I understand you point Drex, on any given day a coach might put together the perfect game plan and beat a team with better talent. Some teams will go on inexplicable streaks and advance well beyond what seems to be their ceilings, see Villanova 1985 or George Mason 2006. Look at what Dick Bennett did with that collection at Wisconsin (shudder) in 2000, amazing. Sometimes it happens, but most of the time, overwhelmingly it does not. In ’84 that same Indiana team you reference loses the next game to a 6-8 ACC team, Virginia. Virginia (Olden Polynice, Othell Wilson, Rick Crlisle) then ends up in the Final Four with Georgetown, (Patrick Ewing, Reggie Williams, David Wingate, Michael Graham, Fred Brown) Houston, (Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Young, Alvin Franklin, Benny Anders, Greg Anderson) and Kentucky (Winston Bennett, James Blackmon, Kenny Walker, Sam Bowie, Mel Turpin, Roger Harden) Terry Holland did the best job that year in the NCAA’s, but the other teams simply had more talent. There may have been Final Fours with more future NBA players, but not many. The coaches…Holland, Joe B, John Thompson, and Guy Lewis. The best coaches in the country at the time? I’ll say no. Terry Holland had to coach his ass of to get there, he did a superb job, the rest did a good job but had superior talent. Talent to me is always the most important ingredient. Last night Rafftery and Bilas mentioned a past Final Four and I believe Bilas says something like “I could tell you who wins by counting the pros”. By no means is it the only factor…just the most important. And don’t forget luck. At some point in time, you gotta get a little lucky. There are many ways to screw up a talented team and some coaches come to mind. No way does Michigan win in ’87 (also a great year for talent) with Bill Frieder. Great talent and a sub-par coach. Insert Steve Fischer (Not a coaching genius IMHO) and they win the title. Go figure. Getting back to Knight, he loses to Richmond in the NCAA's four years later. On any given day, bad luck, what ever you want to call it. My point is that you must have the horses to compete. Good coaching and some luck are also on the required list, but the first item on my list is talent.
