Great post & I agree 100%. On Flo, they said that the tournament scoring and who made wrestlebacks was also decided differently in the two eras. Also, the Iowa team apparently lost a dual during the season and was not even favored to win the NCAAs going into the tournament.OK, I'm reviving this thread. PSU ran thru a few records to lay claim as the GOAT NCAA team. Did they prove their claim? Many of the "can't compare different eras" crowd will refuse to be moved. And the "3 pt takedown" crowd will argue that MDs and TFs are inflated w/ this change so you can't compare before 3 pt era teams to after 3 pt era team.
For the record here's what just happened. They squeaked by 1997 IOWA's previous record of 170 w/ 172.5. And yes, 3 pt takedowns played a role. They had 9 MDs and 8 TFs. Several of them likely wouldn't have happened w/o the 3 pt TD.
Their margin of victory was 100 pts, well past the previous record of 70 by 2005 OKST. And everybody got 3 pts for a TD, not just PSU.
They fell short of the most champs, 4 to 5 (by 2 IOWA teams and 1 PSU team).
They fell short on matching MINN 2001 team w/ 10 AAs. But no one outside of MINN would claim this team as the GOAT.
So, I could see a lot of valid arguments both ways on the GOAT issue. Here's where I think this team may be looked upon as the GOAT. They have 2 4x NCAA champs on this team - never been done before. And, one of those may be a 5x champ - never been done before. And the rest of the squad isn't too bad either. Haines, a SO and Kerk a JR both won NCAAs. Will Kerk end up a 2Xer and Haines a 3Xer? Who else on this team will end up w/ a NCAA title or multiple titles? Maybe #1 seed Davis, runnerups Barlett or Messenbrink. When you look back in 3 years and count the number of NCCA champs and 2Xers, 3Xers, 4Xers and a 5Xer on this team, you may be convinced. This is a great team and quite possibly the GOAT.
And not to short-circuit their GOAT status, but they only lose 2 guys this year - 4Xer Brooks and 4X AA Truax. I don't know who they are recruiting or poaching but they'll be bringing in some more studs (poached Messenbrink, Truax and Nagao this year and Kerk from tOSU a few years ago).
Finally, I can't ever think of a more dominant college coach in any sport than Cael. But I'll wait until he breaks Gable's record of 15 NCAA titles until I declare him the GOAT. Cael is sitting on 11.
Anyway, take all of this FWIW. They are both unquestionably all-time great teams and programs with dynastic coaches. A tip of the cap to all.