Where does 2009 UNC rank among the all-time great college teams?

[Senser81]

UNC was very impressive in the tournament. The only team that gave them any trouble was LSU, and UNC went on a run at the end of that game to win it comfortably. With a healthy Lawson, they reminded me of the Larry Johnson/Anderson Hunt UNLV teams that would just overwhelm any team they faced. Maybe UNC wasn't the best defensive team, but it didn't really matter since they scored on nearly every possession. You could make a case that Lawson and Hansbrough were 2 of the top 3 players in the nation this year (along w/ Blake Griffin), and UNC's supporting cast weren't guys filling out the lineup...I'd guess that if Ellington were on a different team he'd be their leading scorer.

I think its hard to rank UNC above (somewhat) recent back-to-back champions like Duke and Florida, but I think they were better than those Florida teams and at worst equal to the 91-92 Duke teams. I think this UNC team is much better than either the 2005 team or the 1993 team (ick!), and the only recent vintage champion that can compare to them is the 1996 Kentucky Wildcats.

 

[FirstTimer]

Better than the Florida teams. Not as good as Duke's. I'd say they are on par with the 2005 team. Pretty even IMO. Maybe a bit better but not by much. Itd be fun as hell to see those two teams play.

 

[Woy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jackson/090407&sportCat=ncb

Scoop Jackson puts this Tar Heel team against some of the all-time greats.

10. 1983 Houston (31-3, lost NCAA title game to NC State). UNC win. Too undisciplined to beat this Tar Heels team. Carolina would be too business-minded to lose even to a team that featured two future NBA Hall of Famers (Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon).

9. 1993 Michigan (31-5, lost NCAA title game to North Carolina). 2009 UNC win. The Fab Five as sophomores. As talented as they were, they would have found a way to lose to this North Carolina team.

8. 2001 Duke (35-4, won title). UNC win. The stacked Duke team had Shane Battier, Jason Williams, Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy, Nate James and Chris Duhon. After watching the "Tobacco Road" special on HBO 10 times, I believe that if Duke and Carolina were to face each other in a national championship game, UNC would refuse to lose.

7. 2004 Connecticut (33-6, won title). Toss-up. Marcus Williams versus Ty Lawson would be a wash. Emeka Okafor versus Tyler Hansbrough would be a wash. Ben Gordon versus Wayne Ellington would be a wash. The difference: Danny Green. Maybe. Too tough to decide.

6. 1989 Michigan (30-7, won title). Another toss-up. Glen Rice, who scored a tourney-record 184 points in '89, might be too much for these Tar Heels. But collectively, even with a classic point guard battle between Lawson and Rumeal Robinson, this game could have gone on as long as the Syracuse-UConn game of this season's Big East tournament.

5. 1992 Duke (34-2, won title). UNC loss (barely). Of course, facing the Duke squad of Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill that won its second straight title would be a different story. The big question: Would Hurley be able to stop Ty Lawson? Probably not, but this Duke squad would refuse to lose.

4. 1982 North Carolina (32-2, won title). 2009 UNC loss. It would be a close game, and even though the '09 squad was much deeper than the '82 team and has matched up better than most teams we've seen in the past 25 years, these Tar Heels would have no answer for James Worthy. And if Patrick Ewing couldn't stop him, Hansbrough wouldn't stand a chance.

3. 1996 Kentucky (34-2, won title). UNC loss. Player-for-player, pound-for-pound, this would be the best game. Eight players from this UNC team might be drafted or play in the NBA at some point. That UK squad, led by Antoine Walker, Tony Delk, Walter McCarty, Ron Mercer and Derek Anderson, officially had nine. The numbers don't lie.

2. 1984 Georgetown (34-3, won title). UNC loss. Michael Graham would have scared almost everyone on this squad. Including Roy Williams.

1. 1990 UNLV (35-5, won title). UNC loss. Not even close. The game might be called at halftime the same way the Michigan State game should have been. Anderson Hunt would have matched Ellington and Green shot-for-shot, and Moses Scurry could outpsycho Hansbrough on any given Monday. And Larry Johnson? He would have welcomed Deon Thompson and Ed Davis to guarding an NBA player before he entered the draft. He would have made them think about staying in school.

 

[ralaw]

Player for player I don't think I'd put them over the 2005 UNC team. IMO that team had more depth and overall better players at each position. Also, I'm not slighting their championship, but the 2009 UNC team didn't face any elite teams in the entire tournament. Yeah, they played their braket and dominated it, but OU was their toughest opponent, but they realistically only have one pro prospect and another who currently is a freshman.

 

[dell71]

To be honest, I think they kill both of those Florida teams. They probably lose to the Duke teams. I think it's really close with the '05 Carolina team. I'd love to see them play. IIRC, this team is deeper. I can't recall anyone other than Marvin Williams really doing much off the bench, so I give this team a slight edge (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong).

I'd absolutely love to see this team play the vintage UNLV team (Johnson, Anthony, Augmon, etc.). This Carolina team has size & I'm not sure UNLV can keep Lawson out of the lane (I'll take Lawson over Greg Anthony every day). I think Larry Johnson might be too much for Hansbrough/Thompson/Davis to handle. To me, the key would be can Ellington get off against Stacey Augmon (at least that's who I would put on him).

 

[Point Blank]

I really don't know if I'd take this team over the 05 team. Really, really close though. :dontknow:

 

[Point Blank]

Melvin Scott > Frasor

 

[FirstTimer]

After looking it over I would give the edge to the 2005 team. But it is conditional. Are people including Zeller and Ginyard in as big time contributors to the 2009 squad even though they missed some/all of the season? I'm not including them. Hence my edge goes to the 2005 team. If Zeller and Ginyard are included(mainly Ginyard) I suppose I would give the edge back over to the 2009 team but not by much.

 

[dell71]

I still say the '09 team is deeper without Zeller & Ginyard.

 

[FirstTimer]

I still say the '09 team is deeper without Zeller & Ginyard.

Marvin Williams, David Noel, Melvin Scott>Ed Davis Bobby Frasor IMO..by a bit

 

[dell71]

Marvin Williams, David Noel, Melvin Scott>Ed Davis Bobby Frasor IMO..by a bit

it's definitely close.

 

[Blick]

I'm not even sure 2009 UNC would beat '08 Kansas.

 

[Senser81]

I'm not even sure 2009 UNC would beat '08 Kansas.

Are you kidding?

 

[stevsta]

are you serious seems like a biased article imo no mention of west coast champions

and since this is saying all time you unc fans are way off on the best teams in ncaa history

in fact i would say all the teams on this list are better than this unc team

http://digg.com/d1ndMm

 

[Senser81]

are you serious seems like a biased article imo no mention of west coast champions

and since this is saying all time you unc fans are way off on the best teams in ncaa history

in fact i would say all the teams on this list are better than this unc team

http://digg.com/d1ndMm

I thought I made it clear that it was recent teams I was comparing UNC to, not teams like the Wooden UCLA teams of the 1976 Indiana team that went undefeated. I did look at your list, and I still think that 2009 UNC would beat the following:

1993 Michigan
2000 Michigan State
2004 Saint Joseph's (did you even read the list?!)
2005 UNC
2007 Florida

 

[stevsta]

I thought I made it clear that it was recent teams I was comparing UNC to, not teams like the Wooden UCLA teams of the 1976 Indiana team that went undefeated. I did look at your list, and I still think that 2009 UNC would beat the following:

1993 Michigan
2000 Michigan State
2004 Saint Joseph's (did you even read the list?!)
2005 UNC
2007 Florida

only saw the first 3 i hate lists that require you to click next on every one but the 1993 michigan would of won IMO maybe 2000 Mich state the rest probably would of lost on your list

 

[stevsta]

I thought I made it clear that it was recent teams I was comparing UNC to

the title of this thread is
Where does 2009 UNC rank among the ALL-TIME great college teams

 

[Vinsane]

Can we move on to the NBA Postseason, Major League Baseball, and the NFL Off-season? March is over, college basketball is irrelevant again.

 

[Senser81]

the title of this thread is
Where does 2009 UNC rank among the ALL-TIME great college teams

Thanks for the update. I don't think anyone in this thread has said 2009 UNC would beat 1973 UCLA or 1976 Indiana. Everyone has been comparing 2009 UNC to teams that have seen play. I have no problem in ranking UCLA and Indiana above 09 UNC, but don't say "we are way off base" in our ranking of 09 UNC when teams prior to 1989 haven't even been part of the discussion.

 

[.RoCkEtS1]

I'm not even sure 2009 UNC would beat '08 Kansas.

That's just a true Homer comment. Chalmers was the only amazing player on Kansas. The UNC team is deeper and just more talented. Ellington is better than anyone on Kansas.