6. 1999 Duke

Record: 37-2, 16-0 (1st place)
ACC Tournament: Won
NCAA Tournament: Lost in final
Final AP Ranking: 1
All-ACC Players: Elton Brand (ACC POY), Trajan Langdon (1st), William Avery (2nd), Chris Carrawell (3rd), Shane Battier (3rd)
All-Americans: Elton Brand (National POY), Trajan Langdon (2nd)

Had they won the final against UConn, I think they would be number one. This team is arguably the greatest team in the history of college basketball to not win the national championship. There are other candidates; 1974 UCLA, 1992 UNLV, and 2015 Kentucky come to mind. But this team was unreal.

Let’s start with the roster. I was looking at teams that had 3+ players on my list of the Top 100 players in ACC history. Here they are:

  • 1973-74 Maryland: Elmore (58), McMillen (39), Lucas (20)
  • 1978 Duke: Gminski (19), Spanarkel (50), Banks (65)
  • 1981 Carolina: Wood (55), Worthy (41), Perkins (15)
  • 1982 Carolina: Worthy (41), Perkins (15), Jordan (5)
  • 1984 Carolina: Jordan (5), Perkins (15), Daugherty (60), K. Smith (64)
  • 1991-92 Duke: Laettner (3), Hurley (35), Hill (23)
  • 1999 Duke: Brand (45), Langdon (70), Battier (14)
  • 2010 Duke: Singler (53), Scheyer (93), Smith (66)

That’s pretty good company. But not only did this team have three of the 70 greatest players in ACC history. They had Chris Carrawell, who would win ACC Player of the Year the next season. They had Will Avery, an immensely talented guard who was named second-team All-ACC as a sophomore. Corey Maggette, who went on to be the thirteenth pick in the NBA draft after one season, couldn’t crack the starting lineup. Nate James, another future All-ACC performer, was the third guy off the bench. They had five players make All-ACC, never done before or since.

Then there’s the record. Tied with 1986 Duke for most wins by an ACC team in a season. One of just six ACC teams to finish a season with two losses or fewer. One of just eight ACC teams to go unbeaten in conference play. You like margin of victory? How about an average margin of 24.6 points – way ahead of 1973 NC State (21.8) and 2001 Duke (20.2) for the biggest of any ACC team? How about winning three ACC Tournament games by 37, 15, and 23?

From December 5, 1988 through March 21, 1999, a span of 30 games that included all 19 of their ACC games, they went 30-0 and had exactly two games that were closer than 10 points, a four-point win at St. John’s in late January and an eight-point win at Georgia Tech a couple of weeks later.

How about kenpom? His ratings go back to 1997, so a total of 28 seasons now. 1999 Duke is by far the highest-rated team in that span with an adjusted efficiency margin of 43 (second place is 2001 Duke at 37.3). That means that per 100 possessions, this Duke team scored 43 points more than they allowed, adjusting for schedule strength. They have the third-highest offensive efficiency rating ever, after 2015 Wisconsin and 2018 Villanova.

They shot 51.4% from the floor while holding opponents to 39.1%. They were first in Division I in field goals made, second in FG%, second in three-pointers made, seventh in 3FG%, first in free throws made, first in total rebounds, third in total assists, fourth in total steals, second in total blocks, nineteenth in lowest turnover percentage.

They had it all, but they lost. They had to play a great UConn team with a great player in Rip Hamilton and a Hall of Fame coach in Jim Calhoun, and they lost. They were better than UConn; I think they would have beaten them 7-8 times out of 10. But improbable things happen all the time. Duke didn’t play well and UConn did, and that was that.

Teams With Multiple Guys Who Won National POY At Some Point in Their Career on the Roster at the Same Time:

  • 1962 Ohio State: Jerry Lucas (won POY in 1961, 1962), Gary Bradds (1964)
  • 1969 UCLA: Lew Alcindor (1967, 1968, 1969), Sidney Wicks (1971)
  • 1985 St. John’s: Chris Mullin (1985), Walter Berry (1986)
  • 1986 Duke: Johnny Dawkins (1986), Danny Ferry (1989)
  • 1989 Duke: Danny Ferry (1989), Christian Laettner (1992)
  • 1999 Duke: Elton Brand (1999), Shane Battier (2001)
  • 2000-2001 Duke: Shane Battier (2001), Jason Williams (2001, 2002)
  • 2000-2002 Kansas: Drew Gooden (2002), Nick Collison (2003)