LAS VEGAS -- The title game of the National Champions All-Stars Bracket is set.
As expected, it's No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 2 Kentucky. You guys sure don't vote for upsets, do you? I mean, where's the creativity? The favorites have won every round of our version of March Madness in July, where the six programs with the most NCAA titles -- UCLA, Kentucky, Indiana, North Carolina, Duke and Kansas -- have been pitted against each other using rosters featuring former players (but only former players who won a national title while in college).
And I can't stress that last point enough (even though I've tried).
|
That is why Dan Issel isn't on the Kentucky roster and why I really wish UK fans would stop calling me stupid for not including him. You can find hundreds of reasons to call me stupid, my haircut being among the most obvious. But leaving Issel off the UK roster isn't one of them, and I hope we never have to discuss this again.
Anyway, it's UCLA vs. Kentucky (minus Issel).
On paper, it looks like an easy win for the Bruins because of Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton and all that talent. But National Champions All-Stars Bracket games aren't played on paper. They're played on the Internet, and nobody plays on the Internet better than Kentucky fans.
Their ability to vote for themselves when given the opportunity is unmatched, meaning John Wooden is gonna have to come up with some kind of strategy to win this matchup against Adolph Rupp, who always liked non-white people just fine, far as I know.
But here's a good sign for UCLA: Wooden's final game as a coach was a 92-85 win in the 1975 national championship game against ... Kentucky! On the other hand, that win came against a Kentucky team coached by Joe B. Hall, not Rupp. In fact, Rupp was 3-0 all-time against UCLA teams coached by Wooden, and now I'm just starting to confuse myself with all these supposed edges.
Which is why I'm leaving it up to you, the readers.
Are Wooden and his Bruins the best? Or Rupp and his Wildcats?
Voting is now open. So get to it.
| The Bracket | ||||||||||||||||||
| Opening round | Semifinals | Championship | ||||||||||||||||
| Voting closed July 15 | Voting closed July 22 | Voting closed July 29 | ||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
| UCLA Bruins (11 national championships -- 1964-65, 1967-73, 1975, 1995) | ||||||
| | | | | | |
| Guard Walt Hazzard | Guard Gail Goodrich | Forward Ed O'Bannon | Forward Bill Walton | Center Lew Alcindor | Sixth Man Sidney Wicks | |
| Years | 1962-1964 | 1963-1965 | 1992-1995 | 1971-1972 | 1967-1969 | 1969-1971 |
| Games | 87 | 89 | 117 | 87 | 88 | 90 |
| PPG | 16.1 | 19.0 | 15.5 | 20.3 | 26.4 | 15.8 |
| FG% | .432 | .476 | .513 | .651 | .639 | .511 |
| 3PT% | N/A | N/A | .394 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| FT% | .706 | .702 | .739 | .642 | .628 | .635 |
| RPG | 5.5 | 4.7 | 7.0 | 15.7 | 15.5 | 9.9 |
| APG | N/A | N/A | 1.8 | 3.6 | N/A | 2.3 |
| SPG | N/A | N/A | 1.2 | N/A | N/A | 1.3 |
| Misc. | 1 title (1964); 1964 Tournament MOP | 2 titles (1964-65); 2 Final Fours | 1 title (1995); 1995 Tournament MOP; 1995 Wooden award winner | 2 titles (1972-73); 3 Final Fours; 1972, 1973 Tournament MOP; 1972-74 Naismith award winner | 3 titles; 3 Final Fours; 1967-69 Tournament MOP; 1968-69 national POY; 1969 Naismith award winner | 3 titles; 3 Final Fours; 1971 POY |
| Coach: John Wooden, 620-147, 27 seasons, 12 Final Fours, 10 titles (1964-65, 1967-73, 1975) | ||||||
| Kentucky Wildcats (7 national championships -- 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998) | ||||||
| | | | | | |
| Guard Ralph Beard | Guard Tony Delk | Forward Jack Givens | Forward Alex Groza | Center Bill Spivey | Sixth Man Cliff Hagan | |
| Years | 1946-1949 | 1993-1996 | 1975-1978 | 1945, 47-49 | 1950-1951 | 1951-1952, 54 |
| Games | 139 | 133 | 132 | 120 | 63 | 77 |
| PPG | 10.9 | 14.2 | 15.4 | 14.5 | 19.3 | 19.2 |
| FG% | N/A | .474 | .515 | N/A | .381 | .425 |
| 3PT% | N/A | .397 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| FT% | .624 | .709 | .798 | .678 | .669 | .700 |
| RPG | N/A | 3.5 | 6.0 | N/A | N/A | 13.4 |
| APG | N/A | 1.6 | 2.0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| SPG | N/A | 1.5 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Misc. | 2 titles (1948-49); 2 Final Fours | 1 title (1996); 2 Final Fours; 1996 Tournament MOP | 1 title (1978); 2 Final Fours; 1978 Tournament MOP | 2 titles (1948-49); 2 Final Fours; 1948-49 Tournament MOP | 1 title (1951); 1951 Tournament MOP; 1951 POY | 1 title (1951) |
| Coach: Adolph Rupp, 876-190, 41 seasons, 6 Final Fours, 4 titles (1948, 1949, 1951, 1958) | ||||||

