re: which college basketball seasons had the highest level of play since 2000

2001- There were lots of great teams. Duke was phenomenal with Jay Williams, Dunleavy, Battier, Boozer and Duhon, Arizona had Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas and Luke Walton, Maryland was great with Dixon, Baxter, Blake, and Wilcox plus Izzo might have had his most talented team ever at Michigan State with Jason Richardson, Zach Randolph, Andre Hutson and Charlie Bell.

2005- UNC and Illinois were a very strong matchup in the finals. There were also lots of star players with J.J. Redick at Duke, Chris Paul at Wake Forest, Brandon Roy and Nate Robinson at Washington, and Gonzaga with Adam Morrison.

2008- Kansas is one of the more underrated champions in the last 20 years, Memphis was terrific with Rose, CDR, and Dorsey, UNC had a lot of their core (Hansbrough, Lawson, Ellington, Green) who would go on to dominate college basketball the following year, and Memphis had Collison, Westbrook and Love.