Read the arguments from Babe Ruthless and Sports Geek about which champion they believe was the was best in 2009.
Who did the Big East think they were?!
When the 2008-2009 college basketball season began, the Tyler Hansbrough led Tar Heels from the University of North Carolina were pegged as the best team in the nation, a ranking the team held through the first two months of the season. After an upset loss against Boston College early in 2009, though, several teams from the Big East had the nerve to actually try and claim THEY were really the best team in the country. Oh, how wrong they were.
North Carolina, despite three eventual losses during the regular season (and a fourth in the ACC tournament), was clearly the most dominant team in college basketball. Behind Hansbrough, who was statistically the greatest player ever to wear a UNC uniform, and clearly the best player from ANY school in recent memory, the Tar Heels would tear through the college basketball season and finish right where they began. By the end of March Madness, the 34-4 Tar Heels left no doubt that they were the best basketball team in the NCAA.
On the way to their national championship title, North Carolina would beat FOUR different top-ten ranked teams, including two wins over Duke, one of which ended in a 101-87 drubbing AT Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Tar Heels also beat the Big East’s Notre Dame (then ranked #8 in the country) 102-87, and took down #9 ranked Clemson by a score of 94-70. Earlier in the season, North Carolina also faced off against Michigan State in a game that would preview the National Championship matchup. We should have known then that the 2009 National Championship game was a foregone conclusion, as the Tar Heels would go on to a 35-point BLOWOUT against the team that would eventually become co-finalists for the national crown.
Even in defeat, North Carolina proved to be a very dangerous opponent, with three of four losses coming by a margin of only three points. In their “worst” loss of the season, against ACC rival Boston College, the Tar Heels still only lost by seven points. They were held to less than 70 points only once in the 38-game season (in a game the team still went on to win against Miami by a score of 69-65), and scored at least 100 points nine different times, include twice against the aforementioned top-ten teams of Duke and Notre Dame.
Still, despite the absolute dominance that UNC had shown all season long, all of the focus was on the Big East Conference as tournament time rolled around. While North Carolina would be awarded one of the top seeds in the national tournament, the remaining three were given to Big East programs – Louisville, Connecticut, and Pittsburgh. As it turned out, the Big East could have had all four top seeds and it would not have made a difference. After all the hoopla about how great the Big East was, none of its teams were able to reach the final game, even though they would own half of the Elite Eight AND Final Four spots.
Eventually, hype and media attention gave way to reality. While Michigan State defeated UConn 82-73 in its half of the semifinals, North Carolina stormed to a 14-point victory over the Big East’s Villanova, setting the stage for a rematch with the Spartans from Michigan State. Finally, in the title game, North Carolina won with one of the most convincing championship performances ever seen, defeating Michigan State by 17 points.
During the five rounds of the national tournament, North Carolina outscored opponents by a combined total of 121 points for an AVERAGE margin of victory of greater than 14 points against teams that were SUPPOSED to be the best in the nation.
No team dominated a league from start to finish like the North Carolina Tar Heels did, and no team won a more convincing championship in 2009!
