Who's the best basketball team...

...in the state of Illinois? If you said Simeon, you'd be in good company. The Trib, the Sun-Times and MaxPreps all rank the Wolverines No. 1.

Trib

1. Simeon (31-3)
2. Morgan Park (33-3)
3. Whitney Young (30-4)

Sun-Times

1. Simeon (30-3)
2. Morgan Park (33-3)
3. Whitney Young (27-4)

MaxPreps

1. Simeon (28-3)
2. Whitney Young (26-4)
3. Morgan Park (33-3)

(By the way, I get that each news service ranks the teams a little differently; it's still somewhat subjective. But wouldn't you think they could at least agree on each team's record?)

So it's settled then, right? Simeon is clearly the best team in the state. Time to turn our attention to baseball, or track, or something else.

Not so fast, says Morgan Park coach Nick Irvin, above. From the Trib (my emphasis):

"We're the best team in the state — nobody else — and we're the best team on Vincennes (Avenue)," Irvin said in reference to Simeon, which is on the same street, after Morgan Park's 63-48 victory against Cahokia at Carver Arena.

"I'll take this 3A state title, because at the end of the day the two teams that are in the state championship in 4A, we beat," Irvin said. "So therefore I think we should be the No. 1 team in the state overall."
 
The Mustangs and the Wolverines split two meetings this season, with Simeon winning 53-51 on Jan. 16 and Morgan Park claiming a 54-53 overtime triumph in the city playoffs Feb. 13.

Either way, Irvin said he would love to take on the Wolverines.

(I'd like to see that game too.)

But is Irvin right? (He's got a point, doesn't he?) Could Morgan Park beat Simeon in a rubber match?

It reminds me of last year's football season, when Mount Carmel won the 8A championship and Glenbard West took the 7A crown. Which was really the better team, the Caravan or the Hilltoppers? The world will never know.

But I want to know.

After the football season ended, I offered this solution to the problem.

Today, I have a different suggestion: why not have a double elimination tournament?

In basketball, combine classes 3A and 4A. (In football, reduce the number of classes to four.) While the winners (1-0) in Round One would advance to play other winners (1-0), the losers (0-1) would play other losers (0-1). The loser of that second game (0-2) would then be out of the tournament while the winner (1-1) would play a team that won its first game but lost its second (1-1). Teams would play until they had two losses and would then have to go home.

Is this too confusing? Does it sound like too many games?

First of all, kids love to play games, their parents and fans love to watch them and the schools (I assume) love to host games. (And don't even get me started on neutral fields in football.)

So the winner of each tournament (basketball and football) would go undefeated in postseason play, the No. 2 team would have one loss (in the final game) and the third-place team would have one loss also (but much earlier in the playoffs).

And Simeon would have to play Morgan Park again.

Does this make any sense to anyone else?