Hey folks,
Heading back up to Hoosierland tomorrow morning, but for now I'm still down here in the Capital of the South, and I just came across the news that North Carolina went down today to a surprising Boston College team. Aside from the fact that IDS football reporter Lee Hurwitz will be undoubtedly pleased, the result also shot down talk of the Tar Heels going undefeated this season, hot talk up and down the college basketball world.
The question is a perennial one: Will someone match the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers, going undefeated and winning a national title? The most recent instance was Illinois, led by Luther Head, Dee Brown and Deron Williams, a team that went loss-less until the very end of the Big Ten season.
But North Carolina was probably the most tempting candidate in the last 10 years. They have an established coach in Roy Williams, a legitimate star with the ability to dominate the pace and outcome of any game and a balanced scoring attack featuring five players averaging double-figure scoring and four that average four or more rebounds per game.
What's more, they have balance within that scoring, as the five in double digits include two forwards, two guards and Danny Green, considered a combo player.
Obviously, none of this matters anymore, but there were many in the college basketball world (myself included, if I'm allowed such inclusion) that thought the Heels could do it -- win every game on their schedule all the way through April. And it again brought to my mind the question of whether there will ever be another undefeated team in NCAA college basketball, considering that it seems unlikely that Pittsburgh will finish this season with a zero in the loss column.
Follow along, will you?
The short answer is yes. Records are meant to be broken. Cal Ripken played in 2,131 consecutive games, Hank Aaron hit 715 home runs, there will be another undefeated college basketball team. Maybe next year, maybe in 10 years. But it will happen.
That takes nothing away from that IU team, which was far more talented than most people remember. The Hoosiers were deep and talented, and each brought his own particular skills; Tom Abernathy's passing, Quinn Buckner's defense, etc.
Common wisdom says today's world is much harder/more competitive than its counterpart in the mid-1970s -- that there is just too much talent for any one team to run the proverbial gamut.
This assertion of course also assumes that other era was one of virtual patsies who would not stand up in today's game. People point to a number of reasons -- the size of the game, the speed of the game, etc. -- why teams 30 years ago could never compete today like they did then.
Frankly, I never quite understood the argument. How can you compare teams across so many years when other factors have to come into play. Yes, it can be argued today's game focuses more on speed and athleticism, but common wisdom is the best way to defeat such strengths is with toughness and discipline, two traits common in power teams of that generation.
And no offense, but not many of us pundits were alive to see UCLA or Louisville or St. John's or Michigan in 1976, and therefore, we can't make those kinds of comparative judgments.
Some statistics would also seem to agree. Only two teams in Big Ten history have ever finished an 18-game conference schedule undefeated (the conference switched from that format for a period of time after adding an 11th school). Those two teams are the 1974-75 and 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers, the former of which also came within precious points of winning a regional final and staying undefeated in 1975.
Lastly, the reason we say these teams are "once in a generation" is because they are. On occasion, every sport sees a team that just seems unstoppable for whatever period they can hold onto their dominance. Perhaps that day's Indiana Hoosiers would not do well in today's Big Ten, but against their competition at that time, they were quite literally unstoppable.
This is all a long-winded way of saying we've probably put this debate to rest for another year. But it won't stop us from having it again next year.
