For 14 years and counting, the men’s Champions Classic has been an annual event pinning what many consider blue blood programs – Kentucky, Duke, Kansas and Michigan State – against one another.
This weekend, women’s basketball fans will get a taste of a similar event.
The inaugural women’s Champions Classic is set to take over Barclay Center Saturday, with No. 17 Iowa playing Tennessee at 7 p.m. and No. 2 Connecticut taking on No. 22 Louisville at 9 p.m.
The primetime double-header brings up an interesting debate: Who is considered a blue blood program?
The criteria to be a true blue blood varies depending on who you ask.
For this exercise, The Post defined a blue blood as a program who has won titles in multiple decades, appeared in five or more championship games and earned in 10-plus Final Four berths.
A program may string together a good few-year run. But to thread multiple decades of dominance?
That’s what separates an iconic blue blood program from a budding one.
Here’s where we landed:
True Blue Blood
Connecticut: Of course the single-most dominant women’s basketball program in the last three-plus decades is as blue blood as it gets. The Huskies, under Geno Auriemma, have played in 23 of the last 33 Final Fours. They’ve won it all a whopping 11 times, tied with UCLA men’s program for the most NCAA Tournament titles.
Tennessee: With 18 Final Four appearances over the court from 1982 to 2008 and eight NCAA Tournament titles, the late and great Pat Summitt made Tennessee women’s basketball a formidable blue blood. The Lady Volunteers haven’t made it past a Sweet 16 since 2016, but their dominant stretch over nearly three decades under Summitt is a run that’s been duplicated by only one other program.
Stanford: Legendary Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer surpassed Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski in 2024 as the winningest head coach in college basketball. VanDerveer retired after last season, and her record has since been surpassed by Auriemma. But the Cardinals were regularly near the top of the women’s basketball realm under VanDerveer. Stanford won three titles (1990, 1992 and 2021) and made it to 13 Final Fours in 31 years.
Notre Dame: Former head coach Muffett McGraw put the Notre Dame women’s basketball on the map. She led the Fighting Irish to nine Final Four appearances and coached in seven national championship games, winning two of them (2001 and 2018.) Notre Dame’s most recent title game appearance was in 2019.
Borderline Blue Blood
South Carolina: South Carolina has been the most dominant women’s basketball program in the 20s, having made it to four straight Final Four appearances and winning two of the last three championships. But the Gamecocks turnaround happened in only the last 10 years. If Dawn Staley’s crew keeps it up for another few years, there’s no doubt South Carolina will cement itself as an iconic blue blood.
Baylor: The Lady Bears won titles in 2005, 2012 and 2019 and four total Final Four berths, but they don’t have as deep of a history and as dominant of runs as the four true blue bloods previously mentioned.
LSU: Angel Reese led LSU to the program’s first national championship in 2023. That run also marked the Tigers first Final Four berth since 2008. Yes, LSU has six Final Four berths but hasn’t won the NCAA Tournament enough to be considered among the crème de la crème of women’s basketball programs.
Special mentions
Old Dominion and Louisiana Tech were once elite women’s basketball programs.
But they haven’t been able to muster up the same national success in the new millennium.
