Ranking the teams of the 2000s
Posted: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 8:56 PM
Filed Under:
Rankings
The 2009 national title game settled the conventional argument of the “team of the decade.” North Carolina and Michigan State each entered the game with one title, both reached four Final Fours and had similar overall records.
And when the Heels won, it assured them bragging rights. But what about everyone else?
For that, we turn to the fine folks at Rush the Court.
Their hybrid analysis ranking system (their term) considered several factors, notably titles, Final Fours, conference crowns, draft picks and All-Americans, among others. The methodology passes the sniff test. The results pass the eye test, too.
Their list will complete tomorrow when (presumably) UNC assumes the top spot. In the meantime, click here to read their posts on teams 2-10.
Of the schools involved – Kansas, Florida, Duke, Michigan State, UConn, UCLA, Memphis, Syracuse and Maryland – only two didn’t claim NCAA tourney titles. All of ‘em reached the Final Four and won at least one conference crown, etc., etc.
With any luck, RTC also will do a follow-up post on other colleges considered. How close were programs like Texas, Gonzaga, Stanford, Pitt, Illinois or Xavier? How much did the lack of NCAA tourney success hurt those schools?
So many questions. So many answers. After all, there’s no perfect way to do something like this. But RTC did it well.
