Courtesy: Duke Photography

BRISTOL, CONN. -- The Duke men’s basketball program continued to garner recognition from the ESPN.com Top 10 of the last 10 on Tuesday, with the 2001 and 1999 teams ranking among the top 10 teams in the country over the last decade. The 2001 National Championship Blue Devils ranked fifth overall, while the 1999 team that finished the year 37-2 overall was rated seventh. The five-member panel of ESPN/ESPN.com basketball experts (Jay Bilas, Pat Forde, Andy Glockner, Andy Katz and Joe Lunardi) ranked Duke as the top program over the past 10 years earlier in the week.

The 2007 Florida team held the top spot in the standings, following by North Carolina (2005). Connecticut (1999) ranked third, while the Huskies team in 2004 was fourth overall. Michigan State’s 2000 team was sixth, in between the 2001 Blue Devils and the 1999 Duke team. Maryland (2002), Illinois (2005) and Syracuse (2003) rounded out the top 10.

Jason Williams, Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer and Mike Dunleavy Jr. led the 2001 Blue Devils to a 35-4 national championship season that also included a share of the ACC regular-season crown and the ACC tournament title. Duke averaged a blistering 90.7 points per game and had a huge plus-20.2 scoring margin. Three of their four losses were by two or fewer points, and all four losses were to teams ranked 16th or better. They also won all six NCAA Tournament games by double figures.

The 1999 team was one of two teams on the list that did not win the national title; these Blue Devils fell by three in a great national title game to a Connecticut team that is ranked No. 3 overall. The Blue Devil lineup featured Elton Brand, Trajan Langdon, William Avery, Corey Maggette, Chris Carrawell and Battier, all of whom averaged more than nine points a game. The team went unbeaten in the ACC, rolling to the regular-season and tournament titles at a combined 19-0, and were 37-1 entering the national championship game. Duke also had an enormous plus-24.6 scoring margin, scored more than 91 points per game on 51.4 percent shooting from the field and made just under 40 percent of its shots from the three-point arc.