Fast: Name the team that played in Final Four 2013.
Right outside the top, the average hoop head with a good memory can remember that it was the year Rick Pitino trained Louisville to a title, later deleted due to a sex scandal. Unless you are a fan of one of these teams, it is much tougher to name No. 4 seeds Michigan and Syracuse and no.
Nevertheless, it is much easier to imagine the field five years before 2008, last time no. 1 seeds reached the national semi -finals. Four of the biggest brands in the College Basketball, North Carolina, Memphis and UCLA-loaded in San Antonio, which gave us Mario Chalmers’ 3 point all the time and produces an exciting overtime victory for Kansas over Memphis in the title.
It is often said that we want upsets and Cinderellas for the first week of the tournament, but by Final Four we prefer teams we recognize. I have been rooting to the ment all my life, and I have taken up the number of uproaches were so few this year.
But now we have reached a whole no. 1 Seed Final Four, and in the midst of all the hand turns for the future of the sport, I would like to remind you that we are in a doozy of one last weekend.
Duke, Florida, Auburn and Houston got their trips to San Antonio-in-the-Lum in the same place as the last all-crashing final-with a completely dominant game. Their combined record is 135-16, and the total loss includes three matches played within that group during the regular season.
Kenpom.com data goes back to 1997, and four of the 10 highest team ratings in the website’s history belong to these four teams. Nevertheless, the Snarmasters focus on the answer in this post on two things.
One is, “you cannot compare grades from different years”, as the data only shows how strong a team is relatively an average opponent for the given year. But that’s the kind of point, guys; You are free to get lost in debates about “would 2023-24 Uconn kill this Duke-team”, but I will not. For four teams to be this head and shoulders above the packaging during their given season is impressive on their own qualifications.
The second complaint went, “something, something, portal and zero.” Overreact to a sample size with a season everything you want, but I am doing at least another year before explaining the death of my beloved college hoops. There is no doubt that the current portal arrangement, which needs major measures, makes the average center of the major program weaker. But it is a big leap from there to get four seeds # 1 in the last four each year.
By the way, most of the upper classes on these four teams have been with their respective programs for at least two years, especially Kärnan Kelvin Sampson retained in Houston. Yes, Duke signed a huge beginner class – the same as it ever was. I am reminded of an envious Jim Boeheim who went, “Pittsburgh bought a team, Wake Forest bought a team, Miami bought a team,” but inventory and coaching still played any role here. No shortcuts.
Look, I wanted to see Yale or UC San Diego take down Goliath as much as anyone, but despite the lack of upsets we have had some really huge games. I would rather look at Maryland hit the summer against Colorado State or Arkansas nitrogen a lead against Texas Tech than Warriors and Rockets who won by 40 as last night.
You are free to agree if you did not like the trip it took to come here. But now that we are here, we can enjoy watching the four best teams in the sport go to decide a national champion for the eternity.
