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The world perfection was thrown around plenty before the 1960s, but it was not until John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins entered the NCAA scene that the world was given meaning.
With Hall of Famers Lou Alcinder and Bill Walton leading the way, John Wooden did not just create winning teams he created a dynasty. Beginning in 1964 with their first NCAA championship, the program won nine more in just over a decade. Of course ten national championships in 12 is impressive, but even more impressive was the fact that four of these teams did so go undefeated along the way.
The first of the teams to achieve the perfect season was that first 1964 squad, considered overrated by most in the country, it was not until their victory over Duke in the finals of the NCAA tournament that many believed Wooden squad was an unbeatable team.
The Nets and all Bruins team was the 1967 edition. Now with superstar Lou Alcinder at the home who later renamed himself Kareem Abdul Jabar. The UCLA team did not only power through the season and tournament a perfection, but also begun Wooden’s run at improbable seven consecutive national championships. It also begun Alcinder’s streak of three consecutive of most outstanding player awards in the NCAA tournament.
By the 1970s, UCLA had already written themselves into the record book with their winning tradition and consistency. However to add to their already golden legacy, they strew together a record shattering 88 consecutive wins and took home the championship as undefeated squad twice more in 1972 and 1973. These two teams were lead this time by future hall of famer, Bill Walton who himself repeated as the tournament’s most outstanding player those same two years.
The UCLA Bruins of the 1960s and 70s may not have been the first to prove unbeatable, however, by taking that one-step further and creating an unbeatable program, John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins became unpreventable on the college basketball stage.
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