Kentucky: D2 Kentucky Wesleyan (37.67 - 3rd Overall)

Winning Percentage (2010-2015): .717 (109-43)
NCAA Tournament Appearances since 2000: 9
Final Four Appearances since 1975: 11
National Championships since 1975: 4
NABC Player of the Year Awards since 1982: 3
NABC Coach of the Year Awards since 1975: 4

What if we told you that the best college basketball program in Kentucky doesn't reside in Lexington or Louisville? Sacrilegious, right? Not really. Contrary to the popular opinion of Big Blue Nation or Cardinal Nation, the best college basketball program in the Bluegrass State resides in Owensboro.

Kentucky Wesleyan has appeared in 11 D2 Final Fours and won eight national championships, including four since 1975. Over the past five seasons, the Panthers, who moved from the Great Lakes Valley Conference to the Great Midwest Athletic Conference a few years ago, have racked up a 109-43 record and have the seventh most wins in D2 hoops history entering this season (1,521). The Panthers have also produced four NBA players, most recently Corey Crowder, who played in parts of two seasons with the Utah Jazz and the San Antonio Spurs. Their score of 37.67 is the third highest overall and best in the division.

No matter what conference the Panthers are in, the tradition in Owensboro continues to grow. And, with the forthcoming expansion of the G-MAC, Kentucky Wesleyan looks to be a force in the Midwest Region.

Other Schools of Note: D1 Kentucky (37.16 - 4th Overall), D1 Louisville (27.37)

This piece is the final result of a conversation at HERO Sports about dominance, dynasty, and what it means to be successful in college sports. Over 1,000 schools sponsor an NCAA men's basketball team, but only 74 of them have won a National Championship. Only 30 have won multiple titles. Consistent success is an incredibly hard prospect, no matter the division.

National titles were not the only way to measure success. They are a certainly a HUGE component, the biggest of them all in fact, but other standards exist as well.

If not purely titles, then how does one define success in college basketball?

To answer this question (and some of the many other questions it raises) we came up with a scoring system that takes into account recent and historical successes and ranks every team in the sport. Our scoring system is relative to a team's success within its own division, so every team has a fair shot at their state's title.

$Scores are based on the following criteria:

Winning Percentage (2010-2015) x 10
NCAA Tournament Appearance (2000-2015): 0.5 points
Final Four Appearance (1975-2015*): 1 point
National Championship (1975-2015*): 2 points
NABC Player of the Year Award (1982-2015**): 1 point
NABC Coach of the Year Award (1975-2015*): 1 point