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Kentucky (38-1) not best team to fall short

Kentucky forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) walks off the floor as the Wisconsin players erupt after the Badgers ended the Wildcats’ quest for an unbeaten season with a 71-64 victory in the Final Four on Saturday.

Seconds after Wisconsin ended Kentucky's undefeated season and dreams of a national championship, there was a small Twitter exchange about the best team not to win the championship.

Chuck Monan (The Pigskin Preacher), Justin Acri and your trusty scribe swapped ideas.

A case could be made for several teams, such as the 1985 Georgetown Hoyas, who were upset by conference foe Villanova in the title game.

Kansas losing to Arizona in the Sweet 16 in 1997 was mentioned, although the Wildcats went on to beat another No. 1 seed and win the championship.

Michigan and the Fab Five in 1993, Illinois in 2005 or Duke in 1999 all are legitimate could-have-beens.

Monan, a Michigan fan, went with the 1991 UNLV team that lost to Duke in the semifinals, 79-77, but that game ended oddly. Larry Johnson was on a fastbreak when he pulled up, turned and passed to Anderson Hunt, who launched a long three and missed.

Johnson's bread and butter was going to the hole, but that night in Indianapolis he gave up the shot that could have tied the game.

The team that some might have forgotten, and the best team to have come up short in my opinion, was the 1983 Houston Cougars, who were so talented that six players would eventually be NBA draft picks.

The Cougars went into the championship game against No. 6 seed North Carolina State in Albuquerque, N.M., as a prohibitive favorite.

They were riding a 26-game victory streak that covered 78 days. Their average margin of victory in the NCAA Tournament was 13.5 points per game.

The year before, the Cougars, as a No. 6 seed, and Louisville, as a No. 1 seed, made the Final Four, so both had experience. But the Coogs beat the Cardinals 94-81 in the 1983 semifinals.

It has been written many times that Houston arrived at The Pit four hours before the championship game because Coach Guy Lewis got anxious. He also wanted to put in a new locomotion offense, which took the dunking demons -- they were tagged Phi Slama Jama for their high-flying act -- out of their game.

The game was tied at 52-52 and time was running out when North Carolina State's Dereck Whittenburg launched a 30-foot shot that came up 3 feet short. Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston's All-American center, had taken steps toward Whittenburg leaving Lorenzo Charles to field the ball, turn around and dunk the buzzer beater.

The Pit had never been more quiet, especially press row where stunned reporters sat staring with unbelieving eyes.

Olajuwon was named Most Outstanding Player, the last from a losing team.

So where will Kentucky fit into the scheme of great teams that didn't win the championship?

Probably not in the top five, and maybe not top 10, because last Saturday night the Wildcats were not the best team.

Wisconsin was. The Badgers were more disciplined, played more sound basketball and were totally unafraid.

They said before the game Kentucky was the team they wanted to play.

Wisconsin had zero McDonald's All-Americans compared to eight playing for Kentucky. The Badgers have two, maybe three players who will have NBA careers; Kentucky has at least nine.

It was written here that the only team in the NCAA Tournament who could beat Kentucky would be a team wearing blue and white. Translated, only Kentucky could beat Kentucky.

That was wrong.

The older team with more leadership on the floor refused to wilt under the Wildcats' furious defense, instead finding ways to score, and win.

Kentucky was good, just not the greatest, when it counted most in the 2014-2015 season.

Sports on 04/07/2015