Football and Basketball: two different sports that don’t seem to cross over in any way at all. Seeing this article, you may be confused about how comparing an NFL team with an NCAA Basketball team is possible… but you may be surprised. Despite the statistics within the sports being drastically different, analyzing them with one another is possible.
Regular Season Success
Both the Vikings and Wildcats enjoyed their own regular season successes, the Vikings finishing 13-4 and the Wildcats finishing 28-7, both enjoying above a .750 winning percentage. The Vikings won the NFC North, while the Wildcats won the Pac-12 through the Pac-12 tournament as the 2nd Seed. Within their own respective regular seasons, both the Vikings and Wildcats won by mostly slim margins and when they lost, they were blown out.
Offensive Superstars
The Vikings and Wildcats were special in many ways, but what made them both extremely special was that they both had a player that excelled on the offensive side of the ball and was seen as the main success of the team. For the Vikings, that was Justin Jefferson, racking up 128 receptions for 1809 yards and 8 TDs. For the Wildcats, that was Azuolas Tubelis, who ended the season with 1058 minutes, 694 points, 320 rebounds, 70 assists, 40 steals, and 24 blocks.
Defensive Struggles
Both the Vikings and Wildcats ranked low in overall defense this season, with the Vikings ranking 28th and the Wildcats ranking 58th. The Wildcats ranked in the bottom half of the Pac-12 in almost every defensive category, while the Vikings ranked in the bottom half of the NFL in the majority of defensive categories as well.
First-Round Playoff Exists as Upsets
The Vikings went into the NFL playoffs as the NFC’s three seed, and the Wildcats went into the March Madness Tournament as the South’s 2 seed. The Vikings would go on to be upset by the 5-seeded New York Giants 31-24. The Wildcats would go on to be upset by the 15-seeded Princeton Tigers 59-55. Both teams did not get blown out as they did in their losses during the regular season, however, the result was a highly disappointing one for two very promising teams that seemed destined for a championship run.
