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NCAA Basketball: 5 biggest winners from 2019 NCAA Tournament

By Adam Childs

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: De'Andre Hunter #12 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrates his three point basket basket late in the second half against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: De'Andre Hunter #12 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrates his three point basket basket late in the second half against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 31: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates with his teammates after a basket against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 31: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates with his teammates after a basket against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

5. Experienced teams

All the talk in college basketball centers around the great talent coming out of high school. The five-star recruits that will turn into one-and-done players. Duke had three of them this year and they were the “best team” to ever play college basketball according to some. Kentucky is always loaded with freshman players going to the NBA and North Carolina is right behind them.

But while Duke and Kentucky made it to the Elite Eight and came up just short of the Final Four, the teams with the most experience were the ones playing in Minnesota on the last weekend. National champion Virginia was led by three juniors and two sophomores. They did have freshman Kihei Clark starting for them, but he is far from a one-and-done player.

Runner-up Texas Tech’s top players were four seniors and two sophomores. Jarrett Culver who is only a sophomore will probably go pro but still had the experience of an Elite Eight run last year. Auburn made a run with two seniors, three juniors and a sophomore and Michigan State who is the epitome of having an experienced team rolled out two seniors, two juniors and a sophomore.

The Elite Eight also featured Purdue and Gonzaga who were led by juniors and seniors. For those keeping track that would be six of the eight teams that had experience over one and done type of teams.

So for all the talk about the great talent coming out of high school for just one year, this tournament proved that experience does matter and can beat some great talent. We aren’t saying that a Kentucky or Duke won’t win with what they are working with, but it is not the only way to go about doing things either. There is no substitute for experience and this year it showed why.

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