LEXINGTON, Ky. — Rick Pitino raised eyebrows last week with comments about the status of traditional blue blood programs in the current landscape of men’s college basketball.

Essentially, Pitino suggested the “blue bloods” are almost as passé as compact discs.

“The blue bloods no longer control basketball any longer,” the St. John’s coach said prior to the No. 5 seed Red Storm playing (and losing to) No. 1 seed Duke in the NCAA Tournament round of 16.

“There’s no difference between Kentucky, North Carolina (and) Illinois or St. John’s,” Pitino said. “There’s no difference anymore. ... You’re going to see 40 to 50 teams all the same. There’s no such thing as a blue blood anymore.”

Pitino explained that, in his view, the traditional advantages enjoyed by blue bloods such as better facilities, greater tradition and larger fan bases are no longer as resonant in an era when power-conference schools woo players by offering six- or seven-figure contracts.

“Kansas, Duke or North Carolina, they always had the best facilities. Facilities are probably fourth or fifth on the list (for recruits now),” Pitino said. “I think for Duke, back in the day, if you wanted the best education and the best basketball, Duke has got to be one, two on your list. Probably the players they’re recruiting right now don’t stay (in school) more than one or two years.

“So all that is gone. ... You’re no longer going to Kentucky because of the facilities or the great history. You’re going there because you want to play for that coach, and, obviously, your contract is very good.”

So is Pitino right? In a world where how much money a player can make by playing for a particular school is often the number one factor in recruiting decisions, have the blue bloods lost their competitive edges?

By my formulation, there are only four current men’s college hoops blue bloods — Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina. Those four programs have both longstanding traditions of men’s hoops excellence and, at least until recently, had remained high-performing college hoops franchises.

(To me, there is a separate category, the “New Bloods,” for schools such as Connecticut, Gonzaga and Villanova. Those teams have been elite in modern times but do not have the deep histories of men’s basketball success that the blue bloods boast.)

As you will see below, in NCAA Tournament play in the 2020s, the “blue bloods” other than Duke are not performing anywhere near the level they did in the previous decade:

— Duke: From 2010 through 2019, the Dookies won 76.5% of their NCAA Tournament games (26-8) and won two NCAA titles.

In the 2020s, the Blue Devils are winning 75% of their March Madness games (15-5) with two Final Four trips but no national titles.

— Kansas: In the previous decade, Kansas won 70.6% of its NCAA Tournament contests (24-10) and went to two Final Fours (the second of which, in 2018, was subsequently vacated by the NCAA due to alleged rules violations in the Jayhawks program).

So far in the 2020s, the Jayhawks are winning 66.7% of their NCAA Tournament games (10-5) and won the 2022 national title.

However, other than the 2022 national championship drive, Kansas is 4-5 in March Madness in the current decade.

— Kentucky: From 2010 through 2019, UK won 77.7% of its NCAA Tournament games (28-8), won the 2012 NCAA title and went to four Final Fours.

So far in the 2020s, Kentucky is winning 44.4% of its NCAA Tournament contests (4-5) and has advanced as far as the second week of the tourney once (2025).

— North Carolina. From 2010-2019, UNC won 75% of its NCAA Tournament games (24-8). The Tar Heels won the 2017 national championship and were 2016 national runners-up.

In the current decade, North Carolina is winning 61.5% of its March Madness games (8-5). Other than a run to the 2022 national title game, UNC is 3-4 in the NCAA Tournament since 2021.

Carolina has been eliminated in the round of 64 in each of the past two seasons, a reality that led to the firing of coach Hubert Davis, a former Tar Heels guard.

Some of the struggles in the current decade by blue bloods started prior to the introduction of NIL in 2021, as well as other college sports changes that have subsequently followed.

We are also very early in the new era, and its is generally best not to draw firm conclusions from small sample sizes.

Still, the NCAA Tournament outcomes in the 2020s by Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina and even, to a lesser extent, Duke, suggest that Pitino may be on to something in terms of the blue bloods no longer being as predominant as they have historically been.

“I don’t mean blue bloods are dead,” Pitino said. “It’s just that they don’t have the advantage that they once had because now everybody’s on the same level playing field.”

Pitino thinks the enhanced parity that will result from the new landscape will make following men’s college hoops more compelling.

Fans of Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina will likely be difficult to convince of that.

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