine broke down and the one year you managed to be good without cheating (maybe) ......Jenkins

 

[UKrazycat2]

Hey, I'm all for calling out the Tarheels, but let's keep a few facts in mind so we don't embarrass ourselves in the process.

First, UNC has one major NCAA infraction (so far) in men's basketball and I think it dates back to the 60's. We have four.

Second, UK received what was equivalent to the death penalty in the early 50's soon after the NCAA was granted enforcement authority by the members. The infractions included things that had gone on during our championship years of 1948, 1949 and 1951. I'm not sure why the NCAA didn't strip us of those banners, but they could have.

Third, we were on probation for a major NCAA infraction when we won the title in 1978.

Maybe we shouldn't be talking smack.