Blue Bloods Breakdown

Basketball
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Blue blood definition: membership in a noble or socially prominent family.

The altered definition in basketball terms is tradition, consistency, and resources

So when I first thought of the term the other day, these are the schools that popped in my head:

Duke
North Carolina
Kansas
Kentucky
UCLA
Indiana
Louisville
Michigan State

But then I had to break that down to the definition and separate the legacy blue bloods from the current ones.

Legacy:
UCLA
Louisville
Indiana

Current:
North Carolina
Duke
Kansas
Kentucky
Michigan State

Michigan State looks like their magic may be fading a little. They have been to nine elite 8s in this century, but only two of those have come if the past 7 years.

So let’s look at the criteria again for blue blood status:

Tradition, Consistency, and Resources.

All five schools i mentioned above are in the elite status.

So who is your tier 2 blue bloods. This means they are fringe blue bloods and lack the consistency, the long standing tradition, or the resources.

Who gets 2 out of the 3:

Gonzaga - clear cut choice here. I would say the only thing they lack is a long tradition.

Arizona - another no brainer. Consistency plagued them here and there after Lute Olsen retired but they seem to be back now

Virginia - they just need to do it longer.

Villanova - I’d put them up there with Gonzaga, but losing Jay Wright could hurt their stock for the next few years

Tier 3 blue bloods are programs that are close to having all 3, but are lacking strength in 2 of the 3

UConn - they are the closest to tier 2, but they quite haven’t made it back to Jim Calhoun days

UCLA - they’ve got the tradition and the right coach in Cronin to lead them back to tier 1 again.

Baylor - tradition isn’t quite there and need a longer run to see the consistency

Houston - they need resources and tradition. Too long a dry spell between PSJ days and CKS revival that lost a lot of tradition.

Purdue - have had a solid program for years but never transpires to any FF appearances. They seem to get bounced early a lot with the exception of an E8 appearance every few years.

What say you?

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We’re a blue blood. IDC what anyone says

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Houston = blue blood

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4

We are a blue blood and purple blood to.

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You need championships to be a blue blood… Hopefully, we enter that conversation next season.

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True Blue Bloods
Kentucky
UNC
Kansas
UCLA
Duke

Next tier
Indiana
Villanova
Syracuse
UConn
Louisville

What I’d say about UH is we belong in the great programs to never win a title tier. A title would probably place us T-25 all time as a program. A trip to the final four this year without a title gives us the unwanted distinction of most final fours without a title. I believe we’re currently in a tie with OU at 6.

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Personally I don’t think you do just be consistent in getting to the final four or 2.many will disagree with me, jmpo

P.S. also the amount NBA royalty that’s in the NBA, hall of fame which UH is 2nd to none using that measuring stick…

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Nope, we are the leader. OU has 5, including 2 before 1950 which barely count.

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By the time Sampson is done with us, we’ll be a blue blood. We are not one because, for starters, we’ve never won a 'ship.

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Ah I guess that factoid was outdated. That said I don’t really think any amount of success under Sampson will make us a blue blood. If you look at the five schools I listed, they’re all top 5 in tourney appearances, sweet sixteens, and final fours. They also all rank in the top 5 in program wins except UCLA (who’s 7th but also holds the distinction of having the most titles). All programs are top 5 all time in win%. The fewest final four appearances amongst them is 16 (Kansas). That’s 10 more than us and we’re tied for 10th all time. And it only gets worse the earlier in the tourney you go. We have 14 S16s, the fewest by the 5 schools I listed was Duke with 32. No other program has more than 25!

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Agreed. You can’t be a blue blood without multiple titles and a pedigree that lasts across multiple decades. Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, and UNC meet that criteria.

We’re not a blue blood simply because we were insignificant for the better part of 30 years. We also do not have the resources those schools have. Not even close. This is first season I’ve seen our home crowds look great during our non-conference games against directional/g5 schools.

We have to sustain that for the next 5-6 years with at least one ship to be considered a blue blood.

1 Like
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I bleed scarlet red and there is no way UH is considered a blue blood in basketball nationally. Too much recency bias on this thread. Prior to CKS being our head coach, with the exception of a hiccup with Tom Penders’ UH team in 2010, the last UH team to make the NCAA Tournament was Pat Foster’s UH team in 1992.

We may very well be on the road to becoming a blue blood in basketball, but we are not there yet.

1 Like
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I never thought of Michigan State as a blue blood.

Good program with good history, but not a blue blood.

Nor UConn really.

This list I think would be universal, though Indiana is debatable. They’re more like Nebraska is in football. More of an “ex” blue blood.

Duke
North Carolina
Kansas
Kentucky
UCLA
Indiana
Louisville

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15

We are tied for tenth most final fours, so a title would put us 9th and with a title. That, along with our consistency over the last 6 years would make us blue blood. Just one that had a haitus for a bit.

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I don’t know where the demarcation line is for blue blood but 6 final fours over three different eras means something.

The Coogs are an elite program that the rest of the country is aware of.

I think it is very cool that the Coogs have become a must see when they come to town.

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As someone above posted, the irrelevance gap that occurred between eras two and three was too long and too deep in the gutter to allow UH to qualify as a blue blood.

Given how long were were down and just how down we were during that period, our current renaissance might better make us a “new blood” than a “blue blood.”

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UTEP won a championship in 1966.

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Yeah our fall from royalty levels matches the Romanovs.

But the once and future king is back.

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And that ended up being the ONLY occasion in which they advanced past the Sweet Sixteen.

Definitely not a blue blood.

They are a bit like LaSalle. A “one hit wonder.”

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I know, I was kidding – it was just a random outlier in the middle of the UCLA / Wooden championship run.