Morning Brew: 2008 Jayhawks best team in memory

Friday, April 10, 2009

It has begun. Now that the NCAA tournament has ended with a resounding national championship victory by North Carolina the Tar Heels are being called one of the greatest college basketball teams in recent memory.

Only two years ago we heard this about the 2007 Florida Gators who won their second straight national championship that year by beating Ohio State in the title game.

Those arguments seemed to be noticeably absent last year after Kansas won the national championship. Now, let’s make one thing clear: This isn’t saying the 2008 Jayhawks were slighted.

Kansas received plenty of recognition for its third NCAA tournament championship last season. But in the week following its feat most of the talk revolved around the classic championship game against Memphis.

After all, it was probably the greatest championship game ever. North Carolina’s smothering of Michigan State this season was probably the worst. Even Florida’s 2007 victory against Ohio State was a relative snoozer.

So perhaps the only reason we didn’t hear discussions about Kansas’ legacy was because there was so much else to talk about. But truth be told, the 2008 Kansas team was better than both this year’s North Carolina squad and the Florida team from two years ago.

Think this is just the Morning Brew being a homer? No way. All the evidence supports the Jayhawks.

Let’s start with the simplest indicator of success: Records. In their championship season, the Jayhawks went 37-3. That’s better than both the Tar Heels and the Gators.

This season North Carolina went 34-4 and didn’t even win the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Tournament. Florida prevailed in the 2007 Southeastern Conference Championship Tournament, but still only finished at 35-5.

North Carolina and Florida supporters might argue that their teams faced tougher competition during their championship seasons than Kansas. Not true. Not only was the 2008 Big 12 Conference tougher than the SEC in 2007 and the ACC in 2009, the Jayhawks also had the roughest road in the NCAA tournament.

Kansas beat both the tournament’s top-seeded teams in 2008, North Carolina and Memphis. This year’s Tar Heels didn’t have to play a No. 1 seed at all as their Final Four foes were third-seeded Villanova and second-seeded Michigan State. Ohio State was the only No. 1 seed Florida encountered two years ago.

All three teams had enough talent to make an NBA scout’s head explode while trying to take notes during a game. The 2007 Florida team had six players who were eventually selected in the NBA Draft — Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Chris Richard and Marreese Speights.

Kansas will end up with one more than that after Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich are picked — joining Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, Darrell Arthur, Sasha Kaun and Darnell Jackson. It’s speculation at this point for this season’s North Carolina squad, but it looks to be a lock for seven. An eventual eighth could be possible.

But forget about personnel for a second. Heck, throw out records and whom the teams beat to get there, too. When it comes down to it, Kansas has the ultimate argument.

The Jayhawks beat both teams. Before Florida won the national championship in 2007, Kansas upset it 82-80 in Las Vegas with the core of players who would go on to win the national championship in 2008.

And you surely haven’t forgotten how Kansas thrashed practically the exact same North Carolina team 84-66 in the 2008 Final Four.

Let the talk about the dominance of this season’s North Carolina team continue. And the 2007 Gators, too. Both are well deserved. Just know, Kansas was better.

— — Edited by Chris Hickerson

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