Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Combo Package Which schools had the best combination of football/men's basketball in 2015-16? Here is our Final Five: 1. Oklahoma Football: 11-2 (No. 5) Men's Basketball: 29-8 (No. 4) Combined: 40-10 (.800) Summary: Clemson pounded the Sooners in the College Football Playoff (37-17), and OU also suf- fered the most embarrassing loss in basketball's Final Four history (95-51) to national champ Villanova. Yet making the Final Four in both is seldom ever going to happen anywhere. Better to have loved and lost … 2. Michigan State Football: 12-2 (No. 6) Men's Basketball: 29-6 (No. 7) Combined: 41-8 (.837) Summary: Joined Oklahoma as the only two schools to finish in the top 10 in both, and the combined winning percentage in the two is tops. It won Big Ten titles in both sports as well. 3. North Carolina Football: 11-3 (No. 15) Men's Basketball: 33-7 (No. 2) Combined: 44-10 (.815) Summary: The Tar Heels won 11 straight in football (the longest in school history) before a 45-37 setback to No. 1 Clemson in the ACC Championship Game. In basketball, it won both the ACC regular- season and tournament crowns before losing at the horn, 77-74, to Villanova in the national title game. 4. Notre Dame Football: 10-3 (No. 11) Men's Basketball: 24-12 (No. 17) Combined: 34-15 (.694) Summary: The top three in our survey dwarf Notre Dame in overall winning percentage, but earning a Big Six bowl bid in football and advancing to the Elite Eight in basketball (second straight year) is an achievement only Oklahoma could match. 5. Oregon Football: 9-4 (No. 19) Men's Basketball: 31-7 (No. 6) Combined: 40-11 (.784) Summary: Had the Ducks not blown a 31-0 lead against TCU in the Alamo Bowl and lost 47-41 in triple overtime to end a six-game winning streak, we would have placed them ahead of the Irish. In basket- ball, top-seeded Oregon lost to Oklahoma in the Elite Eight. — Lou Somogyi