So did the "best team" win the championship?

[muwarrior69]

I'm one who believes the National Champ, Kentucky, is the best team. It sure would have been nice to see how far Syracuse could have gone with Fab Melo, but will never know.

[wadesworld]

I'm one who believes the National Champ, Kentucky, is the best team. It sure would have been nice to see how far Syracuse could have gone with Fab Melo, but will never know.

Syracuse would have had no chance.  UNC, with Marshall and Strickland, however...

[ATWizJr]

Best college team - a healthy UNC

Best semi-pro team - the dumping ground that has become that SEC school. Shameful. 

[MarsupialMadness]

I'm one who believes the National Champ, Kentucky, is the best team. It sure would have been nice to see how far Syracuse could have gone with Fab Melo, but will never know.

MU with Chris Otule..

[Dreadman24]

MU with Chris Otule..

Wow

[SaveOD238]

I gotta agree.  With Otule and a healthy Gardner we would have been one of the top 5 teams in the country.

[Dreadman24]

I gotta agree.  With Otule and a healthy Gardner we would have been one of the top 5 teams in the country.

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

[Hoopaloop]

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.

[Goose]

The best team won and actually nice for a change. All season I was saying dream big and the only team I thought would be impossible to beat was UK. IMO they were the best team for four months and enjoyed watching them.

[bamamarquettefan]

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

You take our season while Otule was on and we were the best team in the country - through the win at Wisconsin.  Clearly over the course of an entire season UNC and Kentucky were better, but agree we were top 5 with Otule.  His ability to box out made us a pretty good defensive rebounding team, and with him gone we ended as the 296th best defensive rebounding team in the country.

Wtih Otule, we get rebounds without making the guards come back and box out - and that was the beauty of the first eight games - Otule blocking out and Crowder grabbing boards while a guard or two released for the outlet.

But I'm sure there are several other teams who woudl have moved way up without injuries, so let's just hope we can get two great years out of Otule now.

[JTBMU7]

Best college team - a healthy UNC

Best semi-pro team - the dumping ground that has become that SEC school. Shameful. 

Stop. Kentucky recruited the best players, coached them up, stayed healthy and won. Every one of us would be ecstatic to have davis, mkg, jones, etc... Don't sit here and bash them because their guys are good enough to go pro. Would you prefer a bunch of great "traditional teams" like UW and ND? Better product at unc, duke, Kentucky.

[4everwarriors]

Dudes become Jabbar-like in absentia.

[ATWizJr]

Stop. Kentucky recruited the best players, coached them up, stayed healthy and won. Every one of us would be ecstatic to have davis, mkg, jones, etc... Don't sit here and bash them because their guys are good enough to go pro. Would you prefer a bunch of great "traditional teams" like UW and ND? Better product at unc, duke, Kentucky.

Calipari is a pimp.  You can guess who the whore is. And, yes, I would prefer a great traditional team to the aberration that KY is.  The board of regents at that school should be ashamed of what they have become.  Knight is right.

[MU B2002]

Calipari is a pimp.  You can guess who the whore is. And, yes, I would prefer a great traditional team to the aberration that KY is.  The board of regents at that school should be ashamed of what they have become.  Knight is right.

The UK board cares about 1 thing, winning.  That is all.  The Blue Mist will not care if this title gets vacated 5 years from now.

[ATWizJr]

The UK board cares about 1 thing, winning.  That is all.  The Blue Mist will not care if this title gets vacated 5 years from now.

May it be so.

[JTBMU7]

Calipari is a pimp.  You can guess who the whore is. And, yes, I would prefer a great traditional team to the aberration that KY is.  The board of regents at that school should be ashamed of what they have become.  Knight is right.

I just think that's a really naïve way of thinking about this whole thing. I guess I'm not sure what you're expecting coaches at top programs to do, not recruit the best players because they have potential to go pro early?

Do you have an issue with Trey Burke going pro? Is Beilein a cheater/pimp because he has had back to back early entrants? Or does it only count for one and done's? How about Coach K and Duke - Also had multiple one and done's recently, pimp as well? Or what about all the coaches who are going after these players but miss out? aren't they just as "bad" because they were hounding these kids, though unsuccessfully?  

This is the reality of college hoops now. Kentucky has set up a system where they can exploit it better than the rest and will continue to win because of it. Doesn't make them cheaters.

[bilsu]

Kentucky was definately the best team and they lost two games. We should remember even the best teams lose, before we go bonkers over an MU loss.

[🏀]

Calipari is a pimp.  You can guess who the whore is. And, yes, I would prefer a great traditional team to the aberration that KY is.  The board of regents at that school should be ashamed of what they have become.  Knight is right.

Those kids have to go to school somewhere, might as well be Kentucky.

What's missing in all this is the great coaching job Calipari did. Getting those kids to play the defense they did was incredible, something that is usually lacking with high-caliber recruits. They played well as a team, not as individuals. No one was concerned with personal stats, and they proved you don't need gaudy numbers to be considered lottery worthy.

I crapped on Calipari a lot for his coaching, and I'm eating crow.

[ATWizJr]

I just think that's a really naïve way of thinking about this whole thing. I guess I'm not sure what you're expecting coaches at top programs to do, not recruit the best players because they have potential to go pro early?

Do you have an issue with Trey Burke going pro? Is Beilein a cheater/pimp because he has had back to back early entrants? Or does it only count for one and done's? How about Coach K and Duke - Also had multiple one and done's recently, pimp as well? Or what about all the coaches who are going after these players but miss out? aren't they just as "bad" because they were hounding these kids, though unsuccessfully?  

This is the reality of college hoops now. Kentucky has set up a system where they can exploit it better than the rest and will continue to win because of it. Doesn't make them cheaters.

I have a problem with a coach who has been proven to be a cheater at his previous 2 college jobs now coming to the storied KY program and sullying its' reputation by hiring a bunch of one and done's to plump up his sorry record.  Call me a traditionalist, I guess, but I preferred college BB when there was at least a hint that the players would also be students on some basis and were not being warehoused for a year before moving to the pros.  And to have a cheater like Calipari profit from the system is offensive.

[wadesworld]

I have a problem with a coach who has been proven to be a cheater at his previous 2 college jobs now coming to the storied KY program and sullying its' reputation by hiring a bunch of one and done's to plump up his sorry record.  Call me a traditionalist, I guess, but I preferred college BB when there was at least a hint that the players would also be students on some basis and were not being warehoused for a year before moving to the pros.  And to have a cheater like Calipari profit from the system is offensive.

You mean guys like Brandon Knight, who only had a 4.0 GPA at Kentucky before he left for the pros?

[MU B2002]

I have a problem with a coach who has been proven to be a cheater at his previous 2 college jobs now coming to the storied KY program and sullying its' reputation by hiring a bunch of one and done's to plump up his sorry record.  Call me a traditionalist, I guess, but I preferred college BB when there was at least a hint that the players would also be students on some basis and were not being warehoused for a year before moving to the pros.  And to have a cheater like Calipari profit from the system is offensive.

lol

[ATWizJr]

You mean guys like Brandon Knight, who only had a 4.0 GPA at Kentucky before he left for the pros?

Courses?  I mean I prefer guys like Crowder, DJO, the 3 Amigos, Diener, Novak, Hayward, Butler, Lee, Ellis, guys who were students as well as BB players. At least you could expect them to be around for more than 1 season which really only means 1 semester of study.

[wadesworld]

  Courses?  I mean I prefer guys like Crowder, DJO, the 3 Amigos, Diener, Novak, Hayward, Butler, Lee, Ellis, guys who were students as well as BB players. At least you could expect them to be around for more than 1 season which really only means 1 semester of study.

Does it matter what courses?  He was a 4.0 student.  That's not easy to do no matter what courses you take.  And no, that does not mean 1 semester.  The student-athletes must be in good academic standings at the end of the 2nd semester of classes in order for their APR not to take a hit.  They can't just stay eligible until mid-December and continue to play without attending classes.

It's not these players' fault that they are forced to attend college for 1 year (nor is it the school's).  If they could go to the NBA out of high school they would.  They can't do that.

[mu-rara]

Kentucky had the best players, and played very well as a team.  No question.

My real problem is recruiting young men who would never consider college anyway.  If they are good enough to play, but have no interest in going to class, start a minor league, play in the NBDL for a year or two,  Go to Europe.  College is for well,  college students.

And don't tell me Cal had no idea that Derrick Rose had an imposter take his ACT.

[ATWizJr]

Does it matter what courses?  He was a 4.0 student.  That's not easy to do no matter what courses you take.  And no, that does not mean 1 semester.  The student-athletes must be in good academic standings at the end of the 2nd semester of classes in order for their APR not to take a hit.  They can't just stay eligible until mid-December and continue to play without attending classes.

It's not these players' fault that they are forced to attend college for 1 year (nor is it the school's).  If they could go to the NBA out of high school they would.  They can't do that.

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.