Kentucky Wildcats maintain a strong lead in all-time NCAA basketball wins

The North Carolina Tar Heels may have won the National Title, but they did not pick up much ground on the Kentucky Wildcats in the race for the most all-time wins in college basketball. It was a good year for the big three in all-time wins, as North Carolina finished with 33 wins, the Kentucky Wildcats with 32, and the Kansas Jayhawks with 31.

Kentucky still has a comfortable lead over Kansas but this was not always the case. Just eight years ago, when John Calipari arrived, Kentucky was hemorrhaging and the Tar Heels were a real threat to overtake the Wildcats as the all-time winningest program in college basketball. Here is a look at how the top three programs stood when John Calipari arrived in Lexington.

1. Kentucky - 1988
2. North Carolina - 1984
3. Kansas - 1970

Over the last eight season, Kentucky has been on an amazing tear and expanded their lead over both North Carolina and Kansas. You can argue that Kentucky would have lost their all-time wins title under Billy Gillispie as one of the reasons that he was fired and Calipari was hired. Here are the win totals since Calipari arrived.

1. Kentucky - 249
2. Kansas - 247
3. North Carolina - 222

Over the course of the last few years, there has been one shift in the top three teams in wins as Kansas has passed North Carolina as the number two team and the Jayhawks are always a threat for the thirty win club each year.

Looking at the top ten programs in wins, there were some other teams shifting positions as well. UCLA passed Notre Dame to become the #7 team with the most wins and Louisville bumped Indiana out of the top ten all-time wins list.

Here is where the top ten teams (plus Indiana) stand as of now.

1. Kentucky - 2237
2. Kansas - 2217
3. North Carolina - 2206
4. Duke - 2115
5. Temple - 1886
6. Syracuse - 1871
7. UCLA - 1849
8. Notre Dame - 1845
9. St. John’s - 1817
10. Louisville - 1803
11. Indiana - 1802