UCLA Basketball set the standard for success and have failed to live up to that
Success for Blue Bloods
| Team | Titles | First Title | *AYIBTSF | Titles Since 1995 | **AYIBTS95 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | 8 | 1948 | 8.8 | 3 | 7.7 |
| North Carolina | 6 | 1957 | 10.2 | 3 | 7.7 |
| Duke | 5 | 1991 | 5.4 | 3 | 7.7 |
| Indiana | 5 | 1940 | 15.6 | 0 | — |
| UConn | 4 | 1999 | 4.75 | 4 | 5.8 |
| Kansas | 3 | 1952 | 22.0 | 1 | 23.0 |
*AYIBTSF – Average # of years in between titles since the program’s first
**AYIBTS95 – Average # of years in between titles since 1995 (the last UCLA National Title)
Related Story: Alford likely to stay at UCLA
The above chart shows what six elite programs (aside from UCLA) have done in their history and how long it has taken them to go from championship to championship. Here we see the amount of titles, the year of their first title and the average year they go from title to title since their first.
The last two columns have to do with championships won since 1995, the last time UCLA won one. As you can see, many programs have been able to repeat their success in a short amount of time. For emphasis, it has been 23 years since UCLA raised a banner.
Though Bruins’ fans would have liked to see Howland raise one himself, they reveled in his accomplishments. Going to three consecutive Final Fours is extremely difficult to do, more difficult than just simply making the NCAA Tournament, which UCLA should be able to do every year (and not squeak in with a play-in game).
Howland brought UCLA success, but he also couldn’t back it up. UCLA had a taste of the sweet life and they did not want to let it go. UCLA appeared to be dedicated to re-elevating the status of their storied basketball program, but that seemed to come to a halt when they hired Holwand’s replacement.