OT Best College team to never win a title? 2007/08 UCLA?

[Doctor MJ]

Don't get too caught up in raw stats. Webber was a legit MVP candidate, All-NBA 1st/2nd teamer, and a #1 option on a title contender. Basically right smack in the middle of the "franchise player" category. Can you really see a team being a legit title contender with Love as the #1 guy?

You very much overrate Webber. Dude only rose to that kind of prominence when the Kings got good, and while he was on the Kings he was jacking up shots inefficiently with all kinds of ball dominance that wasn't missed much at all when he went down.

Webber should never have been an MVP candidate, and I think Love has an excellent shot to be at least on Webber's level.

Last note: Webber does deserve major praise for his passing ability - which was why he was allowed to be so ball dominant as a big. People do need to remember though that Love himself is an excellent passer. I don't expect him to ever be used as a point forward now because he wasn't used like that before, and now the team has Rubio who is drastically superior on this front to Webber or Love, but I think Love could have done work along these lines.

[Dr Positivity]

Well, it's how you play and not who you are. So I wouldn't call them near the best to never win a title. More like one of the most talented.

[jlin22]

Best college team should not necessarily mean team with the most NBA drafted players.

[Chuck Newhouse]

91 UNLV beat their opponents on average by 25+ ppg. We beat #2 Arkansas AT Arkansas by double digits. We were so good, that when we lost to Duke in the final four, there was speculation the game was thrown (though I personally just think Duke played great and we played not so great.)

Still the closest the NCAA has had to an undefeated throughout the season since IU and UCLA

I think anyone who posts on this thread should have to mention whether or not they actually watched the 1991 Rebels. They were so good that, even though I have been a huge ACC fan since before Jordan was even there, none of those teams played like the Rebels. They were easily better than the team from a year earlier that won it all. Many people talked about a game against a pro team back then (this wasn't so far fetched because college talent was more mature back then).

Coach K should have got medal for out couching Tark that night. It took a masterpiece for Duke to win and they got it.

On a side note can you imagine Kentucky this year if some of the players over the last 2 seasons had stayed?

[LoveDaBoo]

The way Westbrook and Love are going now, yeah, it looks like that was one of the top teams of all time, talent-wise. M-M & Collison are decent in their own right, but Love and Westbrook are both inarguably top 15 players, and likely will be for the next 5-10 years. That's phenomenal talent for one NCAA team.

[ElGee]

1991 UNLV may be the best college team ever, PERIOD. (The large caveat there is that some of the older teams, particularly UCLA squads, were so stacked that they have just as good of an argument.) But 1990 UNLV kind of blew me away as a kid. The 1991 team was better.

The NCAA plays a single elimination tournament. Take a good college team like Duke (they did win in 92 again) and it's possible for UNLV to lose, but I don't think they lose a 7-game series very often to Duke. Furthermore, next time that game is on classic sports check out some of the coaching and officiating. Tark is outcoached, but if IIRC Greg Anthony had some questionable foul calls (he ultimately DQed at 3:51 left, with UNLV outscored 8-1 to close without Anthony) and the GWing free throws from Laettner were off a pretty ticky-tack foul. It looked like LJ was hacked by Laettner at 1:31 (no call). At 1:01 Davis scores an and-1 but it looks like there absolutely no contact. Any of those change, and no one even remembers how close the National Semis were for UNLV.

The point is, a team's strength isn't gauged by one game. Larry Johnson was a phenomenal college player, and that he was flanked by monsters like Anthony, Stacey Augmon and good players like Anderson Hunt kind of made it feel unfair. Consider this:

-1991 UNLV's SRS was 31. (MOV 27)
-They were ranked No. 1 every week of the season.
-They had one RS game decided by single digits all year (7 point win at No. 2 Arkansas!)
-Before the Duke game, they had a 45-game win streak and won their previous 10 Tourney games by 18.3 ppg

By comparison, 82 North Carolina (Jordan, Worthy, Perkins) had an SRS of 20. They finished with a 16-game streak and won their Tourney games by 4.6 ppg.

My HM would be to 99 Duke.

[enuggz]

This is definitely the 1991 UNLV squad that team was just crazy and if Greg Anthony doesn't foul out someone else could have a shot at this award.

Runner up for me is the 1997 Kansas Jayhawks - Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce, Scot Pollard, Billy Thomas, Jacque Vaughn no way they should have lost to Arizona.

[miltk]

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[miltk]

i'll bet everyone here was born after 1975.

UCLA 73/74...walton, wilkes, meyers, johnson, washington, trgovich, mccarter

the admittedly biggest disappointment in walton's career

[joseph mamah]

That ucla team didnt win it but most of those players won two or three titles while at ucla.Fab Five by far if webber would have had some balls and not run away to the nba after making one of the biggest mistakes in sports history they would have got one. anybody who thinks love is a better player than webber was needs to watch a little more basketball. Webber was the best PF not named tim in the league in his prime, if it wasnt for shaq and kobe and the juggernaut that was the spurs he would have carried that mediocre kings team to a few finals and if he didnt choke maybe even a title or two. love is good but he'll never be the best player on a championship caliber team.

[The Beas Knees]

It makes me wonder if an alternative explanation is actually better. That being, UCLA got lucky and managed to acquire the most talent out of any program out there, and Howland still couldn't win a title with them, so now when he's had not as amazing talent with far weaker player leadership, we're seeing how fortunate he'd been before.

I don't know. I'm a UCLA alum, and I'm really discouraged with all that's happening right now, so maybe I need to gain more perspective.

I honestly think that if Howland doesn't reach the Final Four this year with Shabazz and Parker there is something wrong with his coaching and he should be fired. There are always injuries, but if that's a healthy UCLA team its the favorite for the Nat'l Championship.

[blue and orange]

I would put 1997 Kansas, that team lost only 1 game in the regular season and was destroying people. That team had Paul Pierce, Jaque Vaughn, Raef Lafrentz and Scott Pollard. 84 UNC is another one, that team had Jordan, Sam Perkins, they had Brad Daugherty and Kenny the Jet Smith as freshmen.

[crgreen]

They say hindsight is 20/20. And looking back at the 2007/08 UCLA Bruins I can't help but to scratch my head and wonder how in the heck did this team not win an NCAA title that year?

They had 4 NBA players on that squad and two of them should be All-Stars this year.

Kevin Love

And although he looks a little "touched" in this photo the dude has had what, three 30pts/20rebs this year?

Russel Westbrook

I think the picture speaks for itself.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute one of the best defenders in the NBA. He was pretty good in college too.


Darren Collison

Really a fine young PG in the NBA. Maybe not elite status but he's a very nice young player.

Looking back now I just don't see how this team didn't win the whole thing.

Thoughts or any other team in the last 15 years or so that looking back at the talent they had makes you shake your head at how did they not go father in the dance considering the success they've had in the NBA?

Right School, Wrong Year. Bruins, 1974.

Center, Bill Walton, 3 time college player of the year, Naismith Hall of Fame
Center, Richard Washington, NCAA tourney MVP, All American, 3rd Overall Pick in the Draft
Center, Ralph Drollinger, 7'2, Center Dallas Mavericks NBA
F: Keith Wilkes, 1975 NBA Rookie of the Year, Naismith Hall of Fame
F: Marques Johnson, College Player of the Year, 1st Wooden Award Winner, 3rd overall pick in the draft
F: David Meyers, College Player of the Year, 2nd overall Pick, NBA Draft
G: Greg Lee, NBA Portland Trail Blazers
G: Andre McCarter, NBA Knicks, Bullets


Also, the 1982 UCLA Bruins, which had 9 future NBA players, was not eligible for the tourney (thank you Larry Brown:

Centers Mark Eaton, Stuart Gray, Brand Wright
Forwards Kenny Fields, Michael Sanderss, Darren Daye
Guards Mike Holton, Rod Foster, Ralph Jackson.
squad also had McD All America Nigel Miguel, Parade All America Cliff Pruitt, and Street & Smith AA Tony Anderson.

[studcrackers]

bob knight's hoosiers were the last team to go undefeated and honestly they shouldve gone undefeated back to back years but scott may (sean mays dad) broke his arm in 1974-75 season and they lost by 2 to kentucky in the elite 8 (which they beat by 24 when mays was healthy in the regular season). they eventually went to go undefeated the next year

they had 4 of their 5 players make the all big 10 team, 4 1st rounders (including 1 #1 and 1 #2 pick)

[Jack wore plaid]

90-91 UNLV Runnin Rebels

Undefeated until the final game vs Duke

1984 Phi Slamma Jamma

Wittenberg....Oh it's a long way....They won it, on the dunk. Jimmy V wins it all