Ohio State '07 = Duke '99?

[Troublemaker]

Without trying to get into the overall talent levels of '99 vs. '07, I do think that the talent level on Duke that year was phenomenal. I haven't double checked, but I think that our margin of victory was 26 points/game. That's unreal, and a sign that we just ran over everyone. Half time scores often had a larger margin because the team would back off from the beating they were giving people (I think scores were as ugly as 60-18 at halftime against the lesser competition). It was a lot of fun rooting for the team and seeing them play in person.

Given the way we destroyed our competition, the conversations we had at the time didn't center around which other NCAA teams could give us a hard time, but rather whether Duke '99 could beat the Clippers. Ironically, they now ARE the Clippers. Do you really think that there is a single team in the NCAA this year who belongs in any conversation about beating any of the pro teams? It didn't feel wrong to compare Duke '99 to the worst pro team.

It was ridiculous at the time to compare Duke 99 to pro teams. The hype around that team (Vitale contributed much of it) may have made it seem more reasonable but it was not. Every time we played an Elite 8 team from that season (4 times total), we either lost or played a close game.