Best team doesn't always win national championship
- Thread starter ru66
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UConn has 12 losses in the last 10 yeas-----8 of them to ND.
Reason ?
1. They aren't afraid of them----UConn beats 90 % of the teams before the first shot is taken.
2. We have a HC who is the equal of Geno
When you consider playing the whole year with 7 schollie players and losing a starting PG and an AA Center along with 2 others to ACL's the job Coach McGraw has done is truly remarkable.
Reason ?
1. They aren't afraid of them----UConn beats 90 % of the teams before the first shot is taken.
2. We have a HC who is the equal of Geno
When you consider playing the whole year with 7 schollie players and losing a starting PG and an AA Center along with 2 others to ACL's the job Coach McGraw has done is truly remarkable.
the obvious point--the tournament is essentially an exhibition to produce revenue and if one defines a national champion as the best team in the nation--many times the tournament is far from doing that--although in many fan's eyes they want to see it as that-- and by the way UCONN is the best women's team in the USA--check out who they beat out of conference and by how many--they beat ND by 9 earlier in year and I'm not a UCONN fan by any means
That was at UConn early in the year-----we were getting adjusted to playing without people. We actually led by 8 with 8 minutes to play.
Compare the 2 teams SOS and it isn't close.
We played USC , Tenn , Oregon twice and the Ville twice
But I agree with your point----the best team doesn't necessarily win the NCAA's. It's the team that plays the best over a 3 week span----and has some things go their way.
Michigan is playing tonite because a kid who was one for his last twelve hits a 3 at the buzzer to beat Houston.
No clue if we have enough gas left to beat Miss State but this team is fun to watch and has amazing resilency.
Compare the 2 teams SOS and it isn't close.
We played USC , Tenn , Oregon twice and the Ville twice
But I agree with your point----the best team doesn't necessarily win the NCAA's. It's the team that plays the best over a 3 week span----and has some things go their way.
Michigan is playing tonite because a kid who was one for his last twelve hits a 3 at the buzzer to beat Houston.
No clue if we have enough gas left to beat Miss State but this team is fun to watch and has amazing resilency.
That is kind of true (he was 0 for his last 9), but Jordan Poole is probably the 2nd best pure shooter on the Michigan roster (behind Duncan Robinson) and has a .517/.380/.822 shooting line this season. Him being 0/9 in the 4 games at the Big Ten tourney is as relevant as him being 9/12 in the 3 games prior to that or 4/6 in the NCAA tourney. Small sample sizes can do wonders for crazy stats. But let's just say when Poole is Michigan's leading scorer the next several years that people will look back and wonder how Houston could choose to let him have a free catch with his body square to the rim.
And the Giants won a a super bowl because some guy cUght a football against his helmet. That is sports for you.
1961: Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek, Larry Siegfried, Mel Nowell, and Bobby Knight lost to a U of Cincinnati team that probably only I can name the starting five for. Broke my heart. Lived in Columbus at the time and had been to a dozen OSU games (my brother was a student there and got free tix).
Two years later, that same U of C team (after having beaten OSU again in 62) lost to .... Loyola of Chicago.
Yep, best team loses from time to time.
Two years later, that same U of C team (after having beaten OSU again in 62) lost to .... Loyola of Chicago.
Yep, best team loses from time to time.
I agree when it’s a one-and-done tournament like the NCAAs. But, when it’s the best of 7 games like the pros the best team wins.
Actually that line makes no sense unless you realize that “prove” is used in the sense that it means tests not validates. Prove as in proving grounds.
Sorry to be a pain in the buttocks vocabularian.
Even though Bac said they were “fading quickly” before the tourney started. Honest to god only on THIS board.
they were...I would have had them out in the 2nd round, but they turned things on in the BE tourney and I had them winning my sweet 16 pool that I just one. Their level of play toward the end was sort of funky but all credit to them as they delivered when it mattered. The best team certainly won this year.
Nova did stumble late in the season but they picked it up in the post season. Great win for the Cats - DiVincenzo took over the game and Pascall was big. Brunson was a no-show in the final as was Rahman for MI. German kid was good but Nova got in his head. But credit to Coach Beilein - they were red hot coming out of the Big Tourney. Got to the Finals.
Villanova has shooters at every position and the MVP of the tournament was a player coming off the bench who scored 31 points against Michigan.The 3 point shot is the focal point of their offense and defenses can't cover all five players .
The only time Nova stumbled was when they had several players out with injuries. One thing Nova did not have this year was crazy depth.
You wonder if conference tourneys are a joke but Nova, Michigan, Loyola and Kansas won there’s. They say momentum isn’t a factor but certainly seems to have been the case this year.
Mid majors got hosed. If Loyola has lost their tourney like Vermont, MTSU, WKU, they would not have gotten in. System must be improved to reward excellence not quadrant opportunities.
PSU would have won a couple of games in Big Dance.
Mid majors got hosed. If Loyola has lost their tourney like Vermont, MTSU, WKU, they would not have gotten in. System must be improved to reward excellence not quadrant opportunities.
PSU would have won a couple of games in Big Dance.
I'm still not sure UVa wasn't the best team in the country this year instead of THE NOVA. But in the first round they ran into that buzzsaw, UMBC!
Would have been a treat to see a Virginia-Villanova matchup in the final with the best defense against the best offense.
Would have been a treat to see a Virginia-Villanova matchup in the final with the best defense against the best offense.
so much for the idea tha having the conference tourney early and the two week wait would kill the Big 10 schoola in the NCAA tourney
Yeah, but the team that wins the tournament is always the national champion.
It's not a beauty contest. You play to win the tournament, the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Stanley Cup, and so on. It's not done by judges, and you don't need to worry about the Russian judge. You win, you're the champion.
Hmmm not so sure. Slow starts in first games and MSU looked like crap. OSU too. Purdue lost Center. NCAA forgot about deserving PSU and Nebraska which could not generate any buzz.
Disagree, as most things are not that absolute. I think from among the top teams in the country this season probably Virginia had the best chance to slow down Villanova, but maybe not. We'll never know. And, believe me, I was happy to see UMBC oust them in the first round as I don't care for the ACC at all.
No one got within 10 points of them per final score. They kicked a 1 seed's ass in the semis (a 1 seed who had knocked out Duke). They easily beat UM playing a totally different kind of game, with their best players having average at best games. Pretty damned dominant to me.
They were indeed dominant, especially during this tourney run. Maybe UMBC could have beaten them on that one day, ha!
