One could argue, based on Evan Miya’s analytical rankings, not to mention the eye test, that Clingan was UConn’s best player this season. In fact, per Miya’s analytics, the championship game featured the top 2 players in the nation at center. In a way it was reminiscent of the 80’s when Ewing prevailed over Olajuwon in a battle of dominant centers.
Of course, other positions do matter. Per Miya’s analytics, all 5 UConn starters were top 20 players nationally and it’s 6th man was #34, while Purdue featured 2 top 6 players, but nobody else in the top 50 and only 4 total players in the top 100. Regardless, take away Clingan and I like Purdue’s chances against UConn.