25 Biggest “What If” Moments in College Basketball in the Past 25 Years

[Sherman20]

Fab Melo being declared ineligible in 2012 makes the ESPN list. He was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year and we were undefeated in all the games he was eligible.

I still think Arinze Onuaku’s injury in 2010 was the most heartbreaking for Cuse fans. That was a consummate TEAM and the tourney field that year was significantly weaker. We would have beat Butler and probably Duke for the title. In 2012, I think we would have beat Ohio State to make the Final Four but Kentucky was a juggernaut and the title game would’ve been a dogfight.

(This article lists Robbie Hummel’s injury at Purdue in 2010 instead of AO’s. We were the better team, but they probably didn’t want to have two entries from that season.)

The 25 biggest 'What ifs' of the past 25 seasons

Gordon Hayward's buzzer-beater. Allan Ray's foul. Billy Donovan's coaching decision. LeBron ... in college? What if all these and more had happened? We'd see a very different sport right now.

www.espn.com

 

[OrangeDW]

- Fab Melo
- AO
- What if Kenny Anderson went to Cuse?

I think that’s the big 3 for us.

 

[721Comstock]

- Fab Melo
- AO
- What if Kenny Anderson went to Cuse?

I think that’s the big 3 for us.

How about - DC hits the front end of the 1-and-1.

Or, related: somebody guards Keith FFF!NG!! Smart on that baseline J.


Honorable mentions:

J-Dub doesn't get called for the most weaksauce 5th foul in Finals history vs. Kentucky.

Scoop doesn't get that bogus over-and-back.

The "charge" on Triche.

Red Autry's shot from the floor counts.

 

[pearl31]

they forgot one (well, two)-
What if Mark Emmert didn't hand the keys to the NCAA enforcement machine to a toadie named Oliver Luck, and what if Luck didn't have a hard-on for JB?

 

[stuckinbig11]

DC 1 and 1

 

[Cusefan0307]

AO was bigger than FAB. That team was better than the rest of the field. 2012 had more competition.

 

[MikeSU02]

If Bron had gone to college, his team would have won a title. There, that's the answer. He would have been the greatest freshman since Kareem who didn't get to play.

If Luka had wanted to go to college, same thing would have happened.

Also, if K Mart didn't get hurt, Cincy is rolling to a title in 2000. Screw the Flintstones.

 

[Orangezoo]

If Bron had gone to college, his team would have won a title. There, that's the answer. He would have been the greatest freshman since Kareem who didn't get to play.

If Luka had wanted to go to college, same thing would have happened.

Also, if K Mart didn't get hurt, Cincy is rolling to a title in 2000. Screw the Flintstones.

I still wonder how much better KMarts NBA career would have been without that injury. He was solid but never quite the same player to me.

 

[djorange1989]

they forgot one (well, two)-
What if Mark Emmert didn't hand the keys to the NCAA enforcement machine to a toadie named Oliver Luck, and what if Luck didn't have a hard-on for JB?

Oliver Luck is quite possibly the biggest tool in college sports. Or sports in general. In what was otherwise a sad 2011 football season, the beatdown we gave WV right after Luck took cheap shots at our football program was a thing of beauty

 

[djorange1989]

DC 1 and 1

As bad as that was, the lame defense/quick IU basket after Triche missed his second free throw haunts me too

 

[OrangeDW]

How about - DC hits the front end of the 1-and-1.

Or, related: somebody guards Keith FFF!NG!! Smart on that baseline J.


Honorable mentions:

J-Dub doesn't get called for the most weaksauce 5th foul in Finals history vs. Kentucky.

Scoop doesn't get that bogus over-and-back.

The "charge" on Triche.

Red Autry's shot from the floor counts.

I was focusing on roster issue what ifs.

But yeah, if you go to on court what ifs - you nailed the big ones as far as I can recall.

One more roster one…..does SU have another deep run sometime from 2004-06 with a locked in Billy Edelin? As well as he played down the stretch in 03 and as great as he looked the first half of 2004, he would’ve been an elite college guard in his upperclassman years if there were no off court issues.

I think 2005 SU in particular. Throw a Junior Edelin averaging roughly 15, 5, and 5 and playing his solid floor game onto that team, and who knows?

 

[Trueblue25]

Whats the team in 2014, or whatever, look like if Dion, MCW and Grant stayed?

 

[two3zone]

AO was bigger than FAB. That team was better than the rest of the field. 2012 had more competition.

Agreed the field was much easier in 2010, but I’d take that 2012 team against again team, they had absolutely everything, nothing even close to a weakness.

 

[Eric15]

I was focusing on roster issue what ifs.

But yeah, if you go to on court what ifs - you nailed the big ones as far as I can recall.

One more roster one…..does SU have another deep run sometime from 2004-06 with a locked in Billy Edelin? As well as he played down the stretch in 03 and as great as he looked the first half of 2004, he would’ve been an elite college guard in his upperclassman years if there were no off court issues.

I think 2005 SU in particular. Throw a Junior Edelin averaging roughly 15, 5, and 5 and playing his solid floor game onto that team, and who knows?

Without a doubt. The mid-2000s are completely different if we have Billy. Four consecutive years of Billy and GMac as a starting backcourt would have been incredible. Take ball-handling pressure off GMac and let him play off the ball as a pure scorer. And we get Billy's always-in-control old-man game instead of below average play that Louie and Josh Wright provided us.

 

[Eric15]

Scoop doesn't get that bogus over-and-back.

9 times out of 10 I think obsessing over block/charges is a waste of energy since they're such bang/bang plays, but that over-and-back call was total BS. It was a blatant misinterpretation of an objective rule.

 

[OrangeDW]

Without a doubt. The mid-2000s are completely different if we have Billy. Four consecutive years of Billy and GMac as a starting backcourt would have been incredible. Take ball-handling pressure off GMac and let him play off the ball as a pure scorer. And we get Billy's always-in-control old-man game instead of below average play that Louie and Josh Wright provided us.

Yup, and throw in Pace - who played great, but probably would’ve been even more dangerous playing off of both of them. Those 3 plus Warrick would’ve been awfully tough. We were seeing it in 2003-04. Looked great against Michigan State(96-83), blew out BC 96-73, won at Missouri 82-68, won at ND 81-70….double digit wins against decent/good teams while scoring 80-90+ points. That team looked to have a ton of potential at that point, and Edelin was playing amazing.

 

[Sherman20]

How about - DC hits the front end of the 1-and-1.

Or, related: somebody guards Keith FFF!NG!! Smart on that baseline J.


Honorable mentions:

J-Dub doesn't get called for the most weaksauce 5th foul in Finals history vs. Kentucky.

Scoop doesn't get that bogus over-and-back.

The "charge" on Triche.

Red Autry's shot from the floor counts.

And Moten’s timeout against Arkansas! But that’s not in the last 25 years, which is what this list encompasses.

 

[OttoMets]

If Bron had gone to college, his team would have won a title. There, that's the answer. He would have been the greatest freshman since Kareem who didn't get to play.

...

Unless, of course, he went to Texas and played for Rick Barnes.

Then he'd have lost in the second round of the NCAAs.

 

[miamicuse]

A hypothetical. What of the Hakim block happened in the 1987 title game against the Keith Smart shot BUT NOT in 2003? Would the trajectory of the program be much different? If you had to choose between the title in 1987 vs 2003 what would be your preference and why?

 

[Charbroil]

AO was bigger than FAB. That team was better than the rest of the field. 2012 had more competition.

Agreed 100%. I do think the 2010 squad was the best pound for pound team before AO got hurt.

The 2012 field was loaded with some really good teams. Most people bring up UK, which is understandable. But that UNC team, which is often forgotten, was fantastic too before Kendall Marshall got hurt.

 

[tbonezone]

what if...
stephon marbury and adonal foyle joined the 96 squad ? as they should have.

oh my god my god !

 

[realorange]

What if: Pearl or Carmelo had stayed one more year?

 

[miamicuse]

What if: Pearl or Carmelo had stayed one more year?

Pearl said he regretted not staying one more year, but if he did, I don't think we would hace seen the same sophomore general.

 

[miamicuse]

What if Winfred Walton had played?

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

How about - DC hits the front end of the 1-and-1.

Or, related: somebody guards Keith FFF!NG!! Smart on that baseline J.


Honorable mentions:

J-Dub doesn't get called for the most weaksauce 5th foul in Finals history vs. Kentucky.

Scoop doesn't get that bogus over-and-back.

The "charge" on Triche.

Red Autry's shot from the floor counts.

How about Sr. Howard Triche hits the one and one the possession before DC’s? Or Rony doesn’t dribble a breakaway dunk off his knee in the first half? Or Monroe hits the late pull up three when SU was up 8, or pulls it out and runs clock? ( I still think it was a good shot.)
That AO team wins the NC easily.