So with this Final Four, do people still believe the best team wins the title?

[ChicosBailBonds]

This seems to be further proof that the best teams doesn't always win the title.  It's all about who's hot at the right time.  Jay Bilas didn't even think VCU should be in the tournament, and here they are playing another mid major for the chance to play for the entire thing.

I'm convinced more than ever that the best team doesn't always win the title...as Al McGuire said and so many others.  That's the beauty of the tournament.

No #1 seeds in the Final Four...fun stuff.

[muwarrior69]

Yup!

[Tugg Speedman]

Well to answer your question (which is detailed in another thread) ... exactly 2 of 5.9 million brackets on ESPN had the final four correct.  So, 2 out of every 5.9 million think the best teams are in the Final Four.

[madtownwarrior]

and sometimes the best team coached by the best coach never makes it out of the sweet 16 and often loses to higher seeds...

This seems to be further proof that the best teams doesn't always win the title.  It's all about who's hot at the right time.  Jay Bilas didn't even think VCU should be in the tournament, and here they are playing another mid major for the chance to play for the entire thing.

I'm convinced more than ever that the best team doesn't always win the title...as Al McGuire said and so many others.  That's the beauty of the tournament.

No #1 seeds in the Final Four...fun stuff.

[ringout]

Usually not.  1977 baby.  That's what makes this the best sporting event of the year. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2010/04/02/the-count-the-best-ncaa-team-doesnt-always-win/

"Sports Reference's Neil Paine calculated this two ways, using actual data and also using a simulation. Using the Reference site's Simple Rating System, he figures that in eight of the last 30 years, the best team in the nation won the tournament — including the last two years, when North Carolina and Kansas won it all. That's 27% of the time."

[ChicosBailBonds]

Usually not.  1977 baby.  That's what makes this the best sporting event of the year. 

Agree completely.  We're about to crown a Tournament Champion and a National Champion, but not the best team in the country.  Not with a one and done tournament...that's what makes it so great.  The best team in the country USUALLY doesn't win which is why it's so great.

[Lennys Tap]

Often the team with the best regular season record fails to win the World Series, Super Bowl, NBA Championship or Stanley Cup. Same is true with the NCAA tournament. Regular seasons are for qualifying for the right to prove who the best team is. The better you do in the "qualifying", the easier your path to the championship. The "best team" is ultimately determined on the court, diamond, gridiron or ice in the postseason. Nobody cares who had the most wins in the regular season.

[NickelDimer]

Nope.  NBA playoffs decide who the best team is...the tourney doesn't

[Daniel]

Usually not.  1977 baby.  That's what makes this the best sporting event of the year. 

+1 - at that time we were the losingest team to have won the tourney!  Single elimination tourneys allow many permutations that may eliminate the best teams - this year clearly is one.  But that's what it's all about!

[lab_warrior]

That Butler-VCU game might be one of the most unwatchable games in tournament history.  Poo-poo platter.

[brewcity77]

That Butler-VCU game might be one of the most unwatchable games in tournament history.  Poo-poo platter.

It will have low ratings, but I don't think it will be unwatchable. I like watching Havoc in action, while both Mack and Howard are very good players. I expect a hard-fought semifinal with two teams playing good ball right now. Just because America won't watch doesn't mean it will be bad television, just like Sports Night on CSC...

[bilsu]

I think it will have very high ratings. The one thing wrong with the tournament is that it is almost always going to be won by the four elite teams; North Carolina, Kansas, Duke and Kentucky. The tournament is all about rooting for the non-elite.

[NavinRJohnson]

Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. That said, If Kentucky wins, I'm not sure the best team will not have won the title. They may not have been the best team at the start of the year, but I think you could make a case that they are at this point (A discussion I had Friday night, before they beat OSU. I thought they would win because I thought they were the better team).

[Brewtown Andy]

Was North Carolina the best team when Chris Webber called time out?

[brewcity77]

I think it will have very high ratings. The one thing wrong with the tournament is that it is almost always going to be won by the four elite teams; North Carolina, Kansas, Duke and Kentucky. The tournament is all about rooting for the non-elite.

Almost, but I think it's about rooting for the non-elite against the elite. People will more likely watch the Final to see either Butler or VCU have a chance to take down mighty UConn or Kentucky, but 99% of America could care less which minnow makes it there.

Like Duke or not, people will watch them either to win or lose. There's no such polarizing team in this year's Final Four, certainly not Butler or VCU.

[Dish]

I always thought this was a dumb argument. College basketball might as well go to a BCS system if people think that.

Should Packer fans feel tainted then that as a #6 seed, who needed a bunch of breaks to make the playoffs to begin with, they were not the best team, yet won the Super Bowl?

List could go on forever...Marquette in '77, NC State '83, Nova '85, NY Football Giants '08. If that was the case, the Yankees or Red Sox should probably just be handed the World Series trophy every April 1st, don't even bother playing the season.

[Coleman]

UConn is the best team in the country RIGHT NOW. So yes.

Its hard to argue against it, they have won 9 straight postseason tournament games.

[NCMUFan]

Who cares.

[NotAnAlum]

This question is all over the air today and I just don't get the big deal.  The winner of the tournement simply wins the tournement.  Who cares if it was the best team.(is it really possible to determine who the best team is)  People take this way too seriously like its something enshired for the ages.  The ride is what is supposed to be fun.

[leglegle]

Is the real purpose for the tournament to identify the best team in the country or win an NCAA Championship?  I thinks it's to win a championship.  Who cares who's the best team in the country?  Just win baby!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rocky_warrior]

This question is all over the air today and I just don't get the big deal. 

Agreed, it sounds like whining from the power conferences (or from people who's brackets are busted).  In terms of the power conferences/teams - they needed to step up and beat the "not the best teams" if they wanted to keep playing.  They didn't, end of story.

[Stuckin1977]

Three main factors for winning the title:

- Overall skill as a team
- Momentum, aka, how hot is the team right now
- Luck

[DrDestiny911]

This is kind of a pointless thread that was a addressed a couple days ago and I think the conclusion was the same, who cares if the "best team" won or not. Its about the teams are in the tourney here and now.

[El Duderino]

All i will say is that this tournament IMO has delivered fabulous entertainment value, i've absolutely loved watching it.

Then again, it delivers great entertainment pretty much every year and the ratings reflect it.