An annual argument in football and, to a lesser extent basketball, is: can the NCAA champ beat the worst pro team? So, could Auburn beat Carolina? For that matter, could Duke beat the Washington Wizards? (or whoever had the worst record)
This topic comes up here every so often. The general consensus is that the worst pro team will always prevail because the worst pro team has a professional athlete at each position whereas a college team does not.
One thing that is always a common thread in NFL rookies is the speed of the NFL surprises them. The NFL team has better athletes at each position. Professional Darwinism, if you will. So even the worst NFL team would be tough for a great college team to beat. The college team will not have an NFL caliber team at each position, but the NFL team not only does, but that player was selected from a number of players competing for the same position.
I would say that Carolina would handle Auburn easily.
Basketball would be similar. Duke would get crushed in the pro game. Very few Dukies go to the pros and do well. But for the college game, they are suited perfectly to play the game coach K wants them to play. But relying on 6 foot guards to shoot 3 pointers all night would not get you far against an NBA team. The NBA team would guard better, be quicker to the ball, rebound better and generally be faster than a college team.
Still, it would be fun to confirm this either way. Pick your choice for college team to beat your choice of pro team.
I think there have been only a few instances in the last 30 or so years in any professional sport where you could even have this debate. I doubt the NFL is one of those sports, since the 50 or so players on an NFL roster were all good to great players in college, plus they are older and more physically mature (not to mention more experienced, smarter, etc.).
There may have been an argument for some of the best college basketball teams of all time (like the Johnson-Anthony-Augmon UNLV teams) being able to beat an injury depleted, rebuilding NBA team. Like when the Miami Heat tanked a few years ago to get a high pick in the draft (when they ended up with Michael Beasley), the team they were trotting out at the end of the year was AWFUL. They were giving big minutes to Daequan Cook, Mark Blount, Chris Quinn, Kasib Powell, Stephane Lasme, and other no-names. In basketball, one or two star players can make such a huge difference that I could fathom a legendarily good college team beating them.
But even then, probably not.
The 1995–96 Kentucky Wildcats had nine future NBA players (Derek Anderson, Tony Delk, Walter McCarty, Ron Mercer, Nazr Mohammed, Mark Pope, Jeff Sheppard, Wayne Turner, and Antoine Walker).
1995-96 also saw the creation of two terrible NBA expansion teams (Vancouver Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors).
I think Kentucky could have pulled off some wins in the NBA that year.
Football though, no chance.
It’d have to be basketball since one person is 20% of what’s playing at any given time. Not a chance in football
If you took some of the best basketball teams of all time they might get a couple wins over the course of the season from adjusting and just luck, but they’d still generally be pretty bad.
Me and 21 dudes from this board could beat the Panthers (assuming you give them a 21-0 lead). What’s the point of this thread again?
I was all set to be mad about this statement and come to the defense of my beloved Panthers, but…I cannot, because it made me LOL.
Although I agree that Auburn could not beat the Panthers, for the reasons listed above. Each year, the NFL teams take the cream of the college crop, and release the members of the past year’s cream of the crop that did not make the transition to the NFL level of play. Therefore, each NFL team, even my beloved and sucky Panthers, has at each position the best former college player that they can afford, chosen from years of the best college players.
It would be a bloodbath figuratively and literally. The top 5 or 6 players might hold their own, But the majority of players just arn’t prepared for the strength and speed of even average NFL players. The lines would be overwhelmed both ways and they would be taking blindside full speed hits so often it would be carnage. By the third quarter you’s have the backup kicker handing off to the towelboy.
To just throw in a sport that this could be possible, hockey lends itself to this.
A goalie could be a stone wall and stop everything shot at him. In many ways, this is what happened in the 1980 olympics. The USSR team was the best of the best of the professional hockey player in that country. The US was a bunch of college students. Jim Craig stood on his head, and the Miracle on Ice was born.
I can’t think of another sport that can be dominated by one person throughout the entire contest.
A really, really good college baseball pitcher might do it on a good day.
A baseball pitcher can. In real baseball he can even hit a game winning home-run. a great enough pitcher, with even a barely competent catcher could theoretically win with any seven people as long as they can actually stand up.
Satchel Paige used to (in barnstorming games, against random local schlubs) have his entire team apart from the catcher stand right behind him on the mound while he struck out the opposing players, 3 straight.
Look at the football draft. Only the best college players are there and very few of them actually stick in the NFL.
No matter how bad you think the Panthers are, remember they are an NFL team.
There is actually very little difference in average skill levels between the teams, just at that level, a small difference is greatly magnified.
I used to coach a junior high basketball team. That team could beat ANY pro team…so long as you use Junior High referees…that call all traveling violations.
The Pro team would lose the ball everytime they moved with it. 
Ok, more seriously…A Pro Basketball team would wipe the floor with any college one…however they would have to have an adjustment period of the first few minutes after being continuously called for traveling. Once they adjusted, the Pros would be fine.
In football? My god…the worst pro team would trounce the best college one 100-3.
Not looking at the rest of the responses, but IMHO, there’s no way in hell Auburn can beat a pro team. Auburn is a collection of college students with some NFL caliber talent sprinkled among them. The Panthers are a collection of NFL caliber talent*.
- Well, maybe not all of them.
I think you’re being generous. No way the best college team gets 3.
Auburn is a particularly bad example for this in my opinion as an option/trickery-based offense. The pro d-lines/linebackers would eat that alive. I honestly think they would finish with negative yardage. All the various spread option offenses would go nowhere imo because the whole premise of those offenses (the whole “my 3rd receiver is better than your 3rd corner”, “get athletes in space and take advantage of 1v1s” fails when the defense is more talented and the 1v1s favor them). Maybe a power team with a great QB like Stanford could move the ball a little bit. Still doubt it.
Also: NFL receivers vs Auburn’s mediocre secondary? Yikes.
Think the best chance to score for the college team would be a kickoff return. They’ll get plenty of chances.
Wow, there is a lot of rhetoric on this board (and others) insinuating that Auburn is indeed a “Professional team”. ;);)
If so, it stands to reason that they would be competitive with the Panthers. 
I’m assuming one of the 6 interceptions/fumbles Favre would throw would result in the college team scraping out a field goal 
I’m assuming one of the 6 interceptions/fumbles Favre would throw would result in the college team scraping out a field goal
Oh wait…the Panthers are the worse team??