2024 South Carolina 4th greatest undefeated team of all time right now | The Boneyard

2024 South Carolina 4th greatest undefeated team of all time right now

Who had the toughest route to perfection? Where Gamecocks rank among unbeaten champs

ESPN ranked the best undefeated teams of all time and this years South Carolina team comes in 4th!

Depending on how the draw in the tourney goes they could end up the best of them all. Seems likely they’ll be considered the greatest WCBB team of all time in less than a month.
Come on. That is not what this ranking says. Kevin Pelton, who writes for ESPN, ranks the so-called toughest paths to an undefeated season based on Massey ratings of opponents, not the best unranked teams:

"Last March, ESPN's Michael Voepel ranked the undefeated champs, which also factors in level of dominance. Here we're solely considering the quality of the teams faced along the way and the location of those games."

It's a ridiculous ranking. Even so, do you seriously think that the '23-24 Gamecocks are better than the '01-02 UConn Huskies with one player (Swin Cash) already in the Naismith HOF and two others (Bird and Taurasi) who will be inducted in the next 4-10 years? Michael Voepel's ranking mentioned in Pelton's article ranked the '01-02 Huskies as the best team ever.

As soon as I saw this ranking I immediately knew it would be misinterpreted.

Reading comprehension.
 
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Come on. That is not what this ranking says. Kevin Pelton, who writes for ESPN, ranks the so-called toughest paths to an undefeated season based on Massey ratings of opponents, not the best unranked teams:

"Last March, ESPN's Michael Voepel ranked the undefeated champs, which also factors in level of dominance. Here we're solely considering the quality of the teams faced along the way and the location of those games."

It's a ridiculous ranking. Even so, do you seriously think that the '23-24 Gamecocks are better than the '01-02 UConn Huskies with one player (Swin Cash) already in the Naismith HOF and two others (Bird and Taurasi) who will be inducted in the next 4-10 years? Michael Voepel's ranking mentioned in Pelton's article ranked the '01-02 Huskies as the best team ever.

As soon as I saw this ranking I immediately knew it would be misinterpreted. Hence, the silliness of the ranking.

Reading comprehension.
Who knows how many future hall of famers South Carolina has. All I know is what I see on the court. Those old UConn temas had no competition to play against. The game is much tougher now. I don’t see how South Carolina won’t end the season one of if not the best teams of all time.
 
Who knows how many future hall of famers South Carolina has. All I know is what I see on the court. Those old UConn temas had no competition to play against. The game is much tougher now. I don’t see how South Carolina won’t end the season one of if not the best teams of all time.
Eyeroll Ugh GIF
 
Voepel's ranking from last season:

1. 2001-02 UConn Huskies (39-0)
2. 1997-98 Tennessee Lady Vols (39-0)
3. 2008-09 UConn Huskies (39-0)
4. 1985-86 Texas Longhorns (34-0)
5. 1994-95 UConn Huskies (35-0)
6. 2015-16 UConn Huskies (38-0)
7. 2009-10 UConn Huskies (39-0)
8. 2011-2012 Baylor Bears (40-0)
9. 2013-14 UConn Huskies (40-0)


Pelton's ranking of toughest opponents based on Massey ratings has the 2011-2012 Baylor team as #1, while the same Baylor team was rated #8 by Voepel.
 
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Who knows how many future hall of famers South Carolina has. All I know is what I see on the court. Those old UConn temas had no competition to play against. The game is much tougher now. I don’t see how South Carolina won’t end the season one of if not the best teams of all time.
Iron Man Eye Roll GIF
 
It would of had more value to me if the analysis compared apples-to-apples and included all undefeated teams as at the end of the conference tournaments, where South Carolina is now, including those who didn't end up winning it all including the Gamecocks team last year.
 
A list sure to generate clicks and get people talking, which is usually the point lol.

To this dude, the top 3 are easily:

2016 Huskies
2002 Huskies
1998 Lady Vols

What SC has accomplished this year speaks to how well Dawn has recruited and managed the roster. They've been relatively healthy as well and that's half the battle these days. If they hold on and win it, they will be a very deserving champion.
 
Who knows how many future hall of famers South Carolina has. All I know is what I see on the court. Those old UConn temas had no competition to play against. The game is much tougher now. I don’t see how South Carolina won’t end the season one of if not the best teams of all time.

 
Articles like this are always open to discussion/criticism/mockery, but I don't think that anyone is saying that this SC team is anywhere near the fourth best team of all time. Did it have the fourth toughest route to where it is now? I have no idea. The retired actuary in me says that it's often easy to use numbers in sports to say whatever you want them to say, especially when you start comparing teams and individuals over different seasons or different eras.
 

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