What’s a College Basketball Blue Blood?

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North Carolina's Dontrez Styles (3) blocks a shot by Duke's Wendell Moore Jr. (0) during the first half of a college basketball game in the semifinal round of the Men's Final Four NCAA tournament, Saturday, April 2, 2022, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
BetMGM Staff @BETMGM Apr 03, 2023, 9:43 PM

Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, and UCLA are the college basketball teams most often associated with the term “blue blood.”

There is, however, an ongoing debate about the most deserving blue bloods and what blue blood actually means.

What’s a College Basketball Blue Blood?

According to the NCAA, the first reference of a blue blood was in the Brooklyn Times-Union on Jan. 3, 1927. It was used again in other publications throughout the 1940s and 1950s, appearing to reference an undefined elite class of college basketball programs.

There is no concrete history for the current application of the term, nor is there a consensus on which teams are blue bloods.

Despite periods of national irrelevance over the last two decades, Indiana and UCLA are often considered blue bloods. The Bruins, for example, have three more national championships (11) than the next closest team (Kentucky) but they haven’t won a title since 1995.

There seems to be wider agreement on the other four teams: Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky.

Blue Bloods in March Madness

Blue bloods didn’t fare well in the 2023 NCAA Tournament:

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Our BetMGM authors are sports experts, with a wealth of knowledge of the sports betting industry at all levels. Their coverage includes sports news across players, teams and coaches, providing betting previews and predictions, fun facts and more.

Our BetMGM authors are sports experts, with a wealth of knowledge of the sports betting industry at all levels. Their coverage includes sports news across players, teams and coaches, providing betting previews and predictions, fun facts and more.