When Danny Manning labels this 2008 Kansas University basketball team the best in the school’s illustrious history, you gotta listen. No disagreement, though I’ll submit one mild caveat.

Manning’s credentials are firmly established as a player, coach, talent scout and sterling silver citizen who has been close to the KU program since the mid-1980s. He helped develop the current champions. Danny and The Miracles won the ’88 NCAA title; he says the Boys of ’08 are better than that group. He is aware of the KU misses and near-misses since then and steadfastly rates ’08 as No. 1.

KU’s ’52 college champs also may have collected seven Olympic gold medals, but this club would beat the Clyde Lovellette dandies if the timing for a matchup could be adjusted. Kansas has played in the NCAA finals eight times, has won three titles. Danny calls the current crew the best of show. Case closed? Well, kinda.

One of my major regrets is the troubles that plagued Manning in the pro ranks for 15 years. He had a notable NBA career after being the No. 1 draft choice of the Los Angeles Clippers in 1988. Yet without three severe knee surgeries, Danny would have built a Larry Birdesque image. Bad wheels never let him get close to the greatness he really was capable of. Now he’s into coaching with that marvelous ability to make associates better. We can hope Bill Self keeps him around a long time. Consider how Danny helped refine the 2008 big men.

But one KU team that just might give the current group all it could handle never even got out of the NCAA Regional, let alone reached a title game. That would be the 1966 unit with Ted Owens as coach and the incomparable Sam Miranda as the power behind the throne.

For neophytes, that’s the Jayhawk troupe that actually beat Texas Western in the NCAA Regional finals at Lubbock only to have Jo Jo White’s winning shot wiped out by a faulty out-of-bounds call. Western won and whipped Kentucky for the title after beating Utah in the semis. Should have been KU’s crown.

The current KU team has no post presence equal to Walt Wesley, the 6-foot-11 1966 All-American. There’s no current guard as good as Jo Jo White. The ’66 guard tandem of White and Capt. Delvy Lewis was better than the ’08 duo of Russell Robinson and Mario Chalmers. The ’08ers are better on a three-ply basis with Sherron Collins. Pat Davis was the key ’66 backcourt sub.

Giving Wesley great support in the paint was versatile 6-8 Ron Franz, the equal of Darrell Arthur or Darnell Jackson. In the No. 3 spot, fiery 6-5 Al Lopes would give Brandon Rush plenty to worry about.

The key KU big-man subs now are 6-11 Sasha Kaun and 6-10 Cole Aldrich. Owens-Miranda could help Wesley and Franz with 6-6 Riney Lochmann, 6-6 instant scorer Rodger Bohnenstiehl, 6-7 Bob Wilson and 6-6 Fred Chana. What a battle this would have been!

The other ’66 squadmen were Bo Harris, Ron Lang, Ralph Light and George Yarnevich.

The ’66ers maybe weren’t quite as good as the ’08ers, but they were a fabulous group. Lady Luck was kinder this year. Early this season, stablemate Tom Keegan predicted KU would go 39-1, the lone loss at Kansas State. Well, 37-3 and an NCAA title ain’t too far off, Keeg!

If this 2008 club isn’t the greatest college team of all time, it’s sure-in-hell among ’em.