Ultimate Bracket: 1972 UCLA Bruins the best team in college basketball
According to the computations of our super computer, the 1972 UCLA Bruins are the best out of 74 national championship teams.
It’s the matchup of every college hoops fan’s dream.
Bill Russell vs. Bill Walton for the Ultimate Bracket Championship
In the championship game of The Ultimate Bracket Unveiled by Northwestern Mutual on CBS Sports Network, the undefeated 1972 UCLA Bruins matched up against the 28-1 1955 San Francisco Dons to battle for the title of Ultimate Champion.
“It’s going to be on like Donkey Kong in that game,” CBS Sports college basketball analyst Seth Davis said. “It’s fitting ... we have two historically great teams in the finals, as it should be.”
Taking a step back in time for this matchup, journalists would hype the championship as the Big Bill Dance, Million Dollar Bill Matchup, Battle of the Bigs and whatever other alliterations they could think of.
Both teams would play with the swagger of a champion because well, they are.Walton’s squad scored 100 or more points in 12 of its 30 games, while the Dons reigned defensively all season. Each squad is about to meet its match in the Ultimate Championship.
While Russell and Walton do battle in the paint, trading block for block and hook for hook, guards K.C. Jones and Jamaal Wilkes go hard in the backcourt.
The imaginary box score would probably say Russell wins the battle of the Bills with a triple-double while Walton missed breaking UCLA’s single-game rebounding record (28) by just one bounce.
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| What would a championship game with these two guys in their prime look like? (Getty Images) |
Eventually, Walton’s hook shot and John Wooden’s game plan would prove to be too much for Russell and the Dons, who fall in a double-overtime loss (we assume) to UCLA. The 1972 UCLA Bruins continue their undefeated season to be crowned the Ultimate Champion.
Ironically, the 1955 Dons narrowly missed an undefeated season with just one loss to -- the UCLA Bruins.
Ultimate Bracket panelist and CBS Sports college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg said it's offense that wins games and the 1972 UCLA squad had offense for days.
“When is the last time we've seen a national championship team win just because of defense?” Kellogg asked. "I think that's the reason UCLA prevails, beause they'll find a way to score more points and that's the object of this game."
Wally Szczerbiak, CBS Sports Network college basketball analyst, picked the Bruins over the Dons simply because UCLA had the greatest coach of all time, John Wooden, on its sidline.
Getting to the Ultimate Championship was no easy task for these teams. To get there, Walton and Russell topped modern-day teams like the 2008 Kansas Jayhawks with five NBA Draft picks and the 1993 North Carolina Tar Heels.
In the end, it was the earlier generation of college basketball that proved victorious in the bracket to end all brackets.
“Who says we don’t like the older teams in the history of basketball?” Szczerbiak joked.
"It’s just fascinating to see the ultimate bracket overall and to see these two teams withstand the test of time to make it to the championship."
Here’s a look at the bracket that led to such a historic matchup after the super computer used every statistic available to simulate every game in the bracket one possession at a time, 50,000 times.
(Click to enlarge) (CBS Sports)
Sweet Sixteen
1948 Kentucky - 1941 Wisconsin
2005 North Carolina -2008 Kansas
1972 UCLA - 1968 UCLA
1984 Georgetown - 1976 Indiana
1963 Loyola Chicago - 1960 Ohio State
1994 Arkanas - 1993 North Carolina
1956 San Francisco - 1955 San Francisco
1995 UCLA - 1996 Kentucky
Elite Eight
1941 Wisconsin - 2008 Kansas
1972 UCLA – 1984 Georgetown
1960 Ohio State - 1993 North Carolina
1955 San Francisco - 1996 Kentucky
Final Four
2008 Kansas - 1972 UCLA
1993 North Carolina - 1955 San Francisco
Did the computer get the ultimate champion right? Who would you have picked? Make your voice heard in the comment section below or on Twitter@Hoopsoncbs. You can also follow Adena Andrews on Twitter @adena_andrews.















