When you look at the top Kentucky Wildcats teams of all time, there are only a few contenders, and most of them are on the men's college hoops side.
Now, that's not to say that other sports haven't had their time to shine, especially the Cats' football team, which finished 10-1 overall in 1977 and 6-0 in conference play, an almost unthinkable feat nowadays. Soccer, volleyball, and gymnastics have all put together some terrific squads over the past few decades.
That said, the Wildcats men's basketball team cracked the ranking of the top 99 North American sports teams, which was put out by Bleacher Report recently. However, only two teams made the cut: the infamous 2011-12 roster, led by John Calipari, and the 1995-96 roster, captained by Rick Pitino.
The former was ranked far lower, coming in at No. 75. "John Calipari's first championship team had seven future NBA players, including stars Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist," the B/R staff wrote. This team also featured power forward Terrence Jones, who went on to have a solid NBA career. Davis led this team and was an absolute force in the middle of the paint.
The latter was the highest-ranked Kentucky team and finished the regular season 34-2 overall. They also won the national title that season behind Tony Delk, Antoine Walker, and Ron Mercer. The Cats from that year were ranked as the 35th-best sports team and one of the top teams to ever grace the hardwood.
Bleacher Report's Top-99 North American Sports Teams of All-Time:
— Kalshi Sports (@KalshiSports) September 8, 2026
1- Chicago Bulls (1995-96)
2- Golden State Warriors (2016-17)
3- New York Yankees (1927)
4- Montreal Canadiens (1976-77)
5- UCLA Bruins (1971-72)
6- Miami Dolphins (1972)
7- Miami Hurricanes (2001)
8- San… pic.twitter.com/V7QbGzVrTH
Overall, in the men's college basketball space, the top-ranked team was the 1971-72 UCLA Bruins, which came in as the fifth-best team in North American sports. The Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls, specifically the 1995-96 Bulls, topped the list.
This should serve as a reminder to understand just how dominant some of the best past teams in Lexington were!
This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Two Kentucky Wildcats squads ranked among 99 best ever sports teams
