In the second part of these extensive series of articles, we break down our All-Time NCAA Tournament, South Region. Duke’s 1991-1992 championship team shows its face. Can Ben Gordon’s 2003-2004 Connecticut Huskies outlast the 1995-1996 Kentucky Wildcats? Check below…
Broken down by region, much like the tournament currently taking place, we bracketed and seeded the best of the best, pitting one team against another in an attempt to crown an all-time champion. The second article in this series focuses on the South Region.
Here is the criteria we utilized.
* Teams that didn’t win the national title may be included in this tournament, but they are lower seeds for the most part.
* We don’t necessarily take into account the era a team played. If a team was dominating in 1955, we are going to assume that it would be dominating in 2005. That’s the only fair way to go about this.
Check out the West Region results from Thursday here.
So let’s get started with our All-Time NCAA Tournament, South Region predictions.
South Region
#1- Duke (1991-1992) vs #8- North Carolina (1997-1998)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDlWZ1vC9Ww
Key Duke Players: Christian Laettner, Thomas Hill, Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley
Key North Carolina Players: Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Shammond Williams and Ed Cota
Two heated rivals playing in the same era, but none of the players on each team actually going up against one another in real life. This is what’s so awesome about our All-Time NCAA Tournament series. We can envision Laettner going up against Jamison and Hurley attempting to get past Cota to dish to one of the Hill brothers.
The awesomeness.
Duke’s 1991 squad opened the season as the No. 1 team in the nation and went wire to wire. It started 17-0 before a loss to the Tar Heels, but ended up losing only one more game on the year. Laettner won the AP National Player and Wooden Awards, while the Hill brothers and Hurley earned All-ACC honors.
The Blue Devils dominated their way through the Sweet 16 before taking on an equally loaded Kentucky Wildcat team in the Elite Eight. In one of the greatest tournament games ever, Duke pulled off the victory on a Laettner turnaround jumper from the free throw line as time expired. The lasting image from this game will always be Thomas Hill breaking down in tears on the court as the ball went through the net.
Ultimately, Duke would capture its second consecutive national championship with a 71-51 victory over Michigan in the final. It is that one game, however, that will forever be entrenched in the minds of college basketball fans the world over.
North Carolina’s 1997 squad finished short of expectations. It lost in the Final Four to Michel Doleac, Andre Miller and the Utah Utes. Unfortunately for this team, it had expectations to go all the way after losing just four games in the regular season and boasting two future lottery picks in Jamison and Carter.
It was also the Tar Heels’ first season without Dean Smith on the sideline since 1960, as he abruptly retired prior to the start of the year.
In terms of talent, this game would be incredibly close. Some of the best college basketball players of this era would be involved in an epic matchup between two schools who remain bitter rivals to this day. At the end of the day, I’d have to go with the Blue Devils, simply because they were a team of destiny under Coach K. Besides that, can we really pick against Laettner after that shot against Kentucky? I didn’t think so.
#4- Uconn (2003-2004) vs #5- Kentucky (1995-1996)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMJ0EYO1Rj0
Key Uconn Players: Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor, Rashad Anderson and Charlie Villanueva
Key Kentucky Players: Tony Delk, Antoine Walker, Walter McCarthy, Derek Anderson and Rod Mercer
Connecticut’s 2003 team may have lost six games prior to the tournament, but the talent that it possessed on the court was second to none that season. Gordon and Okafor both averaged over 17 points per game and earned All-American honors. It also boasted six future first-round picks. Just think about that for a second.
One of the greatest games in the history of the program took place against Duke in the Final Four that season. The Huskies rallied from an eight-point deficit with three minutes remaining to defeat the No. 1 seeded Blue Devils in a stirring comeback effort. They then defeated Jarrett Jack and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the final to earn the second national championship in program history.
Kentucky’s 1995 squad was absolutely stacked with future NBA stars. All five of the players listed above ended up going within the top-20 picks of the NBA draft. They were, for all intent and purposes, a real FAB Five.
The Wildcats romped their way through the regular season, going 26-1, winning 24 of those games by double digits. However, Kentucky didn’t enter the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed due to an upset loss to Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzPyDU2bF5Y
Kentucky took down each of its first four tournament opponents by double digits before locking horns with Marcus Camby and Massachusetts in the Final Four. Ultimately, Rick Pitino’s squad took care of the Minutemen by seven points before taking care of an underdog Syracuse squad in the national title. For the Wildcats, it represented their first title in over a quarter century and their six championship in school history.
While I loved this Huskies team, it’s hard to imagine them being able to go toe-to-toe with a team that was as deep and talented as Kentucky. I am not even too sure this game would even be that close. Kentucky wins going away.
#3- Ohio State (1959-1960) vs #6- North Carolina State (1973-1974)
Key Ohio State Players: Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek and Joe Roberts
Key North Carolina State Players: David Thompson and Tom Burleson
How ridiculous was this Ohio State team? Just think about it having Lucas and Havlicek on the court at the same time. They finished 21-3 during the regular year, earning the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament. “Lucas’ Legend,” as it’s now known too full court in the second round of the tournament, as he tallied 36 points and 25 rebounds against Western Kentucky.
The Buckeyes ended up defeating California 75-55 in the title game, shooting an unheard of 84 percent in the first half of a 20-point victory. Lucas earned every major national player of the year award.
North Carolina State’s 1973 squad has to be considered the best in the history of the program. It concluded the regular season with a 26-1 record with its only loss coming at the hands of a UCLA team that came into the regular year ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Wolfpack got their revenge in the national semifinal matchup, defeating Wooden’s Bruins by three points before taking out Marquette in the national final.
David Thompson averaged over 26 points per game, while Burleson put up nearly 12 boards per outing. In the championship game Marquette, the two combined for 35 points and 18 rebounds.
Unfortunately for you Wolfpack fans, there is no way in hell that they would have stood a chance against this Ohio State team. Lucas and Havlicek would have made sure of that.
#2- UCLA (1972-1973) vs #7- Syracuse (1986-1987)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZkHcoGF7Mc
Key UCLA Players: Bill Walton, Keith Wilkes, Larry Farmer and Larry Hollyfield
Key Syracuse Players: Sherman Douglas, Rony Seikaly, Greg Monroe and Derrick Coleman
Two teams from the pre-modern era taking on one another in a fictitious game that would have put any game from this year’s tournament to shame. UCLA’s 1972 unit boasted two future NBA All-Star players in the form of Walton and Wilkes, who led them to a 26-0 regular-season record before dominating in the tournament in route to a perfect season.
It was Walton’s performance in the championship game against the Memphis State Tigers that still reminds us of how much better a basketball player he was than an analyst. He made 21-of-22 shots from the field, scoring 44 points and bringing down 13 rebounds.
Syracuse’s 86 team was absolutely stacked from top to bottom. Douglas, Coleman and Seikaly all ended up having successful NBA careers. They finished the regular season with a 26-6 record and entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East Region.
After narrowly defeating Georgia Southern in the opening round, the Orange went on to beat Western Kentucky and Florida before taking on Kenny Smith, J.R. Reid and a No.1-seeded North Carolina team. Seikaly put up 26 points as Syracuse took care of business.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJvUZwUaYvI
Unfortunately, they ended up falling to Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers in the championship game on Keith Smart’s game-winning buzzer beater. This is still considered one of the greatest championship games in college basketball history.
We may end up having to pick an upset at some point, otherwise there is a real possibility that four UCLA teams will be in the Final Four together. That’s simply not going to happen here. Though, it would be fantastic to see Seikaly and Walton going toe-to-toe. UCLA wins.
Sweet 16, South Region (Next Thursday)
#1- Duke (1991-1992) vs #5 Kentucky (1995-1996)
#2- UCLA (1972-1973) vs #3 Ohio State (1959-1960)
Photo: NY Daily News