After Virginia won the National Championship on Monday night, ESPN’s John Gasaway ranked every team (81 teams) that have ever won a title. NC State’s 1974 national championship team ranked as the 10th best championship team of all-time, and the 1983 team ranked 69th.
David Thompson, Tom Burleson, Monte Towe and the Wolfpack did what no team had been able to do for eight years: Norm Sloan’s men beat Wooden and UCLA in double overtime 80-77 in the national semifinal before triumphing over Marquette in the title game. Remarkably, the 6-foot-4 Thompson averaged 26 points and shot 55 percent from the field (all 2-pointers, of course) as a junior despite playing during an era when dunks were prohibited.