Wow. That's crazy.

And don't forget that Oklahoma got to the Final Four....

 

Originally posted by <b>JuniorNoboa</b>!
2002 was truly an amazing and unique basketball year, especially in the power conferences.



Consider the following (preseason rankings based on Sporting News yearbook)

SEC Tournamnet Champions and 3 Seed - Mississippi St (ranked 12th in the SEC, 103rd nationally in the preseason)

Pac-10 Champions and 2 seed - Oregon (ranked 8th in the SEC, 104th in the country)

Big Ten Co-Champions- Ohio St (ranked 5th in Big 10, 43rd in country) Wisconsin (ranked 9th in Big 10, 94th in country)

Big 12 Regular Season Champions (I think) and #2 seed, although deserved a #1 seed - Oklahoma (ranked 5th in Big 10, and 36th in country)

Big East Champions, regular and Tourney, #2 seed - Pitt (ranked 12th in Big East, 95th in country)

The year was simply unbelievable.

To put it into perspective, the most similar ranked conference teams coming into 2004 are:

Ole Miss
Washington St.
Indiana
Minnesota
Colorado
Georgetown

Do you expect any of these teams to win their conference this year, much less be #3 seeds or less (other then Indiana)

That was an awesome year for basketball. I actually picked Oregon to do well because I anticipated Fred Jones having a breakout year (boy did he).

Of those teams that you listed Junior, I think Washington State comes out and surprises teams in the Pac-10 and might sneak into the tournament behind Dick Bennett and PG Marcus Moore.