Potential Final Four place in history..

[muwarrior69]

 ....assuming you don’t consider it an article of faith that the champion is necessarily the best team. A pretty big caveat to the whole article; and that is my point.

[ChicosBailBonds]

People obviously have much different opinions on this, but I find it interesting how many of the coaches and players state "the best team doesn't always win the championship"

Seems common sense to me.

I believe our own Al McGuire said the same thing after the 1977 championship.  We won the tournament, crowned National Champions but I'm almost certain he said we weren't the best team.  I'll try to find the quote.

[muwarrior69]

I like to see the quote, but just let us agree to disagree on this one.

[Lennys Tap]

This is really kind of a stupid argument. At the conclusion of any regular season in any sport there are usually multiple teams who would insist that they are "the best". Once a championship is earned(on the diamond, gridiron, ice or court) those arguments are nothing more than a balm for the losers to put on their wounds. Regular seasons have meaning, but much of that meaning lies in how they prepare you and put you in a position to compete for a chapionship. Does anyone in baseball, football, basketball, hockey, etc. give a crap about who had the best regular season record? It's a nice accomplishment, but nothing compared to a championship.

[ChicosBailBonds]

This is really kind of a stupid argument. At the conclusion of any regular season in any sport there are usually multiple teams who would insist that they are "the best". Once a championship is earned(on the diamond, gridiron, ice or court) those arguments are nothing more than a balm for the losers to put on their wounds. Regular seasons have meaning, but much of that meaning lies in how they prepare you and put you in a position to compete for a chapionship. Does anyone in baseball, football, basketball, hockey, etc. give a crap about who had the best regular season record? It's a nice accomplishment, but nothing compared to a championship.

Agree, but of course that's a different argument altogether. Of course people remember the champion.  Then again, they often also remember the team that didn't win either.  There's a reason why so many people remember that UNLV team that lost to Duke.  UNLV was the best team in the country.  Coach K agrees, Bilas, every expert in the land.  Yet UNLV didn't win the title.  Loom how long people will remember the New England Patriots perfect season...they were the best team bar none, but for one Sunday for 3 hours they weren't....the best teams don't always win.

 I'm rather surprised my innocuous comment got a few folks here worked up.  It's a comment that many high profile coaches, players, etc have made over the years because it's reality when it comes to the tournament.  Is Morehead State a better team than Louisville?  No.  On that one day in that 2 hour stretch...yes. That's the difference.  No different than saying George Mason is the 3rd best team in the country when they go to the Final Four.  Of course they weren't, but they had the right draw, got hot, other teams played below their potential and they advanced in the tournament. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

I like to see the quote, but just let us agree to disagree on this one.

Still looking  I did find his quote where he said the 1977 team wasn't even one of his best half-dozen teams at MU but that his 1975-76 team was his best.

http://books.google.com/books?id=g42TyP-V5C8C&pg=RA2-PA101&lpg=RA2-PA101&dq=al+mcguire+half+dozen+best&source=bl&ots=cYNDeLQfjx&sig=7GQ1rGWYYycoMGP3-EeFJVOvOIQ&hl=en&ei=rOOITYbyKYzEsAOro_j6Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=al%20mcguire%20half%20dozen%20best&f=false


I'll keep looking.  It may have been something he told me and the staff when we ran the MU Basketball Television network and he was our color analyst for 10 games that year.  Very fun guy to work with.  I'll keep looking.

[MUMac]

Still looking  I did find his quote where he said the 1977 team wasn't even one of his best half-dozen teams at MU but that his 1975-76 team was his best.

I have heard Al say something similar.  He always, though, tended to downplay his teams.  Those of us who are old enough can remember every preseason he would say they would be lucky to win that year.  That was his MO.

That team was ranked 2nd, I believe, before the season.  The timing of his retirement announcement began a 3 game slide (with another 3 game slide late in the season).  They may not have had the record, but they were one of the best teams prior to the season and sans that retirement announcement, may have been during the season as well.   A lot of talent on that team.

The '76 team was very good, but the '71 team may have been the best - but for a poorly officiated game against OSU.

[Lennys Tap]

Agree, but of course that's a different argument altogether. Of course people remember the champion.  Then again, they often also remember the team that didn't win either.  There's a reason why so many people remember that UNLV team that lost to Duke.  UNLV was the best team in the country.  Coach K agrees, Bilas, every expert in the land.  Yet UNLV didn't win the title.  Loom how long people will remember the New England Patriots perfect season...they were the best team bar none, but for one Sunday for 3 hours they weren't....the best teams don't always win.

 I'm rather surprised my innocuous comment got a few folks here worked up.  It's a comment that many high profile coaches, players, etc have made over the years because it's reality when it comes to the tournament.  Is Morehead State a better team than Louisville?  No.  On that one day in that 2 hour stretch...yes. That's the difference.  No different than saying George Mason is the 3rd best team in the country when they go to the Final Four.  Of course they weren't, but they had the right draw, got hot, other teams played below their potential and they advanced in the tournament. 

I will grant you that people remember teams who were head and shoulders above the rest but fell short (Patriots, 85 Georgetown, 60 Yankees), but they're remembered more for their failure on the big stage than anything else. The champions of those years (Giants, Villanova, Pirates) are revered for their victories.

The "best" team on paper doesn't always win. Scoop Jardine can mouth all he wants that Syracuse is "better" than MU. True, false or somewhere in between, it's a meaningless argument made by losers - and ignored by almost everybody.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Now I remember it...it was the year we retired #77 at the Notre Dame game which should have been November of 1997 or 98 if I recall.  We did a ton of interviews with Dick Vitale, Digger Phelps, Ray Meyer, Lou Carnesecca, Al, etc.  We had each of them do some congratulations comments to Al and their favorite stories of Al.  So much fun to work with each of those coaches...yes, even Digger.

We asked Al about the '77 team and that's when he said we weren't the best team in the country or the best team in the tournament, but the stars aligned ...the best team doesn't always win the tournament (something to that effect).  I have the video copies at home on VHS somewhere.  I'll have to dig those up...some incredible interviews from that event.

Here's a sample of Ray Meyer interview

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/MqAm3U8sorM" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/MqAm3U8sorM</a>

[ChicosBailBonds]

The "best" team on paper doesn't always win. Scoop Jardine can mouth all he wants that Syracuse is "better" than MU. True, false or somewhere in between, it's a meaningless argument made by losers - and ignored by almost everybody.

Apparently it's an argument that is also voiced by winners (Al McGuire, Jay Bilas, Coach K, etc) as well. 

[Lennys Tap]

Apparently it's an argument that is also voiced by winners (Al McGuire, Jay Bilas, Coach K, etc) as well. 

When you're being gracious towards someone you've beaten (Al to Dean Smith in 77, Coach K to Tark in 92) it's a thoughful gesture. Coming from the loser (Scoop Jardine for example) it's sour grapes. "They beat us but we're better than them" is an argument people ignore or detest.