Heading into the final week of conference play with a 13-1 record and the inside track of winning the B1G, I started thinking about the closest that Juwan and the Fab 5 came to winning a conference title back in the day (or at least back in “my” day).
Most casual observers would assume this occurred in 1993, when UM was a 1 seed and lost to UNC in the title game. But actually it was the next year, after C-Webb had gone to the NBA.
After a middling start in non conference play, UM got hot during conference play, at one point winning 9 games in a row to run their conference record up to 12-2 by the end of February. Had they simply gone 2-2 they would have won at least a share of the conference title, and a 3-1 record would have given them the title outright.
Instead, they went 1-3 down the stretch including an OT loss in the season finale to lowly Northwestern, finishing at 13-5 behind Purdue (14-4) and securing the legacy of the Fab 5 as being a great team with no championships.
After the loss to Illinois on Tuesday, I had a real sense of deja vu thinking back to 1994, with Illinois playing the role of Purdue. And early in the first half when we were a little tight tonight, it really felt like there was a chance this thing could snowball if we weren’t careful.
Fortunately history did not repeat itself, and now Juwan has his championship banner, 27 years later than planned, but even sweeter now than it would have been then. So happy for Juwan and the rest of the team.
Most casual observers would assume this occurred in 1993, when UM was a 1 seed and lost to UNC in the title game. But actually it was the next year, after C-Webb had gone to the NBA.
After a middling start in non conference play, UM got hot during conference play, at one point winning 9 games in a row to run their conference record up to 12-2 by the end of February. Had they simply gone 2-2 they would have won at least a share of the conference title, and a 3-1 record would have given them the title outright.
Instead, they went 1-3 down the stretch including an OT loss in the season finale to lowly Northwestern, finishing at 13-5 behind Purdue (14-4) and securing the legacy of the Fab 5 as being a great team with no championships.
After the loss to Illinois on Tuesday, I had a real sense of deja vu thinking back to 1994, with Illinois playing the role of Purdue. And early in the first half when we were a little tight tonight, it really felt like there was a chance this thing could snowball if we weren’t careful.
Fortunately history did not repeat itself, and now Juwan has his championship banner, 27 years later than planned, but even sweeter now than it would have been then. So happy for Juwan and the rest of the team.
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