By Eric Fleming, Contributing Writer

There have been many outstanding college basketball programs over the years, including Duke, Kansas, UCLA, North Carolina, Indiana, Michigan State, Florida and Kentucky.

Section: College Hoops Tourney

Some schools such as Holy Cross, LaSalle and Wyoming, won a national title early and have not been heard from recently. Others, such as North Carolina, Kentucky and Indiana, seem to always be contenders.

But longevity does not make a team one of the greatest teams of all time, anymore than having only a single national title precludes a team from being on this list. However, to be considered for this list, a team must have won a national title, which precludes teams such as the Michigan Wolverines of 1992 and 1993, which made the NCAA finals but failed to win before their Fab Five freshman bolted to the NBA.

1990 UNLV Runnin' Rebels

The 1990 UNLV squad boasted future NBA players Stacey Augmon, Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony and Anderson Hunt. Ranked No. 1 at the beginning of the season, the Runnin' Rebels finished the season with a 35-5 record, but it was their work in the NCAA tournament that garnered their inclusion on this list.

Aside from a nail-biting two-point victory over Ball State in the third round, UNLV ran away with the tournament, winning their first-round game by 30 points over Arkansas Little Rock, trouncing Ohio State by 11 in the second round, then rebounding from the close victory by defeating Loyola Marymount by 30 to earn a spot in the Final Four.

They followed up that victory with a nine-point win over Georgia Tech, then demolished the Duke Blue Devils by 30 to win their only national championship.

1976 Indiana Hoosiers

Since 1976, no team has gone undefeated for an entire season, including the NCAA tournament.

A few teams, such as UNLV in 1991, and more recently St. Joseph's a few years ago, have had perfect regular seasons, but have failed to win the title. Indiana, by virtue of an unblemished season, not to mention stars such as Scott May, Quinn Buckner and Bobby Wilkerson (and the always entertaining Bobby Knight as coach), earned a spot on this list. Not only did they roll through the season undefeated, but they also were the first squad to ever defeat a conference opponent in the national title game.

Although teams since Indiana have boasted more star power in the NBA (the North Carolina teams from the early 1980s and Michigan squads of the early 1990s sent bigger names to the NBA), this Indiana Hoosiers squad has stood the test of time. Until some other team completes a perfect season, its spot on this list is safe.

1992 Duke Blue Devils

In the '60s and '70s, if you were a fan of basketball, you were used to seeing teams dominate.

Whether it was the Boston Celtics of the NBA or the UCLA Bruins in the NCAA tournament, repeating as champion seemed, if not easy, then ridiculously commonplace. Boston won 11 titles in 13 years between 1957 and 1969, and the Bruins won 10 titles in 12 years between 1964 and 1975.

But those days ended after the end of those two dynasties. Parity began to be the rule in the NBA and NCAA, with no team able to repeat as champions for many years. In the NCAA, it took until 1992. A Duke Blue Devils squad (dominated in the 1990 finals by UNLV, then victories against Indiana in 1991) was looking to repeat as it entered the 1992 NCAA tournament.

The Blue Devils had been a dominant team during the regular season, going 28-2 before beginning their 1992 tournament run. The biggest stumbling block of all was in the regional finals, where they needed a desperation pass by Grant Hill and a miracle shot by Christian Laettner to defeat the Kentucky Wildcats. The Blue Devils followed that win with a close game against Indiana, then defeated the Fab Five (a Michigan Wolverine team starting five freshmen) to win their second national title in a row.

1974 North Carolina State Wolfpack

Had the school not had NCAA trouble the year before (leading to probation, which kept the Wolfpack out of the NCAA tournament in 1973, despite a perfect 27-0 regular season), North Carolina State could have been going for their second title in a row. But, as it was, the Wolfpack lost a single time during the regular season -- to defending national champion UCLA -- but avenged that loss with a win in the national semifinals in double overtime. This Wolfpack team was led by David Thompson, a high-flying forward often considered to be one of the greatest college basketball players of all time.

UCLA Bruins -- 1969 and 1973

In compiling this list, it became clear that anyone attempting to quantify greatness as it pertains to college basketball should include multiple UCLA Bruins squads from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. The teams won 10 titles in a span of 12 years, with many of those teams going undefeated, and put together a 47-game winning streak. Had the 1973 Bruins not been upset by the Houston Cougars during the season, their own streak would have reached into the 80s. These UCLA teams were head and shoulders above the competition, and boasted such all-time greats as Lew Alcindor, Bill Walton, Sidney Wicks, Curtis Rowe, Keith Wilkes and others. In addition, leading these elite teams was John Wooden, to this day looked upon by many as the greatest coach in basketball history. So no single team will be included from UCLA, but the 1969 squad featuring Alcindor and others, as well as the 1973 squad featuring Bill Walton, are among the best-ever UCLA teams, and as such, among the best in college history.