Nate Silver uses his NYTimes-enhanced soapbox and statistical techniques to come up with the 10 worst playoff teams of all time. Beware Seahawks fans: he doesn't like what he sees.
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/the-2010-seattle-sea...
Shifting gears (Silver is only about pro teams): Ah, Jimmy V and the 1983 Wolfpack. A few things not to forget (I lived and breathed ACC hoops that year): They had some struggles in the regular season, but Derek Whittenburg, half of their backcourt, was out with a broken foot for part of that. They lost the first two after he came back, before they got back in sync. Even so, they were 17-10 and 8-6 (4th place) in what was maybe the best ACC ever (Michael Jordan, Ralph Sampson, Len Bias, etc), then swept through the ACC tournament.
An underdog, yes, but a good, veteran team. Whittenburg's injury made their record look shakier and their seed lower than it probably would have been. They didn't have the superstars, but their intact starting 5 was competitive with the best in the ACC, which meant the best in the country.
Of course, if they'd been 22-5 and a #3 seed, it wouldn't have been as much fun. And, they won pretty much every single game in great dramatic fashion. It was very cool, except when they were beating my team.
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