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Ranking every national title runner up from 00-22 from worst to best

ThePhog08

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May 2, 2008
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#22. 2011 8 Seed Butler - Stars Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard . 1 pt win over 1 seed Pitt, 3 pt win over 2 seed Florida... Double digit loss title game
#21. 2002 5 Seed Indiana - Star Jared Jeffries - 1 pt win over duke. Beat a 10 and 13 seed on the way to FF. Double digit loss title game
#20. 2013 4 Seed Michigan - Stars Trey Burke, Nik Stauskas - OT win over Kansas.
#19. 2000 5 Seed Florida - Stars Mike Miller, Udonis Hasmlem - Beat 1 seed Duke by 9, 10+ loss in title game
#18. 2009 2 Seed MSU - Stars Kalen Lucas, Goran Suton - Beat 1 seed Louisville by 12, blown out title game
#17. 2004 3 Seed Georgia Tech - Stars Jarrett Jack, Luke Schensher - Beat KU in OT - lopsided loss in title game
#16. 2010 5 Seed Butler - Stars Gordan Hayward and Matt Howard - Came close to beat Duke. but not a great traditional duke team
#15. 2018 3 Seed Michigan - Star Mo Wagner. Made a good run and lost by 17 vs Nova
#14. 2022 8 Seed UNC - Stars Armando Bacot, Caleb Love - Super underachieved regular season. Came on late and fell to KU
#13 2014 8 Seed Kentucky - Stars Julius Randle, James Young. Good run and beat all the big teams ahead. Young talent, lost to Uconn
#12. 2006 2 Seed UCLA - Stars Jordan Farmar, Aaron Afflalo - First of the 3 straight FF. Good talent lost by 15 to UF
#11. 2019 3 Seed Texas Tech - Stars Jarret Culver, Matt Mooney. Super solid Tech team, not overwhelming, lost in OT vs VA
#10. 2007 1 Seed Ohio State - Stars Greg Oden, Mike Conley. Not a star studed year. last ranked 1 seed. Good team. No match for FL
#09. 2012 2 Seed Kansas - Stars Thomas Robinson, Tyshawn Taylor. Great defensive team, not enough offense and shooting. Lost by 8 to UK
#08. 2016 1 Seed UNC - Stars Justin Jackson, Joel Berry. Good , not great UNC team. Lost to a better team at buzzer.
#07. 2015 1 Seed Wisconsin - Stars Kaminsky, Dekker, really good team, lost to a young Duke twice.
#06. 2017 1 Seed Gonzaga - Stars Nigel Williams Goss, Josh Perkins. One of the zags better teams. Lost to UNC
#05. 2021 1 Seed Gonzaga - Stars Drew TImme , Jalen Suggs. Great team, great offense. Their D kept them from the top.
#04. 2001 2 Seed Arizona - Stars Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas. Amazing team . The 1 and 2 seeds were stacked. Lost by 10 to the best Duke team.
#03. 2003 2 Seed Kansas -Stars Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich - KU would have been a 1 and won it all if Simien was healthy. One of the best KU teams
#02. 2008 1 Seed Memphis - Stars Derrick Rose, Chris Roberts - Dominant team, balanced. Lost to a stacked KU team.
#01. 2005 1 seed Illinois - Stars Deron Williams, Luther Head. 1 loss heading into the title game. Narrow loss to UNC
 
#22. 2011 8 Seed Butler - Stars Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard . 1 pt win over 1 seed Pitt, 3 pt win over 2 seed Florida... Double digit loss title game
#21. 2002 5 Seed Indiana - Star Jared Jeffries - 1 pt win over duke. Beat a 10 and 13 seed on the way to FF. Double digit loss title game
#20. 2013 4 Seed Michigan - Stars Trey Burke, Nik Stauskas - OT win over Kansas.
#19. 2000 5 Seed Florida - Stars Mike Miller, Udonis Hasmlem - Beat 1 seed Duke by 9, 10+ loss in title game
#18. 2009 2 Seed MSU - Stars Kalen Lucas, Goran Suton - Beat 1 seed Louisville by 12, blown out title game
#17. 2004 3 Seed Georgia Tech - Stars Jarrett Jack, Luke Schensher - Beat KU in OT - lopsided loss in title game
#16. 2010 5 Seed Butler - Stars Gordan Hayward and Matt Howard - Came close to beat Duke. but not a great traditional duke team
#15. 2018 3 Seed Michigan - Star Mo Wagner. Made a good run and lost by 17 vs Nova
#14. 2022 8 Seed UNC - Stars Armando Bacot, Caleb Love - Super underachieved regular season. Came on late and fell to KU
#13 2014 8 Seed Kentucky - Stars Julius Randle, James Young. Good run and beat all the big teams ahead. Young talent, lost to Uconn
#12. 2006 2 Seed UCLA - Stars Jordan Farmar, Aaron Afflalo - First of the 3 straight FF. Good talent lost by 15 to UF
#11. 2019 3 Seed Texas Tech - Stars Jarret Culver, Matt Mooney. Super solid Tech team, not overwhelming, lost in OT vs VA
#10. 2007 1 Seed Ohio State - Stars Greg Oden, Mike Conley. Not a star studed year. last ranked 1 seed. Good team. No match for FL
#09. 2012 2 Seed Kansas - Stars Thomas Robinson, Tyshawn Taylor. Great defensive team, not enough offense and shooting. Lost by 8 to UK
#08. 2016 1 Seed UNC - Stars Justin Jackson, Joel Berry. Good , not great UNC team. Lost to a better team at buzzer.
#07. 2015 1 Seed Wisconsin - Stars Kaminsky, Dekker, really good team, lost to a young Duke twice.
#06. 2017 1 Seed Gonzaga - Stars Nigel Williams Goss, Josh Perkins. One of the zags better teams. Lost to UNC
#05. 2021 1 Seed Gonzaga - Stars Drew TImme , Jalen Suggs. Great team, great offense. Their D kept them from the top.
#04. 2001 2 Seed Arizona - Stars Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas. Amazing team . The 1 and 2 seeds were stacked. Lost by 10 to the best Duke team.
#03. 2003 2 Seed Kansas -Stars Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich - KU would have been a 1 and won it all if Simien was healthy. One of the best KU teams
#02. 2008 1 Seed Memphis - Stars Derrick Rose, Chris Roberts - Dominant team, balanced. Lost to a stacked KU team.
#01. 2005 1 seed Illinois - Stars Deron Williams, Luther Head. 1 loss heading into the title game. Narrow loss to UNC

Those top 7-10 teams were all quite exceptional.

The '07 Ohio State team finished the AP Poll as the #1 ranked school (30-3 heading into the tourney), but I know Florida was given the top overall seed by the committee. So, most likely the 2nd-rated #1 seed. They entered the title game on a 22-game winning streak. I might have them a few places higher.

I'd 100% have '13 Michigan ahead of '18 Michigan. That 2013 team was ranked #1 in early February. Struggled on the road in the latter part of the conference schedule. All 5 starters played in the NBA (Burke, Hardaway, Stauskas, G.Robinson, McGary) + Caris Levert. Super talented team that just as easily could have won the title. Top 15 team, IMO.

Overall, pretty solid rankings across the board.
 
That ‘05 loss was so brutal, especially given we still don’t have a single NC and it holds our program back from the historical recognition I think it otherwise deserves. Augustine fouled out with 8 to go on a ticky-tack foul, and we had to guard May with our bench. Still, we missed SIX open threes that would have won or tied it in the last 2 minutes. Just wasn’t meant to be!
 
That ‘05 loss was so brutal, especially given we still don’t have a single NC and it holds our program back from the historical recognition I think it otherwise deserves. Augustine fouled out with 8 to go on a ticky-tack foul, and we had to guard May with our bench. Still, we missed SIX open threes that would have won or tied it in the last 2 minutes. Just wasn’t meant to be!
One title would vault you all over so many teams. You have the history.
 
One title would vault you all over so many teams. You have the history.
Yeah, if we just randomly won it next year, we’d have 1 NC, 6 Final Fours, 10 Elite Eights, 13 Sweet Sixteens and 33 NCAAT appearances, along with the other stats that we usually rank in the top 15 for like winning percentage. That would stack up against the likes of Arizona or Syracuse…

But hey, I respect it’s all (well, mostly) about winning it all, and we simply haven’t! Here’s to someday, haha.
 
#22. 2011 8 Seed Butler - Stars Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard . 1 pt win over 1 seed Pitt, 3 pt win over 2 seed Florida... Double digit loss title game
#21. 2002 5 Seed Indiana - Star Jared Jeffries - 1 pt win over duke. Beat a 10 and 13 seed on the way to FF. Double digit loss title game
#20. 2013 4 Seed Michigan - Stars Trey Burke, Nik Stauskas - OT win over Kansas.
#19. 2000 5 Seed Florida - Stars Mike Miller, Udonis Hasmlem - Beat 1 seed Duke by 9, 10+ loss in title game
#18. 2009 2 Seed MSU - Stars Kalen Lucas, Goran Suton - Beat 1 seed Louisville by 12, blown out title game
#17. 2004 3 Seed Georgia Tech - Stars Jarrett Jack, Luke Schensher - Beat KU in OT - lopsided loss in title game
#16. 2010 5 Seed Butler - Stars Gordan Hayward and Matt Howard - Came close to beat Duke. but not a great traditional duke team
#15. 2018 3 Seed Michigan - Star Mo Wagner. Made a good run and lost by 17 vs Nova
#14. 2022 8 Seed UNC - Stars Armando Bacot, Caleb Love - Super underachieved regular season. Came on late and fell to KU
#13 2014 8 Seed Kentucky - Stars Julius Randle, James Young. Good run and beat all the big teams ahead. Young talent, lost to Uconn
#12. 2006 2 Seed UCLA - Stars Jordan Farmar, Aaron Afflalo - First of the 3 straight FF. Good talent lost by 15 to UF
#11. 2019 3 Seed Texas Tech - Stars Jarret Culver, Matt Mooney. Super solid Tech team, not overwhelming, lost in OT vs VA
#10. 2007 1 Seed Ohio State - Stars Greg Oden, Mike Conley. Not a star studed year. last ranked 1 seed. Good team. No match for FL
#09. 2012 2 Seed Kansas - Stars Thomas Robinson, Tyshawn Taylor. Great defensive team, not enough offense and shooting. Lost by 8 to UK
#08. 2016 1 Seed UNC - Stars Justin Jackson, Joel Berry. Good , not great UNC team. Lost to a better team at buzzer.
#07. 2015 1 Seed Wisconsin - Stars Kaminsky, Dekker, really good team, lost to a young Duke twice.
#06. 2017 1 Seed Gonzaga - Stars Nigel Williams Goss, Josh Perkins. One of the zags better teams. Lost to UNC
#05. 2021 1 Seed Gonzaga - Stars Drew TImme , Jalen Suggs. Great team, great offense. Their D kept them from the top.
#04. 2001 2 Seed Arizona - Stars Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas. Amazing team . The 1 and 2 seeds were stacked. Lost by 10 to the best Duke team.
#03. 2003 2 Seed Kansas -Stars Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich - KU would have been a 1 and won it all if Simien was healthy. One of the best KU teams
#02. 2008 1 Seed Memphis - Stars Derrick Rose, Chris Roberts - Dominant team, balanced. Lost to a stacked KU team.
#01. 2005 1 seed Illinois - Stars Deron Williams, Luther Head. 1 loss heading into the title game. Narrow loss to UNC

There’s not going to be many Michigan fans on the planet that would take the 2017/18 team over the 2012/13 team.
 
That ‘05 loss was so brutal, especially given we still don’t have a single NC and it holds our program back from the historical recognition I think it otherwise deserves. Augustine fouled out with 8 to go on a ticky-tack foul, and we had to guard May with our bench. Still, we missed SIX open threes that would have won or tied it in the last 2 minutes. Just wasn’t meant to be!
I loved it.
 
#22. 2011 8 Seed Butler - Stars Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard . 1 pt win over 1 seed Pitt, 3 pt win over 2 seed Florida... Double digit loss title game
#21. 2002 5 Seed Indiana - Star Jared Jeffries - 1 pt win over duke. Beat a 10 and 13 seed on the way to FF. Double digit loss title game
#20. 2013 4 Seed Michigan - Stars Trey Burke, Nik Stauskas - OT win over Kansas.
#19. 2000 5 Seed Florida - Stars Mike Miller, Udonis Hasmlem - Beat 1 seed Duke by 9, 10+ loss in title game
#18. 2009 2 Seed MSU - Stars Kalen Lucas, Goran Suton - Beat 1 seed Louisville by 12, blown out title game
#17. 2004 3 Seed Georgia Tech - Stars Jarrett Jack, Luke Schensher - Beat KU in OT - lopsided loss in title game
#16. 2010 5 Seed Butler - Stars Gordan Hayward and Matt Howard - Came close to beat Duke. but not a great traditional duke team
#15. 2018 3 Seed Michigan - Star Mo Wagner. Made a good run and lost by 17 vs Nova
#14. 2022 8 Seed UNC - Stars Armando Bacot, Caleb Love - Super underachieved regular season. Came on late and fell to KU
#13 2014 8 Seed Kentucky - Stars Julius Randle, James Young. Good run and beat all the big teams ahead. Young talent, lost to Uconn
#12. 2006 2 Seed UCLA - Stars Jordan Farmar, Aaron Afflalo - First of the 3 straight FF. Good talent lost by 15 to UF
#11. 2019 3 Seed Texas Tech - Stars Jarret Culver, Matt Mooney. Super solid Tech team, not overwhelming, lost in OT vs VA
#10. 2007 1 Seed Ohio State - Stars Greg Oden, Mike Conley. Not a star studed year. last ranked 1 seed. Good team. No match for FL
#09. 2012 2 Seed Kansas - Stars Thomas Robinson, Tyshawn Taylor. Great defensive team, not enough offense and shooting. Lost by 8 to UK
#08. 2016 1 Seed UNC - Stars Justin Jackson, Joel Berry. Good , not great UNC team. Lost to a better team at buzzer.
#07. 2015 1 Seed Wisconsin - Stars Kaminsky, Dekker, really good team, lost to a young Duke twice.
#06. 2017 1 Seed Gonzaga - Stars Nigel Williams Goss, Josh Perkins. One of the zags better teams. Lost to UNC
#05. 2021 1 Seed Gonzaga - Stars Drew TImme , Jalen Suggs. Great team, great offense. Their D kept them from the top.
#04. 2001 2 Seed Arizona - Stars Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas. Amazing team . The 1 and 2 seeds were stacked. Lost by 10 to the best Duke team.
#03. 2003 2 Seed Kansas -Stars Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich - KU would have been a 1 and won it all if Simien was healthy. One of the best KU teams
#02. 2008 1 Seed Memphis - Stars Derrick Rose, Chris Roberts - Dominant team, balanced. Lost to a stacked KU team.
#01. 2005 1 seed Illinois - Stars Deron Williams, Luther Head. 1 loss heading into the title game. Narrow loss to UNC
Texas Tech's team not nearly rated high enough. They made an absolutely elite run through that tournament beating 2 #2 seeds and a #1 seed only losing to the overall #1 seed who hit a 3 to even take it to overtime and then just getting absolutely fvcked by the refs. Average margin of victory 14 points. Play that game 10 more times and I doubt Virgina wins a single other game. All that with our best rim defender injured from the previous game. Still ticks me off because it would have been the single best tournament run ever if Tech pulled it off.
 
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There’s not going to be many Michigan fans on the planet that would take the 2017/18 team over the 2012/13 team.
That team was stacked, iirc just took a while to put it together.

He listed Stauskus as a star...who was probably that team's 4th best player.
 
Texas Tech's team not nearly rated high enough. They made an absolutely elite run through that tournament beating 2 #2 seeds and a #1 seed only losing to the overall #1 seed who hit a 3 to even take it to overtime and then just getting absolutely fvcked by the refs. Average margin of victory 14 points. Play that game 10 more times and I doubt Virgina wins a single other game. All that with our best rim defender injured from the previous game. Still ticks me off because it would have been the single best tournament run ever if Tech pulled it off.
Every team above them is a 1 or 2 seed
 
Every team above them is a 1 or 2 seed
The point was you often don't see a team facing that number of 1 and 2 seeds in a tournament. Normally teams experience upsets in their regions along the way and luck into facing lower talent.
 
That team was stacked, iirc just took a while to put it together.

He listed Stauskus as a star...who was probably that team's 4th best player.

Actually they started off hot. 17-0 I believe. Then shit the bed in conference play. But come tournament time McGary went from a solid bench big to probably MVP of our region over Trey Burke.
 
Texas Tech's team not nearly rated high enough. They made an absolutely elite run through that tournament beating 2 #2 seeds and a #1 seed only losing to the overall #1 seed who hit a 3 to even take it to overtime and then just getting absolutely fvcked by the refs. Average margin of victory 14 points. Play that game 10 more times and I doubt Virgina wins a single other game. All that with our best rim defender injured from the previous game. Still ticks me off because it would have been the single best tournament run ever if Tech pulled it off.

No bias here at all... 🤣
 
Actually they started off hot. 17-0 I believe. Then shit the bed in conference play. But come tournament time McGary went from a solid bench big to probably MVP of our region over Trey Burke.
Didn’t remember the 17-0, just remembered that they managed to be a 4 seed despite all that talent.

That was a fun run by them.
 
shut up, they don't have shit down there at Chevy Blazer University.
We have the platinum edition Tim Anderson.

In less than 11 months he has

-Ty Rodgers
-Dain Danja
-Morez Johnson
-Skyy Clark
-ZZ Clark
-Terrence Shannon
-Matthew Mayer

You like apples? 😉
 
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There’s not going to be many Michigan fans on the planet that would take the 2017/18 team over the 2012/13 team.
Truth. That 13 team could have won with neutral referring. The 18 team benefited from a good path to the finals.
 
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