That could be the best softball team in the country.

Leaving JoAnne Graf Stadium on the campus of Florida State University March 31, that was one sentiment of mine. The current No. 1 ranked Seminoles just run-ruled the University of Pittsburgh on a walk-off grand slam by Jessica Warren, and that was one of two such wins for FSU against the Panthers from the northeast in their weekend Atlantic Coast Conference series sweep.

This was my first-ever trip to the Florida State campus and first real visit ever to the city of Tallahassee (may have past through on I-10 once before but never stopped). Being relatively close now as a Moultrie resident, I looked for an opportunity to see a home softball game this season, for it is the senior year of pitcher Jessica Burroughs. Her career for this team is storied enough already, but her numbers so far in 2017 spell national Player or Pitcher of the Year.

Not having seen her in live action since her high school days, it was a joy to learn JB would get the starting nod. The weekend before, she threw a no-hitter at Virginia. While she allowed a three-run home run on this day, it was still her 17th win.

If you take hitting and pitching and even fielding into consideration – and overall record with just one loss – Florida State right now is the best in NCAA Division I.

Their head coach will be quick to point out how much more work there is to go in this season and all the obstacles that are in their way just to make it back to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma.

The NCAA just crowned the national champions in Division I for men’s and women’s basketball. Does that mean that these respective champions – North Carolina on the men’s side and South Carolina on the women’s – were the best college basketball teams in the nation in 2017? Sounds like a stupid question on the surface, because they have the hardware to prove it.

How many times, though, have I heard someone on the losing side of a contest – be it a player, coach or spectator – proclaim, ‘We were the better team. Yep, beat them everywhere but the scoreboard.’ You want to reply that the scoreboard is the only place you need to be better, for the final score is what goes in the record books.

Back to our new national hoops champions. The South Carolina women defeated a fellow Southeastern Conference squad, Mississippi State, in the finals. MSU just came off one of the biggest upsets ever knocking off the UConn women’s program that claimed the last four NCAAs and set a record for consecutive wins with 111. No. 100 in that streak was against … South Carolina. South Carolina did not have to play UConn in the tournament thanks to MSU. That’s reality, and people can debate who really had the best team this season.

UConn, seven years ago, had another long winning streak of 90 in a row snapped during the regular season, and because of that was no longer ranked No. 1 in the polls. Had to wonder, loss or no loss, if that group was still the best in the nation.

In men’s basketball, the University of Kentucky a few years ago was on its way to an unbeaten season – and lifelong status as the best college team ever put together – only to be clipped in the semifinals by Wisconsin. Duke then upends the Badgers in the title game. Was that Kentucky team still the best college team ever put together, considering every aspect of the game?

The Gonzaga Bulldogs only lost two games in 2016-17, one of those on Monday to Roy Williams’ Tar Heels. UNC had seven losses, but none after March Madness began. Head to head, we know who was better on the day that counted.

One conclusion to draw is that being the champion doesn’t necessarily mean you had the best team from start to finish, but played the best when it mattered the most. Maybe, in any given season, we don’t know what team is the best until a champion is crowned. Or, a team wins the championship because it is the best and nobody can stand in its way.

In high school ball, you can win a state title without winning your region. In most college sports, you can win the national tournament even after stumbling in your conference playoffs. Just be good enough to get a bid.

The NCAA men’s hoops champs with the most losses? The 1988 Kansas Jayhawks with 11 (NC State 1983 and Villanova 1985, 10 each). Who is the defending College World Series champs? Coastal Carolina, remember?

Me, I will be rooting strong for Florida State softball to take it all … and Valdosta State in Division II at least once over the next four years with another good friend on the roster.