College football fans may remember the "Game of the Century" in 2011 between #1 LSU and #2 Alabama. LSU won that game in OT 9-6. The scoring consisted of 5 field goals. They played later that season for the (then) BCS championship with Alabama winning 21-0. In the background lurking was Chip Kelly and other offensive innovators. The spread and no huddle offenses (preventing the defense from substituting) scared Saban to death. He was on record saying the no huddle shouldn't be allowed and that player safety was a big issue, but most people believed that the defensive-minded Saban was worried that his defensive strategies/run the ball 40 times a game wouldn't be able to stand up to the new fangled offenses.
Fast forward to the CFP era. Saban hires Lane Kiffin to completely modernize his offense. The scores of the CFP championship games have been 42-20, 45-40, 35-31, 26-23, 44-16, 42-25 and 52-24. Saban also recently reluctantly admitted that good defenses no longer beat good offenses. In the 9-6 game, Alabama threw the ball 29 times for 199 yards, their leader in receiving yards was a RB which likely means most of these passes were glorified, low-risk running plays. Last year's CFP championship against OSU, Alabama threw the ball 45 times for 464 yards.
Where am I going with this? Are there parallels to the increased usage of the three point shot and faster paced offenses? I think the argument can be made that you aren't winning a football championship without an explosive offensive no matter how good your defense is. If true, does the same apply to college basketball? I did a quick eye scan of KenPom and I would say that most of the college basketball regular season champs last year were also 1-2 in offense (some were also 1-3 in defense). The top 3 in offense in the BSC last year were EWU, WSU and SUU (the leagues top 3 teams). Out of those 3 only WSU was top 3 in defense at 3rd. EWU was 5th and SUU was 6th.
So, I guess the question is, does defense still win championships in college basketball and/or can you win a championship without a top 1-2 offense in your conference?
Fast forward to the CFP era. Saban hires Lane Kiffin to completely modernize his offense. The scores of the CFP championship games have been 42-20, 45-40, 35-31, 26-23, 44-16, 42-25 and 52-24. Saban also recently reluctantly admitted that good defenses no longer beat good offenses. In the 9-6 game, Alabama threw the ball 29 times for 199 yards, their leader in receiving yards was a RB which likely means most of these passes were glorified, low-risk running plays. Last year's CFP championship against OSU, Alabama threw the ball 45 times for 464 yards.
Where am I going with this? Are there parallels to the increased usage of the three point shot and faster paced offenses? I think the argument can be made that you aren't winning a football championship without an explosive offensive no matter how good your defense is. If true, does the same apply to college basketball? I did a quick eye scan of KenPom and I would say that most of the college basketball regular season champs last year were also 1-2 in offense (some were also 1-3 in defense). The top 3 in offense in the BSC last year were EWU, WSU and SUU (the leagues top 3 teams). Out of those 3 only WSU was top 3 in defense at 3rd. EWU was 5th and SUU was 6th.
So, I guess the question is, does defense still win championships in college basketball and/or can you win a championship without a top 1-2 offense in your conference?