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RE: "Best" Final Four?
(03-27-2022 10:09 PM)BePcr07 Wrote: (03-27-2022 10:04 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote: (03-27-2022 06:37 PM)schmolik Wrote: With all respect to St. Peter's, this is truly a "blue blood" Final Four.
The last time all four teams in the Final Four have previously won a national championship was 2015: Kentucky, Duke, Michigan State, and Wisconsin (they won it in 1941, I had to look it up!)
The last time all four teams in the Final Four have previously won a national championship in the 64 team era (1985-present) was 2009 (North Carolina, Michigan State, Connecticut, and Villanova). At the time, three of the four teams had won a national championship in the 2000's.
In the 64 team era, Duke has won 5 national championships (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, and 2015), North Carolina 4 (1993, 2005, 2009, 2017), Villanova 3 (1985, 2016, 2018), and Kansas 1 (2008) for a total of 12 out of the 36 national championships in that span (1/3).
Final Fours 1985-present? Duke (13), North Carolina (12), Kansas (10), Villanova (5).
I'm not saying these are the cream of the crop of men's basketball in the 64 team era (Kentucky and Michigan State among others are noticeable absentees) but there's no Baylor, no Auburn, no Texas Tech, no Oregon (some of the more recent Final Four one hit wonders). There's no flash in the plan programs, these are programs that are at the top of the game in men's basketball.
We have Duke and North Carolina playing. Imagine if Ohio State and Michigan or Alabama and Auburn played in a College Football Playoff semifinal. Villanova-Kansas is the undercard?
If you're not into this Final Four, you don't love basketball.
This is a crucial point... I hear people "say" that they want the CFP to more resemble the NCAAT, to allow for "Cinderella" stories. But I don't think "people" really want that at all. We like the "idea" of the "Cinderella" story, but only to a point.
The typological "Cinderella Story" people point to is the Jim Valvano, NC State run to win the NCAAT in 1983...but is North Carolina State really a "Cinderella"? They were an "upset" pick for sure, but they weren't really all than much of a "Cinderella" like Saint Peters is, or UMBC, or Loyola Chicago, etc...
When it really comes down to it, we "like" so-called "Cinderella Stories" up to the Sweet Sixteen. If a "Cinderella" pushes it into the Elite Eight, we get nervous. But really...in football as well as basketball...we don't really want a "Cinderella" in our "Final Fours": we WANT the "blue-blood," elite programs. That's why when a UNLV (in basketball) or a Cincinnati (in football) crashes the party we really want them to lose.
Oh, sure, we'll ***** and moan about "Another SEC Title game rematch," or "Another Duke-North Carolina game" but that's what we really want. It's predictable, it's reassuring, and we think that we're going to get our "money's worth" because we "know" that UNC, Kansas, Villanova, and Duke "belong" there. Just like we "know" that Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, and Ohio State (and Notre Dame and USC), "belong" in the CFP. It is as certain as the sun rising in the East that those "names" will be at the top of the polls when the season starts next year.
And if unexpected...and unwelcome...names start appearing there too frequently (like the "BCS Busters") then we'll change the rules to stop it from happening. Because we do like "Cinderellas"...to a point. But only to a point.
With all do respect, speak for yourself! LOL
I love an all blue-blood Final Four but I am equally, if not more, excited about Cinderellas. Butler/VCU in 2011 assured us of a Cinderella finalist which was fun for me.
I want teams that earned it all season in the final 4, not just over a couple weeks.
But Cinderellas like Indiana St. in 1979 with Larry Bird are great. They were #1 in the polls.
2014 I had mixed feelings. UK got into the finals vs. UConn. But UK lost 3 times to Florida and finished 6 games behind them in the SEC. UConn lost 3 times to Louisville and finished about 6 games behind them in the AAC. But UK knocked off UL in the regional finals and UConn knocked off Florida in the final 4. Didn't feel like either team really deserved to be there.
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