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Who was the BEST team in 2023?

Im The Village Idiot

Im The Village Idiot

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I feel pretty confident at this point that the following are locked in:

2026 - Michigan
2025 - Duke
2024 - UConn

While Florida was strong in 2025 and won the title, Duke was a -4.5 point favorite if they had played, was KenPom #1, SRS #1, #1 in the final pre-tournament AP poll, the Vegas favorite pre-tournament and the favorite when the Final Four opened.

However, 2023 —- boy you talk about a rabbit hole. No clue how to parse that one, it’s all over the place.

Looking for someone to give me their best arguments for who the best team was in 2023.
 
Im The Village Idiot

Im The Village Idiot

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Johnnie Africa said:
Am I misremembering or was that the year UCONN won all the tournament games by an average of 15+ points?
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They were dominant, but they also didn’t have to play a 1 seed or a 2 seed.

Counterpoint: they beat Alabama by 15 in the regular season.

Houston is the strongest challenger to me but it gets pretty complicated.
 
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RunninRichie

RunninRichie

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Im The Village Idiot said:
And they also went something like 2-5 in a stretch of games also. They were a 4 seed in the NCAAT and nowhere near betting favorites going into the tournament.

It’s actually a tough call.

Houston has a real argument — if it weren’t for key injuries, who knows?
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Uconn got a 2018 UK type of bracket. It just totally opened up for them I still think they beat Houston, though. But it’s definitely a tough call.
 
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Im The Village Idiot

Im The Village Idiot

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RunninRichie said:
They hit a mid season slump. Hurley had them into a well oiled machine by the end.
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These are not the kind of mid season slumps you normally see from the best team in the country though:

L @ #22 Xavier by 5
L @ Unranked Providence by 12
W home vs Unranked Creighton by 9
L @ #25 Marquette by 6
L home vs Unranked St. John’s by 12
L @ Unranked Seton Hall by 1
W home vs Unranked Butler by 30
L @ home vs #13 Xavier by 3

Im not saying they aren’t the best team. It’s just such a weird year in 2023
 
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BookofMormon

BookofMormon

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Im The Village Idiot said:
They were dominant, but they also didn’t have to play a 1 seed or a 2 seed.

Counterpoint: they beat Alabama by 15 in the regular season.

Houston is the strongest challenger to me but it gets pretty complicated.
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They smoked top overall seed Alabama in the OOC schedule. They literally ripped anyone outside the BE a new ahole that season. It was Uconn.

I don't know how much more proof you need than beating the overall 1 on a neutral court by 15 and then pile driving the field.

If not them, I'm not sure who it would be. Candidates were Purdue, Houston? Miami rolled Houston. Purdue lost to a 16 seed. They lost a bunch of games that year in the BE in like one month because they were on the road a ton, I think, and got in a funk.

All said, it was a pretty weak field and one of the weirder tourneys ever.

It's not like there were a lot of draft picks on one team. I think Bama had Miller at 2 and then Clowney in the first round. Arkansas had Black, Wright and Jordan Walsh. Michigan had Jett Howard and another high pick.

So they played the most talented teams.

I'm convinced Hurley uses the BE recreationally at this point.
 
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Im The Village Idiot

Im The Village Idiot

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Johnnie Africa said:
UCONN was hot and playing their best basketball during the tournament, and was the best team in March. They weren’t the best team all season though, which is what I think you’re asking?
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Exactly.

Although they do have a good case for best team in 2023 anyway.

The real contenders are:

UConn
Houston
Alabama

The “squint and you can see it” contenders are:

Kansas
UCLA
Purdue
 
BookofMormon

BookofMormon

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Im The Village Idiot said:
These are not the kind of mid season slumps you normally see from the best team in the country though:

L @ #22 Xavier by 5
L @ Unranked Providence by 12
W home vs Unranked Creighton by 9
L @ #25 Marquette by 6
L home vs Unranked St. John’s by 12
L @ Unranked Seton Hall by 1
W home vs Unranked Butler by 30
L @ home vs #13 Xavier by 3

Im not saying they aren’t the best team. It’s just such a weird year in 2023
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If you look at the BE schedule (BE was actually good that year with Creighton, Marquette, Xavier), it was really front loaded against their best teams on the road.

It says Creighton was unranked, but they made the E8 and were a bad foul call away from Final Four.

They stacked the schedule and they got into a funk. Also worth noting, UConn fans tend to think the BE reffing is highly disadvantaging to their offense because the refs let them grab, hold and mug to slow down their actions.
 
Im The Village Idiot

Im The Village Idiot

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BookofMormon said:
They smoked top overall seed Alabama in the OOC schedule. They literally ripped anyone outside the BE a new ahole that season. It was Uconn.

I don't know how much more proof you need than beating the overall 1 on a neutral court by 15 and then pile driving the field.

If not them, I'm not sure who it would be. Candidates were Purdue, Houston? Miami rolled Houston. Purdue lost to a 16 seed. They lost a bunch of games that year in the BE in like one month because they were on the road a ton, I think, and got in a funk.

All said, it was a pretty weak field and one of the weirder tourneys ever.

It's not like there were a lot of draft picks on one team. I think Bama had Miller at 2 and then Clowney in the first round. Arkansas had Black, Wright and Jordan Walsh. Michigan had Jett Howard and another high pick.

So they played the most talented teams.

I'm convinced Hurley uses the BE recreationally at this point.
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I think you’re trying to make something sound clear cut when it isn’t. UConn was nowhere near the betting favorites going into the tournament, were a 4 seed, didn’t have to play their own 1 seed, lost 6 of 8 at one point in the year, didn’t even finish the season with the highest SRS after winning the title, played in one of the most upset-ridden NCAA tournaments in memory, were not close to the most frequent selection for champion in ESPN’s bracket challenge.

Sure — they got hot and kicked tail in the tournament, but also didn’t play a single elite team in that bracket.
 
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BookofMormon

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Im The Village Idiot said:
I think you’re trying to make something sound clear cut when it isn’t. UConn was nowhere near the betting favorites going into the tournament, were a 4 seed, didn’t have to play their own 1 seed, lost 6 of 8 at one point in the year, didn’t even finish the season with the highest SRS after winning the title, played in one of the most upset-ridden NCAA tournaments in memory, were not close to the most frequent selection for champion in ESPN’s bracket challenge.

Sure — they got hot and kicked tail in the tournament, but also didn’t play a single elite team in that bracket.
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No, but they covered the spread in every game of the tourney.

One of the crazier stats I've ever seen is that UConn has covered 19 of their last 20 games. The only one they haven't is Furman this past year. Easy money in March.

They bludgeoned the overall 1 seed Alabama in November. That's enough for me to say they're better than them. If you look at that team, they also had two lottery picks, another first rounder and an early second rounder in the starting 5.

Was Houston a possibility? IDK - they were 2 points behind them in KenPom, Miami handled them fairly easily. I can't remember if there was an injury in that game. I think it's UConn, even if out of default. There really wasn't a dominant team that year. It's not like the following year when there was UConn, Purdue and a healthy Houston. Or the year after when there were 4 teams that really stood out. Or this past year when there were 3 great teams all year.

If Creighton got past SDSU into the F4 and got to UConn, that was a team I thought could beat them. They had some talent on that team with Kalkbrenner, Scheirman, Nembhard and Trey Johnson.
 
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Im The Village Idiot

Im The Village Idiot

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BookofMormon said:
I'm not convinced. Why? Beat a meh 8 seed by 4, lost to 4 seed Musselman lead Arkansas in the S16. Early season OOC was ok, lost to Bama and Duke. Few has figured out how to game the computers.
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I think we are looking at things very differently. You’re doing the same thing with 2022 that you did with 2023 — you’re pointing at the NCAAT results and seeing it as clear cut. If I’m looking at the BEST team, I’m not looking at who did what in the NCAA tournament. The best teams get upset time to time. I look at things like betting odds, KenPom, SRS, AP rankings pre-tournament, etc. Are there cases where margins are razor thin between two teams and then I would say the tournament showed who the better team was? Yes. But tournament success ≠ best team to me. That’s why I can acknowledge Duke was the best team in 2025 but not the champion. Kentucky was the best team in 2003 but not the champion.
 
Johnnie Africa

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Im The Village Idiot said:
I think we are looking at things very differently. You’re doing the same thing with 2022 that you did with 2023 — you’re pointing at the NCAAT results and seeing it as clear cut. If I’m looking at the BEST team, I’m not looking at who did what in the NCAA tournament. The best teams get upset time to time. I look at things like betting odds, KenPom, SRS, AP rankings pre-tournament, etc. Are there cases where margins are razor thin between two teams and then I would say the tournament showed who the better team was? Yes. But tournament success ≠ best team to me. That’s why I can acknowledge Duke was the best team in 2025 but not the champion. Kentucky was the best team in 2003 but not the champion.
Click to expand...

Even though I thought Florida was the best team in 2025 the last six weeks of the season I also think you could make a great argument for Auburn over Duke for the whole of the 2025 season. I just don’t see Duke as the best team of 2025.
 
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BlueSince92

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Without judgment regarding why it didn’t happen, if we’d had a whole season of the Zvonimir Ivisic who played sixteen minutes against Georgia January twentieth, it would have been us.
 
Im The Village Idiot

Im The Village Idiot

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Johnnie Africa said:
Even though I thought Florida was the best team in 2025 the last six weeks of the season I also think you could make a great argument for Auburn over Duke for the whole of the 2025 season. I just don’t see Duke as the best team of 2025.
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For me, Duke is pretty clearly the best team in 2025. They had the best odds going into the tournament, best odds when they were set again at the Final Four, finished first in KenPom, finished first in SRS, finished #1 in the final pre-tournament AP poll. And they weren’t just good according to the advanced metrics, they were in the vicinity of all-time teams in that regard, the highest KenPom rating of any team since 1999 to that point. Florida was an elite program that year, as was Auburn and Houston. But betting odds were already set for a presumed Florida-Duke finale with Duke at a 4.5 pt favorite. It isn’t popular on a Kentucky forum to say Duke was the best team that year, but I think they were. Thankfully, they crapped down their own legs despite having a 14 point lead in the second half versus Houston.
 
BookofMormon

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Im The Village Idiot said:
I think we are looking at things very differently. You’re doing the same thing with 2022 that you did with 2023 — you’re pointing at the NCAAT results and seeing it as clear cut. If I’m looking at the BEST team, I’m not looking at who did what in the NCAA tournament. The best teams get upset time to time. I look at things like betting odds, KenPom, SRS, AP rankings pre-tournament, etc. Are there cases where margins are razor thin between two teams and then I would say the tournament showed who the better team was? Yes. But tournament success ≠ best team to me. That’s why I can acknowledge Duke was the best team in 2025 but not the champion. Kentucky was the best team in 2003 but not the champion.
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2022 to me, is very much up for debate. I think there are a good 4-7 teams that are candidates. Duke had a ton of talent.

I look at overall body of work and roster. I'm certainly not looking at their conference play as a dictator as the WCC presents no challenges. I'm not even convinced St Mary's has been a formidable opponent as a team that blows up in the tourney annually, they also have figured out computer gaming. With Gonzaga, I don't look at the KenPom.

Zags did have freshman Chet, Timme, Strawther and Nembhard. Three of these players are playing in the NBA.

The tourney, to me, is a dictator of when a team should be peaking. In a case like that Gonzaga team, I need to see OOC play that clearly demonstrates they are the best team. A S16 handling by a meh coached team like Arkansas doesn't offer much confidence they were the best team.

If you simulated that tourney 100x, who would win it the most?

The one type of loss I'm willing to overlook most often are good conference road losses. Teams with familiarity when the opposing venue is going wild to me, is a game I'll flush regularly. Kansas had 4 that season.
 
Im The Village Idiot

Im The Village Idiot

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BookofMormon said:
Zags did have freshman Chet, Timme, Strawther and Nembhard. Three of these players are playing in the NBA.
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To me, this is the most important point. That team wasn’t just good according to computers. The eye test and obvious talent back it up. Ridiculously talented team. We will just agree to disagree on 2022. I see a serious debate around 2023, but not on 2022.
 
BookofMormon

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Im The Village Idiot said:
For me, Duke is pretty clearly the best team in 2025. They had the best odds going into the tournament, best odds when they were set again at the Final Four, finished first in KenPom, finished first in SRS, finished #1 in the final pre-tournament AP poll. And they weren’t just good according to the advanced metrics, they were in the vicinity of all-time teams in that regard, the highest KenPom rating of any team since 1999 to that point. Florida was an elite program that year, as was Auburn and Houston. But betting odds were already set for a presumed Florida-Duke finale with Duke at a 4.5 pt favorite. It isn’t popular on a Kentucky forum to say Duke was the best team that year, but I think they were. Thankfully, they crapped down their own legs despite having a 14 point lead in the second half versus Houston.
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Hard to disagree with that one. Odds are often very much driven by KenPom, FYI. That Duke team had the NPOY, 1 pick, NBA ROY and NBA ROY RU. They had three lottery picks, 2 other second rounders. They check just about every box - not a hard call TBH. They didn't even get a chance to play the ultimate winner, were beating Houston with dominance until they blew it. It's a very easy call.

This past year's Michigan was the best team - the only minor question mark would be that they lost to a healthy Duke team on a neutral court, still not enough.

I see nothing in 2022 Gonzaga that says best team. To me, there are no variables that tell me that. 2023 UConn showed utter dominance OOC and in the tournament. Preseason AP to me is highly subjective. Then they tend to stay high because of a bad conference. They had 1-2 real quality wins all year, none in the tourney. They lost to Bama at home and Duke on a neutral site in the non con.
 
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BookofMormon

BookofMormon

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Im The Village Idiot said:
To me, this is the most important point. That team wasn’t just good according to computers. The eye test and obvious talent back it up. Ridiculously talented team. We will just agree to disagree on 2022. I see a serious debate around 2023, but not on 2022.
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If it's talent and eye test, then I raise you Duke, who actually got to the F4, had the first pick of the draft and a number of other first round picks.

What did Gonzaga do all year that said best team? Beat Texas Tech? That was their signature win. Not feeling it. If it's talent and final result, I'm taking Duke.

Few had a lot of good teams in about a 5-6 year window there and really shite the bed in terms of winning it all. Not sure he's ever getting back now.
 
Im The Village Idiot

Im The Village Idiot

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BookofMormon said:
If it's talent and eye test, then I raise you Duke, who actually got to the F4, had the first pick of the draft and a number of other first round picks.

What did Gonzaga do all year that said best team? Beat Texas Tech? That was their signature win. Not feeling it. If it's talent and final result, I'm taking Duke.

Few had a lot of good teams in about a 5-6 year window there and really shite the bed in terms of winning it all. Not sure he's ever getting back now.
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You’re selling the Zags short.

They beat top 5 Texas by 12, beat #2 UCLA by 20 on a neutral court, beat #25 Texas Tech by 14 on a neutral court. They played Duke on a neutral court and lost by 3 in a game that could have went either way. I value the head to head but Duke had more missteps on their schedule, losing to Unranked Ohio State, losing at home to Unranked Miami, losing to Unranked Florida State, losing at home to Unranked Virginia, losing at home to Unranked North Carolina, losing to that same North Carolina team again in the NCAAT and losing to Unranked Virginia Tech in the ACCT.
 
BookofMormon

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Im The Village Idiot said:
You’re selling the Zags short.

They beat top 5 Texas by 12, beat #2 UCLA by 20 on a neutral court, beat #25 Texas Tech by 14 on a neutral court. They played Duke on a neutral court and lost by 3 in a game that could have went either way. I value the head to head but Duke had more missteps on their schedule, losing to Unranked Ohio State, losing at home to Unranked Miami, losing to Unranked Florida State, losing at home to Unranked Virginia, losing at home to Unranked North Carolina, losing to that same North Carolina team again in the NCAAT and losing to Unranked Virginia Tech in the ACCT.
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See, you're looking at that Texas team at a point in time, early in the season. They were a 6 seed when it was all said and done. Gonzaga's signature win was on a neutral court against a 3 seed.

Again, Duke made the final 4 and I will always say a young team peaks at end of season. I'm not sure it's even Duke, but what I feel confident on is that Gonzaga really didn't show me anything to say it was them. I'd say Kansas, Baylor, Duke, Houston are all candidates. B12 was the best conference that year and Kansas won the tourney and shared the reg season title with Baylor.

Gonzaga has no chances to losses in conference because they're conference is terrible.
 
paulcalhoun_rivals397471

paulcalhoun_rivals397471

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Im The Village Idiot said:
I think you’re trying to make something sound clear cut when it isn’t. UConn was nowhere near the betting favorites going into the tournament, were a 4 seed, didn’t have to play their own 1 seed, lost 6 of 8 at one point in the year, didn’t even finish the season with the highest SRS after winning the title, played in one of the most upset-ridden NCAA tournaments in memory, were not close to the most frequent selection for champion in ESPN’s bracket challenge.

Sure — they got hot and kicked tail in the tournament, but also didn’t play a single elite team in that bracket.
Click to expand...
It looks like they finished #10 in the AP poll and were a 4 seed as you said. I would not have considered them to be the best team in the country by any means heading into that tournament.

www.sports-reference.com

2022-23 Men's College Basketball AP Polls | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

2022-23 Men's College Basketball Season Summary and More About College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
www.sports-reference.com www.sports-reference.com
 
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BookofMormon

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paulcalhoun_rivals397471 said:
It looks like they finished #10 in the AP poll and were a 4 seed as you said. I would not have considered them to be the best team in the country by any means heading into that tournament.

www.sports-reference.com

2022-23 Men's College Basketball AP Polls | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

2022-23 Men's College Basketball Season Summary and More About College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
www.sports-reference.com www.sports-reference.com
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I don't think anyone would have. They had one of the stranger bodies of work. Extremely hot early, then a slump, then a slow cadence up and then turned the jets on in the tournament. I'd be open to an alternative if there was anyone that stood out. As is, they have a signature out of conference win that establishes credibility, then blitzed the field. That Miami team was quite good and beat some very good teams on the way in, was also very hot. They also had a lot of draft picks in their roster.

Fun exercise.
 
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