Most undeserving team to win a national title, college or pro...

Seconded. </bitterSeachickensfangirl>

 

I KNEW that was coming. Seahawks fans continue to follow Mike Holmgren's shining example of how to lose without class.

As I watch the Steelers' 2006 season go up in flames, I can console myself with a simple reminder that no matter how long people whine about it, the Steelers got one for the thumb in Super Bowl XV.

 

Man, I still remember Kevin Stevens getting run into the boards and breaking his face in Game 7 against the Islanders that year. He was never the same after that and neither were the Penguins.

 

But it kept Washington from winning a national title, so it's OK with me.

 

Earned it on the field, indisputably. They had that year' NL Cy Young and MVP winners. There was no BS call (like the 1985 Royals), there were no injuries to key members of the opposition (Cardinals over Mets, 2006). There was one transcendent pitching performance that lifted the staff, and an MVP who lifted the lineup with his fire.

Ahem.

The 2000 Baltimore Ravens. An all-time defense, but a playoff offense that consisted on a single long pass from Dilfer to Sharpe and a few Lewis runs to get into field-goal range.

Another vote for the 1990 Colorado Buffaloes.

 

1994 San Fransisco 49'ers.

Complete mercenary outfit, which almost assuredly violated salary cap rules (New Orleans Saints' management pressed the league to look into Brent Jones' and other 'Niner contracts, but the league swept it under the rug.). Deion's only year with the 'Niners, and the last of the championships for The Felon, Eddie DeBartolo.

DeBartolo threw a Steinbrenner - esque fit after the 1993 season and went out and spent like a sailor on leave does on hookers. And he spent, apparently, in violation of league bylaws.

This is also the year that Steve Young 'cemented' his Hall - of - Fame credentials and allowed him to still be appearing (with his enabler, Berman) on our TV's now.

A brutal, seemingly illegal team run by a felon and a punk who lost his team to his sister. "Championships" don't come any more tainted than this.

 

I'm in full agreement with all of that, other than the team being undeserving of a title.

It was built for one year to win a title, then collapse into ruin. They got what they wanted.

 

Houston couldn't hit free throws when NCSU fouled the Cougars. If you're going to take action against Lewis, teach Phi Slamma Jamma to hit those. Jim Valvano was smart enough to take the air out of the ball because he knew NCSU would have been smashed if it even thought about running with Houston. Additionally, where was Olajuwon when Lorenzo Charles was finishing Dereck Whittenburg's 35-foot "shot"?

True, NCSU didn't hit almost 80 percent from the floor like Villanova did to take out Georgetown in '85, but the win was no less earned.

 

That N.C. State team was also much better than its record, IIRC. From what I remember, the Pack started that year out on fire, but Whittenburg broke his ankle against UVA (No. 1 or No. 2 at the time?) in a game where he had something like 30 points before halftime and State had a huge lead.

If he's not injured, that team is much more highly rated come tournament time.

 

So, was Iowa undeserving to get the Rose Bowl tickets? Hey, I lived through that season as a freshmen in high school. I remember the Iowa-Illinois blowout (aka The Nick Bell game). I couldn't contain my giddiness every time Frosty Mitchell called out "touchdown, Iowa!" over and over. Out of all of that, I didn't mind Iowa going to Pasadena, but we wanted that fucking pig and the Gophers outgunned Iowa that night.

If not for the quirky-ass Big 10 rules over who gets to head to the Rose Bowl, Illinois could have went, but IIRC, didn't Illinois go in '87 and Iowa went in '82, so Iowa went due to not being there the longest of the two teams?

 

Correct. Not a No. 1 seed or on the level of either Houston or Louisville. But I doubt the Wolfpack limps into the ACC Tournament with 10 losses, either.

 

I think that's what it was, although Illinois went in 1983, not 1987.

That game put Nick Bell on the map as an early NFL pick. Yet another stellar move by the Raiders.

Illinois beat Colorado earlier that year.