LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA – Since early January, I kind of thought that the University of Kentucky had the best basketball team in the country.
My theory was something more than “kind of” proven correct last weekend in New Orleans.
Coach John Calipari’s squad rolled to the program’s eighth national title – and first since 1998 – while winning 38 of 40 games, with a squad that could produce six first-round selections in the next NBA Draft.
How does this Kentucky team stack up of on my list of (relatively) recent “best teams”? I’ll answer that in a future column for www.CoachGeorgeRaveling.com.
But I can dispense with the “How does Anthony Davis’ freshman season rate?” question right now: No one has EVER accomplished as much during a freshman season.
Here is my 15-player “All-NCAA Tournament” team, with the caveat being that only players whose teams got to at least the Sweet 16 are eligible (listed alphabetically), followed by my “National Coach of the Year”, “Tournament Coach of the Year” and final Top 25 team ratings:
All-NCAA Tournament
• Bradley Beal (Florida)
• Chane Behanan (Louisville)
• Jae Crowder (Marquette)
• Anthony Davis (Kentucky)/Player of the Tournament
• Draymond Green (Michigan State)
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Kentucky)
• Doron Lamb (Kentucky)
• C.J. Leslie (North Carolina State)
• Thomas Robinson (Kansas)
• Jared Sullinger (Ohio State)
• Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State)
• Dion Waiters (Syracuse)
• Jeff Withey (Kansas)
• Cody Zeller (Indiana)
• Tyler Zeller (North Carolina)
Coach of the Year (regular season)
• Bill Self (Kansas)
Coach of the Year (NCAA Tournament)
• John Calipari (Kentucky)
BurlisonOnBasketball’s Final Top 25
1. Kentucky 38-2
2. Kansas 32-7
3. Ohio State 31-8
4. Syracuse 34-3
5. North Carolina 32-6
6. Michigan State 29-8
7. Louisville 30-10
8. Missouri 30-5
9. Marquette 27-8
10. Duke 27-7
11. Florida State 25-10
12. Florida 26-11
13. Baylor 30-8
14. Indiana 27-9
15. Murray State 31-2
16. Wisconsin 26-10
17. Cincinnati 26-11
18. Vanderbilt 25-11
19. North Carolina State 24-13
20. Wichita State 27-6
21. Georgetown 24-9
22. Creighton 29-6
23. Saint Mary’s 27-6
24. Michigan 24-10
25. Gonzaga 26-7
