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Five CBS Sports college basketball writers each pick the best team of the 21st century after a survey of nearly 100 coaches crowned 2023-24 UConn with just 17% of votes — a thin plurality that exposed how unsettled the debate remains.

What is a key fact in this story? (1)

**2023-24 UConn** topped the Candid Coaches survey with 17% of votes from nearly 100 coaches and earned Cameron Salerno's pick for winning all six NCAA Tournament games by double digits as reigning champions — with NBA Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle not even the team's best player (Tristen Newton was the All-American).

What is a key fact in this story? (2)

**2000-01 Duke** is Matt Norlander's pick — the only team where teammates Shane Battier and Jay Williams won national player of the year in the same season, posting a +37.32 KenPom efficiency margin that's one of the three largest No. 1-to-No. 2 gaps in Pomeroy's 30-year database.

Five writers pick best college basketball team since 2000 — SkimNews

By CBS Sports · Summarized & edited by Kapil Samant · 2026-09-11

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2023-24 UConn topped the Candid Coaches survey with 17% of votes from nearly 100 coaches and earned Cameron Salerno's pick for winning all six NCAA Tournament games by double digits as reigning champions — with NBA Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle not even the team's best player (Tristen Newton was the All-American).
2000-01 Duke is Matt Norlander's pick — the only team where teammates Shane Battier and Jay Williams won national player of the year in the same season, posting a +37.32 KenPom efficiency margin that's one of the three largest No. 1-to-No. 2 gaps in Pomeroy's 30-year database.
2014-15 Kentucky went 38-0 before losing 71-64 to Wisconsin in the 2015 title game, a roster loaded with nine future NBA players including No. 1 pick Karl-Anthony Towns and No. 13 pick Devin Booker (who came off the bench) — Gary Parrish's pick for greatest of the 21st century.
2025-26 Michigan posted a +19.9 net rating against high-majors (99th percentile per CBB Analytics) — the second-best KenPom single-season mark of the internet era behind 1998-99 Duke — and produced three lottery picks in one draft (Morez Johnson, Aday Mara, Yaxel Lendeborg), per Isaac Trotter.
2011-12 Kentucky rode Anthony Davis's 35.1 PER — the highest by any title-winning team player since Sports Reference began tracking in 2010 — to a 38-2 record and John Calipari's lone national title, per David Cobb.

Why it matters: With nearly 100 college coaches unable to crown a clear best team — UConn 2023-24 took just 17% — CBS Sports' five-writer roundtable exposes how 'greatest team' debates fracture along statistical criteria: KenPom margins (2001 Duke), unbeaten records plus NBA draft output (2015 UK), tournament dominance (2024 UConn), and net-rating peaks (2026 Michigan) each favor a different squad.