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If college hoops had the BCS, who would you want in the National Title game?

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Jameis Winston and Florida State beat Auburn for the BCS National Title on Monday night in one of the most thrilling football games that you’ll ever see.

Was it the best ever?

I’m probably the wrong person to ask, but I feel comfortable saying that there has never been a national title game that was markedly better than last night’s. It got me to thinking: if you could pick a matchup for the NCAA Tournament Title game right now, who would it be and why? Our panel answered. You can chime in in the comments:

Raphielle Johnson: Arizona vs. Syracuse.

This would be the ideal title game matchup right now if we were to go with a BCS-style game. Why? These are two of the most talented teams in the country, and they’ve backed it up with results as well.

While Arizona may not have the deepest rotation, head coach Sean Miller does have the pieces needed to attack just about any system they’ll encounter. And for as much as their need for a consistent perimeter shooter has been discussed, they’re still a Top 25 team in adjusted offensive efficiency per kenpom.com. Defensively their work has been excellent to this point in the season, and it helps to have athletes such as Nick Johnson, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, and Brandon Ashley when it comes to defending. As for Syracuse Jim Boeheim’s team put forth an uncharacteristic performance against Miami on Saturday, which is a credit to the Hurricanes more than an indictment of the Orange. Tyler Ennis has been one of the nation’s best point guards, and forwards C.J. Fair and Jerami Grant have done what was expected of them when the season began. The combination of talent and depth makes Syracuse a logical selection for this game.

Scott Phillips: Kansas vs. Kentucky

I’ll preface this by saying that I want to see the two teams playing the best ball in the country facing each other for the NCAA title, I just hope that it happens to be Kansas and Kentucky because they’re the two most talented teams I’ve seen play this season. No disrespect to the other top contenders that are playing better ball than the Jayhawks and Wildcats, but they don’t boast the type of talent that these two teams possess. Can you imagine the intrigue around the storylines? Wiggins in the title game. Kentucky’s freshmen trying to prove everyone wrong. Embiid vs. Cauley-Stein in the post. Self vs. Calipari. Now wrap your mind around those four incredible storylines for a second and realize that none of the four even intertwined. This would be a matchup for the ages; two titans of college basketball colliding with the best talent in the country on the floor. Hardcore fans, casual fans; they’d all tune in for this one. And it would hopefully be a hell of a game.

Terrence Payne: Florida vs. Syracuse

Personally, after going through the preseason debate of Michigan State or Kentucky for the No. 1 spot, I’d like to see a national title between the Spartans and Wildcats, to have that initial argument come full circle. Even though they played a week into the season. I’m not sure will see a rematch. I’m going with Florida and Syracuse as my ideal national championship. The Gators look the part of the contender as they get players back in the lineup (still waiting on Chris Walker) and as they begin to mesh as a team. The Orange still have key pieces from last season’s Final Four team in addition to point guard Tyler Ennis, who’s playing as well as any freshman in the nation. Maybe I’m wrong, but the ACC-SEC battle seemed to work last night in the BCS Championship Game, right?

Rob Dauster: Arizona vs. Michigan State

There’s been a lot of talk here about so-and-so being the two best teams in the country, and it’s all been wrong.

Why?

Because Arizona and Michigan State are the two best teams in the country, at least right now. That could end up changing if some of these super-talented freshmen turn into super-human basketball players in the next three months, but as of today, the matchup this is the matchup that I would most look forward to.

Think about it: there may not be two better game-planners and in-game coaches that Sean Miller and Tom Izzo, which is saying a lot considering the quality of coaching at the top level of college basketball. Nick Johnson is one of the nation’s best defenders, and he’ll be locked-up with the now-healthy Gary Harris, creating a matchup almost as intriguing as watching two of the nation’s most physically-gifted players in Aaron Gordon and Branden Dawson square off. Brandon Ashley and Adreian Payne will spend 40 minutes trying to out-face-up-game each other, while the key to the game could end up being the play of the point guards (Keith Appling and T.J. McConnell).

You guys are crazy if you don’t want to see this game happen with everything on the line.

Kevin Doyle: Arizona vs. Florida

If Arizona has holes, they’ve masked them well to date. The Wildcats are one of the most sound defensive teams in the country, have a rock solid point guard in T.J. McConnell, a center in Kaleb Tarczewski who is leaps and bounds better than a season ago, and a dynamite wing in Nick Johnson. All of that, and I haven’t even mentioned Aaron Gordon. The X-factor on this team is Gabe York. He has one role: to shoot and hit threes. He has been sub-par in that regard thus far, but if Sean Miller can rely on him for a couple of threes per game, Arizona’s offense becomes that much better.

As for Florida, they may seem like a peculiar pick, but I don’t think we have seen this Gators team even close to their best this season. Remember, they were playing without Scottie Wilbekin and Dorian Finney-Smith to begin the season, and Kasey Hill has missed time due to injury. As good and talented as Kenny Boynton was during his career, Wilbekin is an upgrade, in my opinion. Plus, Casey Prather is better than anyone could have possibly projected this year. Florida hasn’t come close to peaking yet. If we have learned anything about Billy Donovan, it’s to not doubt him in March. Florida has been to the Elite Eight the past three seasons, and this season they make it to the championship.