The Best Team Not To Win the Title

#26
#26
Another great team not to win a National Championship was the 1966 Kentucky Wildcats with Pat Riley and Louie Dampier who lost 72-65 to Texas Western(UTEP) in the National Championship Game
 
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#30
#30
North Carolina in 1984 had Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty and Kenny Smith and somehow lost to Indiana, who had freshman Steve Alford and not a lot else. DePaul had Mark Aguirre and Terry Cummings in 1981 and were the #1 team all season long before choking in the 2nd round to St. Joseph's. Houston in 1983 has been mentioned a lot and so has UNLV in 1991... I would also throw in the Notre Dame team from 1979 that beat Tennessee in Murfreesboro. They had 4 NBA players (Bill Laimbeer, Orlando Woolridge, Kelly Tripucka and Bill Hanzlik) but lost badly to Magic Johnson and Michigan State.

Kentucky in 2015 is probably the answer to this question though.
 
#31
#31
BowlBrother85 said:
North Carolina in 1984 had Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty and Kenny Smith and somehow lost to Indiana, who had freshman Steve Alford and not a lot else. DePaul had Mark Aguirre and Terry Cummings in 1981 and were the #1 team all season long before choking in the 2nd round to St. Joseph's. Houston in 1983 has been mentioned a lot and so has UNLV in 1991... I would also throw in the Notre Dame team from 1979 that beat Tennessee in Murfreesboro. They had 4 NBA players (Bill Laimbeer, Orlando Woolridge, Kelly Tripucka and Bill Hanzlik) but lost badly to Magic Johnson and Michigan State.
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The 1983 North Carolina team that lost 82-77 to Georgia in the 1983 Elite 8 was a great team also
 
#36
#36
2019 Duke. While their performance against the national champion Tennessee Volunteers was admirable, not even an inspired performance from Zion Williamson could save Duke from defeat at the hands of a determined Tennessee squad that led from start to finish.
 
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#40
#40
Vol_Maul said:
2019 Duke. While their performance against the national champion Tennessee Volunteers was admirable, not even an inspired performance from Zion Williamson could save Duke from defeat at the hands of a determined Tennessee squad that led from start to finish.
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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again proudly Tennessee would play very well against Duke. Body up against Zion and defend the perimeter.
 
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#42
#42
BowlBrother85 said:
North Carolina in 1984 had Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty and Kenny Smith and somehow lost to Indiana, who had freshman Steve Alford and not a lot else. DePaul had Mark Aguirre and Terry Cummings in 1981 and were the #1 team all season long before choking in the 2nd round to St. Joseph's. Houston in 1983 has been mentioned a lot and so has UNLV in 1991... I would also throw in the Notre Dame team from 1979 that beat Tennessee in Murfreesboro. They had 4 NBA players (Bill Laimbeer, Orlando Woolridge, Kelly Tripucka and Bill Hanzlik) but lost badly to Magic Johnson and Michigan State.

Kentucky in 2015 is probably the answer to this question though.
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came here to post that
 
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#43
#43
Dudleys87 said:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again proudly Tennessee would play very well against Duke. Body up against Zion and defend the perimeter.
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Why would anyone defend the perimeter against this Duke team? You’d really dare Barrett and Jones to drive past you instead of shooting a 3?

Even if that was a good plan, perimeter defense is Tennessee’s Achilles heel
 
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#44
#44
volfanbill said:
Why would anyone defend the perimeter against this Duke team? You’d really dare Barrett and Jones to drive past you instead of shooting a 3?

Even if that was a good plan, perimeter defense is Tennessee’s Achilles heel
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Opposed to giving them an open look from 3? Seems logical.
 
#45
#45
They had some guys who didn't pan out in the NBA (William Avery, Trajan Langdon, Corey Magette) and a couple who did (Shane Battier and Elton Brand) but that Duke team in 1999 that lost to UConn in the Championship game was awfully good and deserves a mention.
 
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#46
#46
Dudleys87 said:
Opposed to giving them an open look from 3? Seems logical.
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No it doesn’t. It’s the worst 3 point shooting team in Duke history, and would be the worst 3 point shooting team to ever win an NCAA championship. You guard Jones or especially Barrett tight on the perimeter and they’ll burn you with layups all night long.
 
#47
#47
All three teams Duke faced in the ACC Tournament dared them to shoot threes and Duke was still too scared to try.
 
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#48
#48
Dudleys87 said:
CJC has no excuses here.
If he were any kind of coach he’d be stacking titles.
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How about 2010 with John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins? They didn't even make the Final Four. Dean Smith is still worse at squandering Championship opportunities though - the worst ever.
 
#49
#49
BowlBrother85 said:
How about 2010 with John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins? They didn't even make the Final Four. Dean Smith is still worse at squandering Championship opportunities though - the worst ever.
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I’m not arguing I’m just giving my opinion. If he coached like he recruited he’d easily be the winning, cheating coach in history. Roy Williams would have a solid case as well.
 
#50
#50
wmcovol said:
I’ll say Kentucky with Anthony Davis. How Cal could screw that up to a bunch of white boys from Wisconsin takes talent.
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I think you're talking about 2015, but that Wisconsin team is also a great team to not win the title. Kaminsky was POY and two other players have made NBA rosters (that I know of). It's really hard to win a title relying on freshmen.
 
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