Besides the point of the insanity of this game, if there is a play that needs to be analyzed the most in the winning one.

For those who haven’t seen the play, this will be crucial in seeing the field and following along with me.

https://youtu.be/xskiXon53kY?t=5m13s

First things first, let’s give some background knowledge of the spot Alabama is in. Freshman QB Tua Tagovailoa (for the sake of the readers and my typing let’s just call him Tua) just took a huge sack instead of throwing the ball down to his check down man for an easy gain. The mistake from Tua put Alabama in a 2nd down and 26 yards to go on the 41. Alabama needs to get back yards and hopefully get close enough to get a shot at the first down. Because of this offensive coordinator Brian Daboll calls for a play to do exactly this. The play is Gun Y Trips Weak Seattle

Okay okay, I don’t expect everyone to know exactly what this means so I’ll explain it to you. Gun is the basic formation, Gun is just a short way of saying Shotgun, which I hope people know what that means. Y Trips Weak is the formations package basically telling the players what way to lineup for the play. The Y in the package stands for the Y receiver, which in this case is the tight end position, so the package is calling for Trips on the strong side of the field with the Y receiver. For anyone who doesn’t know what the strong side of the field is, it is the side where Alabama has their tight end lineup. For this case, Alabama has tight end Irv Smith Jr on the right side of the field. That sets the right half of their formation as the strong side of the field, with the left side being the weak side of the field. The weak part of the call is telling the halfback where to lineup next to the QB. So, obviously halfback Najee Harris lineups on the weak side of the field next to Tua. Lastly, Seattle is the concept of the play, for this it’s the passing concept that Alabama wants run for their play. For Madden nerds including myself, Seattle is most otherwise known as Four Verticals.

Alright, now lets flip sides to the other side of the ball, and focus on Georgia plan for this play. Georgia since they’re riding high on a huge sack to drag Alabama down to their 41 in a 2nd and 26 position. Georgia runs a basic 3-4 defense, nothing too complex as head coach of the Bulldogs, Kirby Smart, has a mentality of just outplaying other teams with speed and athleticism. This is evident in the majority of their season where they love to run twists and blitz meanwhile having their secondary hold and cover the receivers 5-10 yards off the line, and hopefully long enough for their defensive line to get to the quarterback, basically not allowing short passes and betting on their pass rush to have an effect before long pass concepts can develop. This is very similar to the recently well spotlighted Jaguars defense, where they run this concept to perfection. Another example of this is the play right before the one we’re featuring. They run a basic 3-4 against Bama and although Tua on this play has number one receiver Calvin Ridley open on a deep comeback 15 yards downfield, Georgia gets to Tua and forces him to beat them in the breakdown of the pocket which causes him to never see Ridley and take the sack.

After this, they line up in the same sequence of Cover 2 Man in the 3-4 Eagle package. This means that Georgia will be in the 3-4 Eagle formation, this is telling the players where to lineup. In a basic 3-4 lineup there will be 3 defensive tackles, the one of in the middle is considered as the nose guard, with 4 linebackers. For the linebackers, there are 4 different positions for each backer but were just gonna focus the outer two as the middle two aren’t important to the play. The one that will sit on the strong side no matter what is called the Sam backer, he is the fast guy who is strong as pass rushing but can be expected to cover the Tight end or in this case the slot receiver. The guy on the weak side is called the Will backer, he will always sit on the weak side of the field. The Will is usually known for also being fast but being more reliable on sealing the edge preventing cutbacks and reverses. Also, he won’t have to rely on pass coverage very much so he’ll most likely be better suited for rushing the Quarterback.  The Eagle part of the call tells where for the linemen and linebackers to lineup, this is also known as the defensive front. There are three main ways for them to lineup. Eagle, Over, and Under. Eagle is just known as the base way to lineup in 3-4. You can tell which one the defense is in by the way of where the nose guard defensive tackle lineups. If the nose guard lines up on the head of the Center, that means it’s Eagle. If he lines up on the strong side of the Center, it is Over, and finally, if he lines up on the weak side of the Center it’s Under. The Cover 2 Man part is the coverage concept for the rest of the secondary to run. In this example it is Cover 2 Man meaning that there are only two safeties and they will both be running zones at the top of the field, meanwhile the Man is calling for man coverage on the receivers, meaning they will be covering the man instead of covering a zone of the field.

Alright, now on to the spotlight play. Alabama lines up in Gun Y Trips Weak and Georgia goes into their  3-4 Eagle. Because of the trips on the strong side, it forces the Sam backer to cover the slot receiver. Fortunately, Georgia had subbed their normal Sam backer for a defensive back making it a false nickel coverage, meanwhile still being in a 3-4 Eagle. This also forces the strong side middle linebacker to cover the tight end. Leaving the weak side middle linebacker on a spy since Tua is an athletic and mobile QB. This allows for a large opening in the middle of the field in front of the safeties. To attack this space, Alabama wants to run Seattle which will allow for both the tight end and Slot receiver to get into this zone which is the main concept of Seattle. The tight end is supposed to attack this space on the left hash being the throwing window for him, meanwhile, the slot will be attacking for the right to the middle of the hash markers with that being his throwing window. The picture will show this. Obviously, the slot receiver takes primary responsibility of being the main read for the quarterback as the tight end will drag down the middle backer allowing for the slot to be in a 1 on 1 with either the safety or sam backer depending on if the backer breaks off of him to cover the check down being ran by the running back, attacking the middle of the field. It is important to understand this concept as this is exactly how Alabama won the game on this play call.

As you can see in the picture, the safety on the left Dominick Sanders, is cheating out of position to his left. This is all because what we previously were talking about. In Cover 2 Man both of the safeties have to cover the top of the field not letting anyone behind them. Thus, it opens up the middle of the field 10-15 yards downfield. Since, Sanders is an intelligent player he cheats in on his left assuming that Alabama is about to attack this area, which he is correct on. Although, when the plays starts he goes back to his normal area, but he is constantly reading Tua’s eyes looking at where he is reading the field which keeps him cheating over to his left and playing more in the middle of the field. This entire time as Tua is looking on the right side of the field, specifically for his slot receiver as the play is designed for, and due to the cheating by Sanders at the beginning of the play. Tua knows that as long as he can freeze Sanders in middle of the field by looking him off, he’ll have his receiver on the streak open for the bomb over Sanders. 

Just like that, Tua looks Sanders over, checks to the left and lets it go to an open DeVonta Smith for the championship winning touchdown to end the game. It is all because of this cheating over to the middle of the field that allowed for Devonta Smith to get open since Georgia’s cornerback covering Smith let him go thinking that he would have Sanders for help. However, there was no Sanders even near to him.

In defense, if Sanders had stayed in position, Tua still had his slot receiver open in the middle of the field for at least a 15 yard gain meaning Alabama still would’ve gained major yardage on the play, but it would’ve caused Alabama to try and convert a 3rd down, which they were only 3-14 all game. It also would’ve given Georgia a chance to get a stop and force a field goal out of struggling and rattled kicker, Andy Pappanastos, who was only 2/4 and had previously missed the potential game winning kick by a far measure. I’m not saying Georgia would’ve won, I’m just saying that Alabama would have a much better chance at losing without Tagovailoa playing the Seattle call like a professional pianist, and if we can learn anything from this game,  anything can happen in the national championship.

The post Chalk Talk: How Bama beat the Bulldogs appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The 2018 National Championship game was at a tipping point at halftime, Georgia sat on a hard-fought 13-0 lead over Alabama. The Crimson Tide offense was struggling with Jalen Hurts under center. The Alabama offense had only mustered under 100 yards of total offense the entire first half, as Georgia more than doubled that total. Saban made the gutsy move to place true freshman Tua Tagovailoa under center for the second half, much to the question of those across the country. It turned out to be the move that cemented Saban in the Mount Rushmore of college football coaches.

The Bulldogs came out swinging as they turned the offense over to true freshman Jake Fromm, who looked like a seasoned veteran in the pocket, firing darts to his receivers and picking apart the mighty Alabama defense. The Tide would bend, but would not break throughout most of the first half as Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship nailed two field goals to give the Bulldogs a 6-0 midway through the second quarter. Finally, the Georgia offense broke through at the end of the half as Fromm lead the Bulldogs on a nine play, 69-yard drive that ended with a touchdown run by wide receiver Mercole Hardman.

TOUCHDOWN DAWGS!!!

Mecole Hardman scores the 1st TD of the #NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/lYWyXLzBWc

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 9, 2018

The Bulldogs went into halftime with a 13-0 lead. That’s when Tua Tagoviola entered the fray at quarterback. A third down conversion that reminded old timers of the great Fran Tarkenton, changed the tide (pun intended) of the game.

Tua Tagovailoa has been in for like three plays and he’s already my favorite college football player pic.twitter.com/FPy4PTlMNr

— gifdsports (@gifdsports) January 9, 2018

Alabama ended the drive with a touchdown pass to make the score 13-7. However, Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs were not about to let off the gas pedal yet. Jacob Fromm unloaded an 80-yard touchdown pass to Mercole Hardman to give the Bulldogs a 20-7 advantage. There was a question to if Hardman’s foot was on the sideline, yet the Big Ten officiating crew working the game deemed there was not enough evidence to overturn the call and remained a Georgia touchdown.

That’s a beautiful ball from Jake Fromm. pic.twitter.com/QlR1D6BmTh

— 360°FantasyFootball (@360FFB) January 9, 2018

That would be the end of the Georgia scoring for a while, however. Tagovailoa and the Tide roared back as kicker Andy Pappanastos added two field goals before Tagovailoa found superstar wide receiver Calvin Ridley in the back of the endzone to tie the game 20-20. Georgia had a shot to go down the field and score, but the offense was unable to register a first down and punted the ball back to Alabama. Tagovailoa once again marched the Crimson Tide down the field and set up Pappanastos with a 36-yard field goal to win the national championship.

Andy Pappanastos, you are NOT Rodrigo Blankenship! pic.twitter.com/J63Yrpxvrr

— Bleacher Preacher / Sports (@BleachrPreachr) January 9, 2018

The Bulldogs got the ball to start overtime and were only able to muster a 51-yard field goal from Blakneship following a very costly sack that Jake Fromm had taken. Alabama got the ball back and the first play forshadowed that the Tide weren’t going to do well as Tagovailoa took an egregious sack that lost 16 yards. But on second down, he stood in the pocket and slinged one down the left sideline…and right into the hands of DeVonta Smith for a national championship.

WHAT. A. GAME.

Tua Tagovailoa to DeVonta Smith … BALLGAME!!!@AlabamaFTBL WINS THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! pic.twitter.com/WxmHdRazCQ

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 9, 2018

The win secure Nick Saban’s fifth national championship at Alabama, his sixth overall, tying him with the legendary Bear Bryant for the most national championships since the beginning of the Poll era in 1936. Saban has now etched his name as a candidate for the greatest coach in college football history.

The post Nick Saban Rides Backup Quarterback Tua Championship appeared first on KRUI Radio.

One month ago, the College Football world told itself that the 4-team playoff would be filled with ease once again. At the time, the SEC, ACC, Big 10, and Big 12 conferences each presumed to be represented by their champion. Only the Big 12 conference’s presumed representative is the same as prior with the top of the rankings left to chaos. Oklahoma continues to hum past the remainder of the Big 12. The following list withhold the schools who were in the top 6 a month ago and still are today: Alabama. That’s it. The cast of teams surrounding the dominant

Alabama squad has shifted a great deal week by week. However, the phrase of “dominant” cannot be attached to Nick Saban’s team following last weekend’s contest. Upsets shake the world of College Football once again.

Throughout the previous month, the shapings of the playoffs have begun to take form. No team outside of Wisconsin and Central Florida makes out of the regular season unscathed. #1 Alabama fell to #6 Auburn in the Iron Bowl. The same outcome befell #2 Miami as they lost to an unranked Pittsburgh. Just two weeks prior, #9 Washington fell. #1 Georgia steamrolled #10 Auburn and #3 Notre Dame exposed by #7 Miami.  #6 TCU battles and loses to #5 Oklahoma. And lastly, #6 Ohio State received a beating in Iowa City to the unranked Hawkeyes.

Penn State fell off the planet after being ranked second in the nation a month earlier before losses against #6 Ohio State and #24 Michigan State. Upsets have completely ravaged the top 10 of the College Football rankings week after week.

Playoff Ramifications

Despite all of these upsets eliminating teams from playoff contention, eight teams still have a chance at making the playoffs. This amount of teams is the highest by such a large margin in the history of the playoffs. The following teams are currently contending for the top 4 spots: Clemson, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Auburn, Alabama, Miami, Georgia, and Ohio State. Among these, there are no certains. None whatsoever. Here are all the likely possibilities.

If Clemson, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Auburn all win in their respective conference championship games, each of them will compete for the playoffs in no particular order. This particular scenario plays out with Alabama being the first team out of the playoffs. Alabama losing to Auburn head to head and Auburn winning the SEC championship defends this scenario. If Clemson loses, Miami will make the national semifinal game in Clemson’s place. If Wisconsin or Oklahoma lose, however, the outcome may not be so simple. Alabama may take one of those places, so Ohio State or even potentially Georgia could retain the spot. If Auburn loses to Georgia, Georgia simply replaces Auburn in the playoffs. However, of all these contingencies, as a lifelong sports fanatic since birth and self-proclaimed expert since, the following is my prediction for the playoffs.

#1 – Auburn. After beating Georgia and Alabama in three weeks with both teams being ranked one at the time and defeating a #7 Georgia again in the upcoming week in the conference championship, Auburn rises the number one slot in the playoffs.

#2 – Clemson. First, this Saturday, Clemson will defeat Miami for the ACC Championship. Second, I cannot put Clemson at number one in the nation for only two reasons. Syracuse and schedule strength. The lone loss in Clemson’s repertoire is facing Syracuse. A loss against Syracuse is inexcusable. Despite Clemson defeating Auburn in a head to head matchup and Auburn having two losses to Clemson’s one, Auburn has proven in the last three weeks and will continue to prove once again this week that Auburn is the hottest and the best team in the nation.

#3 – Oklahoma. The Sooners hold strong in a rematch against TCU in the Big 12 Championship game and retain their previously given slot from the College Football Playoff Committee. Oklahoma deserves to be in the Playoffs but does not own the resume to be placed higher than here.

#4 – Alabama. The Big 10 will miss out of the playoffs for the first year. A two-loss Ohio State Big 10 champion will not make the playoffs as a two-loss Big 10 champ in Penn State missed out on the playoffs in 2016. Wisconsin has not faced a single worthy opponent all year and Ohio State has faced Oklahoma and Penn State as well as rivalry games against Michigan and Michigan State. The Big 10 will do as the Big 12 has done multiple times and beat itself out of the playoffs. This leaves Alabama to enjoy a rematch of the Iron Bowl against Auburn in the National Semifinals on New Year’s Day.

This Saturday will without doubt deliver with multiple conference championship throughout the day. Oklahoma-TCU at 11:30 CST on FOX. Georgia-Auburn at 3:00 CST on CBS. Clemson-Miami at 7:00 CST on ABC and Wisconsin-Ohio State at the same time on FOX. Each of these games will determine College Football Playoff selections with the official ranking show occuring on Sunday, December 3rd at noon.

The post Chaos Brews for College Football Playoff Committee appeared first on KRUI Radio.

“Dynasty” is term loosely tossed around to describe successful teams after championship runs. In most modern sports, the talent pool has proven too deep to have a classic, 20^th-century, dynasty such as the 50s Yankees, 60s Celtics or 90s Cowboys. Those squads dominated and left little question as to which team was the best in their respective eras. While that same scenario may not exist in all major United States sports, we can garner at least a debate.

In this piece we will dive into the top dynasties since the first season post-2000 started of each major sport between the college and professional levels and decide which recent squad has had dominated its respective sport the most. There are rules that will be followed.

1. There will be a qualified team picked out of each individual sport before jumping to a final debate on who is the king of kings.
2. One team must be chosen out of each major sport – college football, men’s/women’s basketball, baseball, wrestling, volleyball, MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL.
3. Seasons that are currently in progress (2014-15 college hoops, NBA, NHL) are not included. For example, Kentucky’s current undefeated record in college hoops cannot be applied to their opportunity to be considered college basketball’s top dynasty on the men’s side.
4. Dynasty is a term used far too often. Are the Seahawks a dynasty because of how great their defense is in the past two years? No, because Seattle struggled through a lot of down seasons beforehand. In this piece, a dynasty will be defined as “Dominating a respective sport, while simultaneously competing for championships to the tune of being the greatest team in the discussed era.”
5. A team must consistently be in championship contention, but in order to be a dynasty in this span – a team must have won at least a single title.
6. I cannot compare teams between sports, as that will happen in the follow up article, where I will rank the selections from each league.

Let the games begin.

NBA

The NBA has always had a lack of parity.  We may no longer be limited to just the Lakers and Celtics, but the situation is still heavily lopsided.

Starting in the 2000-01 season, just three out of 14 Western Conference champions haven’t been named either the Los Angeles Lakers or the San Antonio Spurs. The Dallas Mavericks made two Finals appearances, and the Oklahoma City Thunder briefly showed up before being ousted in five by the LeBron James-led Miami Heat.

The Eastern Conference has been more diverse, but less successful. Seven teams (Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Detroit, Miami, Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando) have won the conference, but just three (Detroit, Miami, Boston) have managed to end the postseason with a victory.

The Heat have an impressive five title appearances and three championships to make a case for a potential top-NBA dynasty in the last 14 seasons. However, they fall well short of the Western Conference rivals from California and Texas.

The Spurs have a cumulative regular season record of 804-328 (.710), a postseason tally of 129-80 (.617), and four championships in five appearances since 2000. Their worst record in that span is 50-32 in 2009, and yet they still made it to the Western Conference Semifinals. Gregg Popovich has led this team to being easily the most consistent of all NBA squads in this era.

Los Angeles, albeit currently in its lowest moment in franchise history, also has an argument to be the representative for professional hoops. While their 690-442 (.610) overall regular season mark is well below San Antonio’s, their post season record of 108-66 trumps the Spurs. In six Finals appearances, the Lakers have taken home four titles – equal to the Spurs. If the 1999-2000 season and the first third of the Shaq-Kobe three-peat were included, my final decision may not have been…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs, led by a long-time coach and familiar players, have (somehow quietly) been one of the most consistent teams in all of American athletics. Their YMCA-style of play may not captivate casual audiences with oohs and awes, but their record says all that is needed. The Lakers have missed the playoffs as many times (two) as the Spurs have missed the second round. The ability to avoid down years is what makes the difference. San Antonio and Los Angeles have the same highs, but the Spurs have yet to hit a low this century.

Honorable mention: Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat

NFL

Baltimore, New England, Pittsburgh and the New York Giants have all won multiple titles since Super Bowl XXXV, thus obviously deserving of recognition in this analysis. Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Green Bay and Seattle will also be included as to compare all Super Bowl victors.

Looking based simply off of this, the answer is penciled in. Let’s engrave it in stone with this next chart. I gave every team a point total for each category – the top team receiving nine points and the bottom receiving one – (regular season win percentage, total postseason wins, postseason win percentage, division titles and Super Bowls). The point total depended on where a team finished in each respective section.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: New England Patriots. New England swept the board in each measurable category. It’s hard to tell if they’re farther ahead of the pack than Tampa Bay is behind. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have created a dynasty and are two absurd catches from having six Super Bowls in this span, including the Brady-Randy Moss 2007 combination that was the best team in NFL history to not win it all.

NHL

The NHL has experienced more parity than its professional counterparts this century. Ten teams have won a Stanley Cup in the last 13 occurrences (plus the 2005 lockout season). The Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche have all taken home one championship, while the Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings all have a pair of titles. To avoid confusion in the following chart, the NHL did away with ties during this span and therefore the records will be Win-Loss-Overtime Losses-Ties.

  We have seven categories (Stanley Cups, playoff appearances, playoff series victories, postseason wins, postseason win percentage and regular season win percentage and points). The best team in each category will receive 10 points and the worst will pick up just one. In order to put a stronger emphasis on advancing in the postseason, playoff series victories will count as a point for each accumulated. This should counteract disciplining teams for advancing on to tougher rounds just to be swept.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Detroit Red Wings. Outside of postseason win percentage, Detroit swept the board since 2000. Its 17 postseason series victories is even more impressive when factoring in the lockout season and the fact that no other franchise has more than a dozen. Despite parity among Stanley Cup victors, Detroit has easily been the most consistently dominant in all of professional hockey. Not much of an argument can be made for any other squad from this chart, and therefore none are honorable mention worthy.

Men’s college basketball:

After a relatively easy start, we reach what might be the most complicated of all sports we list. College basketball is about as random as they come (see odds of making a perfect bracket). Of course, Kentucky seems like an obvious choice after winning a national title in 2013-14 and going undefeated so far in 2014-15 (void). Don’t let fresh tastes discount distant memories.

Recent impressions can’t influence this decision, but the Wildcats have enough beyond that to make a pretty decisive statement. A 369-124 overall record is tough to argue with. What’s even harder? Twelve NCAA Tournament appearances, eight Sweet Sixteens, three Final Fours and a 1-1 record in the championship. Take away the two seasons Billy Gillispie coached Kentucky to a 40-27 overall record with zero NCAA Tournament victories and an NIT berth, and the Wildcats may blow the competition out of the water.

One team has been so remarkably consistent in its conference that it’s impossible to leave off this list: The Kansas Jayhawks.

After transitioning from a Hall of Fame coach, Kansas found a fate much simpler than Kentucky. Bill Self took over Roy Williams’ squad and didn’t miss a beat.

Williams’ last three seasons resulted in a 42-6 conference record that was overshadowed by a Sweet Sixteen, Final Four and a championship appearance. Since? Self has given the Jayhawks a 325-69 mark with a 151-31 stretch in the Big 12.

Self’s initial tournament resume left much to be desired with two first round exits sandwiched between a pair of Elite Eight showings. That turned around quickly with Kansas’ lone national title during this span in 2008.

Kansas boasts similar marks to Kentucky, with one extra championship loss thrown in, and its down years were first round exits over being completely left out.

So how about ex-Jayhawk coach Williams’ new squad – North Carolina? The Tar Heels have two national titles and another Final Four on their record and they may not even be the best dynasty in their own state.

Recent 1,000 game winner Mike Kryzewski’s Duke Blue Devils are.

Duke has a pair of national titles, has appeared in the tournament in each covered year, and has lost in their opening matchup just three times. Their conference dominance may not be as high as a team such as Kansas, but the competition is relatively stellar each season.

The Blue Devils hold an absurd 412-87 (.826) record in this span. So it has to be them, right?111

Let’s head over to Big Ten country where Tom Izzo is standing by for a quick lecture on postseason play. Michigan State, although missing its 1999-2000 national championship by just one season, has made nine Sweet Sixteens, five Elite Eights, four Final Fours, and has won one title. They haven’t missed the tournament a single time, and have been eliminated before the Round of 32 just four times.

What about UConn’s three title runs? Florida’s star-studded squads? Kentucky’s heated-rival Louisville? We need a way to rank these teams accordingly as to put all bias aside and assign an overall score. Postseason play in college basketball has always taken precedence over any other measurement of success. Here is the scoring chart to decide the top NCAA Tournament team since 2001’s tournament when solely considering those whom have a title to their name in this span:

Round of 64 loss: 0 points
Round of 32 loss: 1 point
Sweet 16 loss: 2 points
Elite Eight loss: 4 points
Final Four Loss: 8 points
Championship loss: 12 points
Championship: 16 points

NCAA Tournament champions results since 2000-01 March Madness: Kansas 68, UConn 67, Duke 59, North Carolina 56, Florida 55, Kentucky 55, Michigan State 51, Louisville 44, Syracuse 37, Maryland 30.

Shockingly, outside of its three titles runs, UConn only scored 19 points on this scale. The Huskies fell just a point shy of claiming this all important statistic in pushing forward to choosing men’s college hoops’ most dominant dynasty of the 21^st century. Despite just one title, consistency overcame roller coaster levels of postseason success and your winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Kansas Jayhawks. Not only has Kansas (almost surprisingly) performed as the top overall team in March Madness, but it also has the most eye-popping accomplishment. I’m going to type this out to make it even more drastic: Kansas has won at least a share of (ahem) back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back regular season Big 12 championships. That’s 10. Read that out loud and you’re likely to need to catch your breath. This isn’t Kansas playing in the Summit League or intramural athletics – this is a major conference with a tough road to the top every season. Ten?! In a row? And just for the record, it’s also 12 of 13, but who’s counting? The Huskies have a legitimate argument when it comes to this discussion due to three incredible runs to the championship, but Kansas has been a more consistently feared team. Welcome to a new postseason tournament, Jayhawks. Let’s see who else is joining you.

Honorable mention: Duke, UConn

Women’s College Basketball

I went from one of the more difficult sports to choose to what might be the easiest. UConn women’s hoops is out of this world. Seven championships since the turn of the century. Average margin of victory in those title-winning contests? 15.4 points. That’s 15 points better than the second best team in the country. Talk about a talent gap. I can’t put into words how unbelievably incredible the Huskies’ overall record has been, so I’ll leave two simple numbers on its own.

486-38.

That’s a .927 winning percentage.

I could play myself in checkers and not win 93 percent of the time.

Connecticut has missed out on the Sweet Sixteen in this span only…well, they haven’t. And just once were they limited to that. On top of the Sweet Sixteen and seven titles, the Huskies have made two Elite Eight appearances along with four Final Fours. Therefore, your clear cut winner without any hesitation is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Connecticut Huskies.

College Wrestling

If the 70s, 80s and 90s were included, this wouldn’t even be a competition. The Iowa Hawkeyes took home 20 titles from 1975-2000. Despite those all being out of the picture, Iowa is still in contention for the 21^st century title post-Dan Gable. The Hawkeyes have three titles to their name, which comes shy of Penn State and Oklahoma State, who put together four each. With the overall team title competition so close, our answer comes from individual championships. The Nittany Lions have nine, Hawkeyes 13 and Cowboys 18.

Oklahoma State’s 2005 season was the best of the era, fielding five individual champions in 10 weight classes, and scoring 153 points – best since the 1997 Hawkeyes scored 170. Therefore the winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Cowboys are tied for the lead in titles, have the best overall team of the era and can claim having the most individual titles. They may be fortunate to wrestle outside the Big Ten, but national titles don’t lie.

Honorable Mention: Iowa Hawkeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions

MLB

Four teams have won multiple titles since 2000 – the Red Sox (three), Giants (three), Yankees (two) and Cardinals (two) – to give a clear starting point when trying to declare the top 21^st century dynasty of professional baseball.

It’s clearly visible that this is a dead heat. You know the drill. In order to decide, I assigned a point total to each stat category. The top finisher in each category – World Series victories, division titles, regular season winning percentage, playoff appearances, total playoff wins and postseason playoff winning percentage – receives four points, followed by three for second place and so on. I also gave teams an extra point for each playoff series they won. The final tally came out as followed:

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: St. Louis Cardinals. Any fan of one the final four teams can state a statistic on how their team deserved to be the one represented. New York dominated the AL East. Boston and San Francisco won a third World Series and were more efficient in the postseason when they did make it. None of that jumped out the way this did:

The Cardinals took the cake with 16 postseason series victories.

That’s out of this world consistent. The Yankees came close, carried by consistently owning the division crown, whereas the two teams that take advantage of playoff appearances the most, Boston and San Francisco, found themselves looking up.

Honorable Mention: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants

College Volleyball

Some of these don’t take much time. Penn State has six championships, including two 38-0 seasons. USC, Stanford, Nebraska, Texas and UCLA have had strong programs, but none have approached the dominance by the Nittany Lions. Let’s just get to the point. Without a hint of doubt, your winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Penn State Nittany Lions.

College Baseball

Unlike most of the other sports in the discussion, the full 2000 season is included since it began post-millennium. Texas, South Carolina and Oregon State all have a pair of titles, with nobody else claiming more than one. Naturally, only those three are in consideration. However, the Beavers have only made four CWS appearances compared to six for South Carolina and eight for Texas. Typically that would lead one to believe that the answer is obviously the Longhorns.

Take a look at overall winning percentage: Texas is 661-294 (.664) in this millennium, lagging considerably behind the Gamecocks at 713-289 (.712). So what do we value? Winning more regular season games against what is typically stronger competition, or taking overall postseason play? The latter carries more weight. Here is how each team fared in NCAA Tournament play with its overall statistics tallied at the bottom.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Texas Longhorns. In what ended up being the closest contest of any sport so far, Texas prevailed because of one statistic: CWS appearances. South Carolina may hold a relatively significant advantage in regular season record and have a slim lead in postseason record, but they couldn’t get the job done in enough Super Regionals. One could argue that Texas’ lows were below South Carolina’s, but they consistently made the trip to Omaha and that familiarity with getting to the final eight put them over the edge.

College Football

Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, and Florida all have multiple FBS championships to their names, while Appalachian State and North Dakota State have dominated the FCS level well enough to be included in the discussion. USC vacated one of its two national championships and will not be considered. As we’ve come to find out, tables can be really useful when measuring statistics of multiple teams. Unfortunately, college football has more variables than most so let’s compare like it is 2000 (and we’re using WordPad).

Alabama: The Crimson Tide are the only team in this span with three FBS national title victories. Their overall record takes a hit because of 21 vacated wins, but stands at 116-57, including a 6-5 bowl mark – which is also hindered by one vacated victory and two seasons in which ‘Bama was ineligible for the postseason. They have garnered three SEC titles and five SEC West crowns – most of which have come under Nick Saban. The pre-Saban era was somewhat dark for Alabama, which had a (now shocking) 3-8 season in 2000. The loss of 21 victories could really come back to bite the team that is likely the first one on everybody’s college football power shortlist.

Florida: Florida boasts two national titles (thanks, Tebow) complemented by a 137-56 overall record. If Alabama had kept its wins, Florida would be one game ahead in the loss column and tied with the Tide for overall victories. In bowl play, Florida has a lackadaisical 7-6 mark. They have picked up three SEC Titles and have headed the SEC East four times.

LSU: Consistency in a more than tough conference is what could separate LSU from the group. Like every team on this list besides Alabama, the Tigers have a pair of national championships. Their overall record of 151-45 is only topped by Ohio State. They’ve won nine bowl games compared to six losses and have not missed out on the postseason. They’ve picked up four conference titles and five SEC West titles along the way to top both Florida and Alabama in those areas.

Ohio State: Surprised to see a Big Ten team here? You shouldn’t be. Despite a negative stigma built around the conference in recent years, Ohio State has been among the most dominant teams lately. The Buckeyes’ 157-36 overall record is hard to argue with. An 8-7 bowl record with a few postseason embarrassments could be improved on. What really couldn’t be is a sensational seven conference titles – which reasonably would be eight if not for a postseason ban on a 12-0 squad in 2012. The Buckeyes may not have the numbers to claim best of this century now, but with Urban Meyer pulling the strings, it might not be too long until they do.

North Dakota State: If we were only talking about the last four years, the Bison would breeze through the competition. Their 63-3 record with four national titles is, well, absurd. Before that? North Dakota State swiftly comes back to Earth with a more reasonable, but still strong, 74-40 mark. Did you already do the math? That’s an overall record of 137-43

…and I should probably mention they have a 20-2 postseason record.

20 wins. Two losses.

The Bison made the move from Division II to FCS in this time period and were ineligible for postseason play in multiple 10-1 seasons, otherwise they very well could have added to that title total. Which, quite frankly, is a little scary. One thing that isn’t as scary is this game. And this one in the same season. Sometimes you find things while researching that you wish you never did. Those qualify.

Appalachian State: While the Bison were fiddling around with moving up from Division II, another squad was busy winning national championships and knocking off the winningest-program in FBS history. That was the Mountaineers of Appalachian State. Their record of 131-52 is a modest amount below North Dakota State’s. It isn’t the regular season that separates these two FCS programs. The Mountaineers postseason mark, despite a three-peat from 2005-2007, is 19-8, considerably worse than the Bison’s…let me say it again…20-2.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: North Dakota State Bison. I get it. Strength of schedule for the Bison isn’t anywhere near what Ohio State, let alone Alabama, Florida and LSU, face on a week-to-week basis. Their national titles are much less publicized and viewed. They don’t have NFL prospects filling up the first round. They weren’t even in the FCS for part of this era. There are a lot of reasons not to pick them.

Go ahead, write an article on why LSU’s consistency in the SEC makes them the best dynasty of this century, or why Alabama’s three titles set it apart, or how Ohio State’s conference dominance make them the frontrunner. They all have strong cases to disprove my choice.

To me, these issues have to be made relative, not directly compared. Of course North Dakota State doesn’t have to play the LSU defense, the Tim Tebow offense or Nick Saban’s game plan on an annual basis, but they ought to be held to the standards of their competition, not of a league above them. North Dakota State has simply dominated about as much as a modern college football team can in this span. 137-43 in the regular season? Incredible – just as incredible as the others on this list, especially considering transition seasons. That doesn’t set them apart.

A .909 winning percentage in the postseason will. When the Bison play the best competition, they don’t just compete – they absolutely own everyone. Alabama doesn’t. Florida doesn’t. LSU and Ohio State don’t. They’re all tremendous teams, but have not set themselves apart at any part this century the way the Bison have.

Conclusion

The aforementioned follow-up article will now include the St. Louis Cardinals, San Antonio Spurs, New England Patriots, Detroit Red Wings, Kansas Jayhawks men’s hoops, UConn Huskies women’s basketball, Oklahoma State wrestling, Penn State volleyball, Texas baseball and North Dakota State football. Those ten dominant teams will be ranked to determine an ultimate “dynasty of the 21^st century.”

Be sure to check out Night Stuff on KRUI at the stroke of midnight Wednesday mornings as we discuss topics such as this, other sporting news and a few outrageous topics mixed in with a phone always ready to hear your takes. Did you like the article or happen to disagree with some of the choices? Tweet @TheMainStevent or @KRUISports to share your opinion.

The post The 21st Century’s Best Dynasty appeared first on KRUI Radio.

…Continued from “What We All Want: The 2011-2012 BCS Playoff Scenario”

But now that the teams are seeded, how would it actually look on paper?

I’m glad you asked. Check this out (click image to enlarge).

A bit small, yes, but you get the general idea. Based on the seeding, the only discrepancy would be pitting Wisconsin against Michigan State in the first round. Otherwise, everybody else panned out rather nicely. Some of the more featured match ups would include Georgia against Clemson, the Hokies against Mountaineers, and Bill Snyder against Andrew Luck.

Note that the Tide would have to win twice in order to get another crack at LSU, including having to get past Oklahoma State, or whoever beat them. At the same time, Oregon will have to do the same, getting passed LSU in order to have another crack at the national championship.

Doesn’t that seem nice? An actual playoff where you could follow along with what not? In a perfect world, I would also see it to where the losers of specific games would drop to specific bowl games, in order to keep the bowl tradition in line.

You’re probably wondering about the BCS games as well. Don’t you worry; since there are four of them, the losers of each of the quarterfinals would drop to a BCS bowl. Because in a perfect world, the losers of the semifinals would also drop to a BCS bowl (in which this case needs to be added, making five BCS bowls, plus the national title game) and duke it out for third best football team in the nation.

But of course that’s only in a perfect world, making every bit of this playoff completely and utterly hypothetical.

But a man can dream, though. A man can dream.

The post Cody’s Bracket (What We All Want: Part 2) appeared first on KRUI Radio.