So did the "best team" win the championship?

[damuts222]

  What do you expect these kids to do? Brandon Jennings played overseas and that didn't work out so well did it. You can't blame kids for not taking school seriously when they are forced to go to college for one year instead of going to the NBA.

  There is jealousy amongst the programs and fans that can't get these kids.

[RushmoreAcademy]

Top 5 maybe. I think we will need 3 Otules as far as size in order to compete for a national championship.

+1
I love me some CO, but to say he makes us a contender for the title is off base.  The legend of CO grew the longer he was out.  

[JTBMU7]

  Yeah, the course of study does matter.  An A in basketball theory hardly compares to the usual course requirements taken by the typical college student with a major and career in mind.  These players had neither and were there only to bide their time until they could declare for the NBA draft.  A dumping ground for which Cal and KY deserve no credit.

So college athletes should have to take courses that are approved by opposing fanbases, otherwise their success on the court doesn’t count?
And so what if they were only there to bide time until being drafted? that’s how the system is set up, it’s not their fault that the process is stupid…

[muwarrior69]

This year, the best team won.  Some years, the best team doesn't win.  UCONN was the 10th best team in the Big East last year but won the national title because they got hot at the right time of year in a one and done tournament where anything can happen.

I hate to quote Charles Barkley, but he said it best last weekend when he said in the NBA the team that wins the title is always the best team because they are going through 4 best of series where the cream rises to the top and there is flexibility for an off night or two to still rebound and win a series.  That is not the case in the NCAA tournament.

So using this logic the Super Bowl Champs, the Giants this year, are not the best team. Lets just have a vote, send the trophy to the "best team" and not bother playing the games.

[wadesworld]

So using this logic the Super Bowl Champs, the Giants this year, are not the best team. Lets just have a vote, send the trophy to the "best team" and not bother playing the games.

The Giants weren't the best team. They were the hottest team. In a 1 and done situation the best team doesn't always win. Nobody claimed they weren't the Super Bowl Champions or didn't deserve the Lombardi Trophy. They did. But that doesn't mean they were the best team.

That's dumb. That would be like saying LSU was a better team than Marquette this year since they beat Marquette. Maybe they should've been 9th in the final polls. Come on.

[Hoopaloop]

So using this logic the Super Bowl Champs, the Giants this year, are not the best team. Lets just have a vote, send the trophy to the "best team" and not bother playing the games.

Does the best team always win a game, any game?

The same applies for the playoffs, tournaments, etc.   This is especially true in a one and done format.  In a long series like the NBA, NHL or MLB, the best team usually wins the championship.  In one and done affairs, anything can happen.  It's not flawed logic, Charles Barkley agrees and how can there be a greater spokesman than that?    

If Butler won the national title last year by beating the 10th place Big East team, are you really going to tell us that Butler was the best team in college basketball?  Was UCONN?  No, they won the championship of the tournament but that doesn't always mean the best team. Some years it does, some years it doesn't.  This is hardly radical thinking, many (I would say most but am bias) people agree with the concept that the best team doesn't always win the championship. 

If Bolden wins 100 races in a row but loses the Olympic Gold medal race and then proceeds to win 100 more races in a row, is he still not the best 100 meter man in the world even if he isn't the Olympic Champion?  Don't confuse winning the championship with being the best.  Sometimes they are one in the same, but sometimes the best overall team doesn't win the championship.  Marquette wasn't the best team in 1977 but won the title.  NC State, Villanova, UCONN, and others have won titles without being the best teams.

[tower912]

Kentucky was the best team this year.   Period.   I think Otule's loss cost us two games and one seed.   But even with him, MU doesn't beat Kentucky unless they have an off day and MU plays perfect.   

[Goose]

Tower
I am not sure we beat UK under any circumstances this year but agree with your comments. I had hoped that a UNC or someone could knock out UK before pairings came out and let us roll the dice, CO or not. Once I saw FF matchups it became quite obvious to me the FF was my Holy Grail and not NC.

Love 'em or hate 'em the Wildcats were a great team and fun to watch. I am old enough to have seen MU play Rupp coached teams in person and have hated UK my whole life, but this team earned respect from me. Trust me when I say beating UK is my favorite team to beat and I still think they were best team.

[tower912]

I root against Kentucky in every game, just like I did Michael Jordan and do Tiger Woods, but that doesn't mean that I can't acknowledge their greatness.   I have been going through a mental checklist of national champions, and I would put this year's Kentucky team up against any of them.    As painful as it is to say, and competely separate from all of the off-court maybe's, on the court, that team played beautiful basketball.   Dammit. 

[Goose]

Tower
I love Jordan and Tiger for the competitive nature and ability to win. Over the years I have made it mandatory rules for my kids to watch both of those freaks, only because of their ability to win at all cost. Not saying they are great people but in my lifetime the two greatest winners I have ever witnessed.