Sure, that was part of it. But it's impossible for the narrative to exist unless Georges gets hurt. He was not only playing well in the tournaments, but he had turned into a team mascot of sorts.
UConn had an inconsistent season but was playing out of their minds at that point.
Michigan State was a #4 seed but ranked #8 nationally on Barttorvik, so they should have been more like a #2 seed based on the computer rankings/efficiencies.
And that is in New York -- before you hit the Final Four.
Efficiency rankings...
#3 = Florida
#5 = Wisconsin
#14 = Connecticut
#22 = Kentucky
#25 = Iowa State
We would have had our work cut out for us, to say the least.
People like to say we were on some magnificent hot streak close to the end of the season, but the computer efficiency ratings disagree. They say we were playing well, but the 2017 team and the 2019 teams were playing better on a game-to-game basis and played better in Kansas City than the Kane-Ejim team did towards the end of the season. The K-E team avoided an injured Embiid, too, and the Big 12 was much better in 2017 and a little better in 2019.
We just have this fuzzy glow around that team because they went undefeated against a relatively weak non-con (save for home wins against good Michigan and Iowa teams), pulled a lot of close games out of their butts, had some neat "stories" that went with them, and there was a sense of finally having "arrived" that went with that season. Playing so well when we had so little for expectations for that season was always going to be fun.
The 2016 team was probably better, for instance, but does it have as many cool memories as the ball off Woodbury's back, Johnny in Hilton again, the three OT game in Stillwater, Naz's improbable shot to close the season in Hilton? That season also had absolutely stratospheric expectations on it, which gave it a frustrating edge the 2014 season did not have.
Last edited: