NCAA Basketball: AAC, Michigan State, and Saint Joseph’s headline Mailbag

3. When will we see another team like St. Joseph’s with Jameer Nelson and Delonte West- a small but talented roster ready to make some noise? – Dave (@mulld37)

That Hawks team was fun to watch.  Just to take you all back they had Jameer Nelson and Delonte West and were undefeated most of the year.  They lost very late in the year and earned a one seed in the NCAA tournament before losing in the Elite Eight.  There have already been many teams like this one and even a few I would say who are better than that one.

Outside of the obvious with Gonzaga having multiple pros every season, and making it to the second weekend five tournaments in a row, which as we all know is the longest active streak in the country.  The one team that comes to mind is the Dayton Flyers of last year.

Dayton only would up with two losses and had the Naismith player of the year in Obi Toppin.  Toppin was drafted by the Knicks and does get minutes despite an early-season injury.  That Dayton team was headed for a one seed in the NCAA tournament as well.

Outside of Dayton, San Diego State with Kawhi Leonard was a team who comes to mind but that team never received a one seed in the tournament and lost in the Sweet 16.

There have been teams who have been successful like the Hawks of the early 2000s.  Wichita State with Fred Van Vleet and Ron Baker were undefeated heading into the NCAA tournament.  They were given a 1 seed and were defeated by Kentucky in their second game in the tournament.  That Shocker team was one of the best teams I have seen and just ran into an extremely motivated Kentucky team.

The fact is that there have been teams as good and as fun to watch as that Hawks team, and outside of Gonzaga none of them have had the kind of success that one did.  Since the NCAA tournament was canceled a season ago no one will ever know how far the Dayton team would have made it, but given the way they were playing my guess is they were going to make it pretty far.