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Message: [QUOTE="diggerfoot, post: 4686232, member: 1673"] I am not surprised by the sim results, but from glancing through this thread I suspect most might not know why and need some context. The Duke squad UConn defeated in 1999 was the most formidable of all FF opponents UConn faced. Duke ended up with the most wins ever in a season until Kentucky eclipsed them about 13 years (?) later, and they compiled those wins against a strong ACC. That’s a factor that would boost them in a simulation over ‘04. Despite facing their most formidable FF opponent of all time, they beat the spread against them by what remains a championship record. That’s another factor that would boost them in a simulation against ‘04. The only other team besides Duke that was rated #1 that year was UConn, after Duke was first to lose their lone regular season game. UConn would not hold on for long because they subsequently lost when missing two key starters, Hamilton and Voskuhl. Even so, UConn ended up with their best overall record, BY FAR, out of all UConn teams when they only lost two games for the entire season. That’s another factor that would favor them in a simulation over ‘04. Some of the once mighty Big East opponents such as Georgetown and St. John’s were starting to decline by ‘04, and the bottom feeders were worse. Schedule strength is yet one more factor that would favor ‘99 over ‘04 in a simulation. I get why so many people automatically think ‘04 must be the best, given the talent on that squad, but sometimes the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts. Comparing the two centers may be instructive. Okafor was no doubt the greatest UConn center of all time, and bests Voskuhl in all the most heralded stats. But there were two things Voskuhl did better. He was perhaps our best center ever at the outlet pass and was certainly the best center for setting bone-jarring screens. He did little things that made the team as a whole better. That was really the story for the whole team that year; they played extremely well together. Despite their very high ceiling, there were a few wtf moments and games for the ‘04 squad. The same could not be said for the ‘99 squad with the best overall record and the most impressive championship win over what many considered one of the greatest teams all time …. until UConn beat them. [/QUOTE]

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