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Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

TREBBY: College hoops lacking elite team

There is a trend in college basketball that is developing into more and more of an annual and accepted trait of the game.

As a fan of the game, I find it difficult to envision a team losing just one or two games in a season anytime soon. This season could just be an anomaly, but with the way rosters change year by year, I doubt we’ll see many teams as good as last season’s Kentucky squad in the near future.

John Calipari’s Wildcats were clearly the best team in college basketball last season. Not only were they the most athletic and most talented, but Calipari made them play together.

Outside of Kentucky last season, there were at least five or six teams that had a case to be the nation’s second best team. This season, there are five or six that have a concrete case to be college basketball’s best.

In the polls, there has been a merry-go-round of No. 1 teams. This week it’s Indiana, after it took down Michigan on Saturday night.

The top seven teams in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls have two losses and at least 18 wins. Arizona is No. 7 and Gonzaga is No. 6. For all we know, those two teams could be as good as No. 2 Florida or No. 1 Indiana. In fact, Arizona beat Florida at home earlier in the season.

We are getting closer and closer to March, and we still do not have a team that wows us. As a fan of the game, I enjoy watching many different teams, but there isn’t one that I can say is clearly the best in the country. At the start of the year, that team for me was Indiana. Now, I still think it could be the Hoosiers.

Remember how dominant last year’s Kentucky team was? What about the 2009 North Carolina Tar Heels? They were by far the best in the country, with Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington. Florida in 2007 was a better team than the 2006 Gators and could be that best team.

But the whole dynamic of college basketball is changing. Every team is good but not great. They all have their own specific and unique flaws.

Any of those top seven teams in the country, if they’re playing well, they could be considered the best team in the country. I don’t like it. I want my powerhouse schools back. I want to be able to see a team and know I’m watching something special. I have yet to feel that this season, and doubt I will for another couple years.

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