"Worst" team to ever win a championship? Topic

wildcat98
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I know "worst" is a relative term, and that records don't always indicate quality, but I thought it might be interesting to know what the worst records to win a championship at each of the 3 levels are. I can't imagine that any champions have ever had an actual LOSING record, have they? That would require entering the conference tournament at 7-19, or 8-18 with a bye, and I can't imagine that any teams THAT bad even won a 1st round NT game.
10/30/2013 2:54 PM
alblack56
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In Naismith DIII, , season #45 ,  my Drew team was 15-12 entering the tournament.   We won it as a #15 seed
10/30/2013 6:47 PM
mullycj
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Just go to the champions page on you world
10/30/2013 7:10 PM
wildcat98
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I was actually interested in hearing people's stories about them as well.
10/30/2013 8:40 PM
rednu
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I remember that run al -- it was very impressive.!

One of the older folks will have to tell the story, but I recall a tale being told of a coach quitting/getting banned midseason whose team then autopiloted its way to a national championship at some division.

10/30/2013 8:44 PM
wildcat98
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Posted by alblack56 on 10/30/2013 6:47:00 PM (view original):
In Naismith DIII, , season #45 ,  my Drew team was 15-12 entering the tournament.   We won it as a #15 seed
So, did you end up 24-12 or 25-12? Was it just a semi-lucky run, or did you have injured players that got back at tourney time, or what?
10/30/2013 8:45 PM
wildcat98
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Posted by rednu on 10/30/2013 8:44:00 PM (view original):
I remember that run al -- it was very impressive.!

One of the older folks will have to tell the story, but I recall a tale being told of a coach quitting/getting banned midseason whose team then autopiloted its way to a national championship at some division.

That must've been a helluva team!
10/30/2013 8:47 PM
emy1013
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Posted by wildcat98 on 10/30/2013 8:45:00 PM (view original):
Posted by alblack56 on 10/30/2013 6:47:00 PM (view original):
In Naismith DIII, , season #45 ,  my Drew team was 15-12 entering the tournament.   We won it as a #15 seed
So, did you end up 24-12 or 25-12? Was it just a semi-lucky run, or did you have injured players that got back at tourney time, or what?
I would guess that 15-12 was entering the NT, so a final record of 21-12.
10/30/2013 8:53 PM
wildcat98
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Posted by emy1013 on 10/30/2013 8:53:00 PM (view original):
Posted by wildcat98 on 10/30/2013 8:45:00 PM (view original):
Posted by alblack56 on 10/30/2013 6:47:00 PM (view original):
In Naismith DIII, , season #45 ,  my Drew team was 15-12 entering the tournament.   We won it as a #15 seed
So, did you end up 24-12 or 25-12? Was it just a semi-lucky run, or did you have injured players that got back at tourney time, or what?
I would guess that 15-12 was entering the NT, so a final record of 21-12.
Yeah, that makes sense. Don't know what I was thinking.
10/30/2013 9:23 PM
Weena
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Rednu, I believe the team you remember was DIII Drew in Naismith. In season 28 their coach alex24057 went ballistic on the forums (I don't know why) and was banned. His team won the NT with a 27-8 record. In an ironic twist of fate, alblack56 took over Drew the following season.


I think my Rhode Island team from season 43 of Iba may qualify as the "worst" team ever to win a DI title. It really wasn't that bad of a team except for their 16-11 record entering the NT. The team had 1 Sr, 4 Jr, 5 So, a Freshman and a walk-on. Excluding the w/o, we had a 741 overall total. That team was part of the mighty A-10 that was extremely strong at that time. That season we sent 8 teams to the NT and 2 more to the PI. My team went 6-3 vs Top 25 teams and was an at-large selection as a 10 seed. We won 3 games against very good opponents and then faced the legendary lostmyth2 in the Elite 8. After beating him to advance to the Final Four, lm2 posted on the CC that since I beat him that I'd better win it all. I had no choice but to win the next two games and the title.
10/31/2013 2:54 AM
alblack56
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Alex20457''s Drew team, season #28, was also set at +5 when he was banned. They finished the season at that setting
10/31/2013 4:57 AM
mullycj
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Posted by alblack56 on 10/31/2013 4:57:00 AM (view original):
Alex20457''s Drew team, season #28, was also set at +5 when he was banned. They finished the season at that setting
The previous season I lost to that team in the sweet 16 when my starting C went down with an injury 7 mins into the game.   He played +5 almost all year that season.

I'd say his championship team wasn't the "worst" team to win it, but maybe the worst coached team to win it.   Great roster that won despite his game planning.
10/31/2013 10:39 AM
mullycj
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Season #21 in Smith my E. Illinois team won the title.  Despite a 34-1 record, we were an average team compared to the Big 6 schools.

Championship was a combo of the FCP (which was far too powerfull back then) and some major upsets which knockoed out some monster teams before I had to play them.    That roster could have easily lost in the 2nd round.
10/31/2013 10:43 AM
mullycj
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In season #35 of Smith Army won the NC at 31-4.   Their last 4 games were a string of upsets that were so atrocious we wondered wtf was wrong with the engine.

Now that the "randomization" has been toned down by Seble (thank god), I don't think we will see that type of  "luck" again.
10/31/2013 10:45 AM
rednu
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Yeah, I didn't know anything about the team specifically since it pre-dates my time in the game, so maybe it wasn't fair to throw it out in a category asking for the "worst," but the sheer bizarre-ness of the story around it at least made it worth mentioning. It's like a little piece of WIS lore, the likes of which may never be seen again.

10/31/2013 10:46 AM
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