Just two weeks ago, there were five Big East teams in the AP Top 25 ahead of the top Big Ten team. Today, I'm here to tell you the Big Ten, as a whole, is better than the vaunted Big East.
The ACC still reigns supreme in these final Conference Power Rankings for the indefinite future (vacation next week, then conference play begins, limiting non-conference play and thereby keeping these rankings relatively static). But it is the Big Ten, sparked by an impressive Saturday where Michigan State beat Texas in Houston, Purdue undressed Stephen Curry and Davidson and Minnesota outplayed Louisville, that checks in at the No. 2 spot ahead of those beasts from the Big East.
Minnesota, Ohio State and Michigan have been three of the bigger surprises this year, and Michigan State seems to have righted its ship after an ugly early loss to Maryland. Indiana is the only team in the league that is not at least five games over .500, and the league boasts a 76-3 record vs. non-Power-10 teams.
This year's Big East was billed as the greatest conference of all-time by numerous analysts before the season, but after five weeks of non-conference play, it rates as only the third-best conference this year.
For purposes of rating the top conferences, we are looking at 10 power conferences -- the six BCS conferences plus the Atlantic 10, Conference USA, the Mountain West and the Western Athletic. Also, games against mid-majors currently in the Top 25 (Gonzaga) are included in the Power-10 records. With Davidson falling out this week, the Wildcats' games vs. Oklahoma, West Virginia, N.C. State and Purdue now count as non-Power-10 games.
1. ACC (104-22, .825, 26-17 vs. Power-10)
Does any team in this league, outside of maybe Virginia and Georgia Tech, think it does not have a legit shot at the NCAA tournament? This league has scheduled well, put up the numbers, and has the
unquestioned No. 1 team in the land.
2. Big Ten (96-22, .814, 20-19)
Readers likely will not agree with this ranking, but CollegeRPI.com does. The Big Ten is currently ranked No. 2 behind the ACC in the computer rankings. Five teams are in the Top 25, and even Northwestern checks in at No. 7 in the RPI with a 7-2 pre-conference record that includes wins over Florida State and DePaul.
3. Big East (141-36, .797, 33-22)
The Big East has put up big numbers, but before you go gaga over that 33-22 Power-10 mark, remember that 14 of those games were vs. the Atlantic 10. (Its BCS record is 19-17.) UConn's win over Gonzaga in Seattle was extremely impressive and the league probably has four or five legit Final Four candidates.
4. Big 12 (101-24, .808, 30-19)
The Big 12 is fourth by a nose after a solid pre-conference schedule. Baylor cracked the Top 25 this week, but the team under the radar is Texas A&M. The Aggies are 10-1 with wins over Arizona, Alabama and a previously undefeated LSU squad on Saturday.
5. Pac-10 (72-28, .720, 22-21)
Speaking of under the radar, Johnny Dawkins is quietly going about his business at Stanford, winning his first seven games to remain one of 10 unbeatens. It hasn't been a rough schedule, but to change coasts and coach a team with two returning starters can't be easy for a rookie.
6. SEC (97-32, .752, 14-21)
Tennessee earned the league some kudos with a tough win over Marquette in the SEC/Big East challenge, which ended in a 2-2 tie. Auburn also won at Virginia, but this league has too many bad performances (11 non-power-10 losses, close home wins over McNeese State, Belmont and Wofford just this week) to even think about moving up.
7. Atlantic 10 (82-59, .582, 16-30)
The A-10 is ranked ahead of the SEC in the RPI, but the league went 1-4 vs. the Power-10 this week with the only win coming over Rice. And Xavier flopped on the big stage against Duke.
8. Mountain West (69-32, .683, 14-19)
Yes, the Mountain West may have better numbers than the A-10, but its competition has been
significantly weaker. Only 20 of the MWC's 33 Power-10 games have been against BCS teams, while the A-10 claims 42 of 46. UNLV's decisive win over a resurgant Arizona was the highlight of the week for the league.
9. Conference USA (74-47, .612, 9-26)
Can you say one-bid league? UAB is somehow hanging in there at No. 18 in the RPI, but an upcoming four-game road trip that includes Louisville and Butler with a depleted roster spells doom for Mike Davis and the Blazers.
10. Western Athletic (56-38, .596, 7-12)
Props to Stew Morrill at Utah State for churning out another quality team. The Aggies are 9-1 with a good shot at winning the upcoming three-game Duel in the Desert (vs. Howard, Houston Baptist, Wyoming). The rest of the conference? Not much holiday cheer to spread around.
Conference Challenges
ACC/Big Ten Challenge -- ACC wins 6-5
Wisconsin 74, Virginia Tech 72
Ohio State 73, Miami 68
Boston College 57, Iowa 55
Clemson 76, Illinois 74
Duke 76, Purdue 60
Minnesota 66, Virginia 56
Wake Forest 83, Indiana 58
Penn State 85, Georgia Tech 83
Maryland 75, Michigan 70
North Carolina 98, Michigan State 63
Northwestern 73, Florida State 59
Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series -- Big 12 leads 6-4
Stanford 76, Colorado 62
Oklahoma 73, USC 72
Texas 68, UCLA 64
Washington 83, Oklahoma State 65
Texas A&M 67, Arizona 66
Iowa State 63, Oregon State 50
Baylor 58, Washington State 52
Missouri 93, Cal 66
Oregon 75, Kansas State 70
Arizona State 64, Nebraska 44
Kansas at Arizona, Dec. 23
Texas Tech at Stanford, Dec. 28
SEC/Big East Invitational -- Tie, 2-2
Vanderbilt 71, South Florida 52
Tennessee 80, Marquette 68
Cincinnati 75, Mississippi State 63
Louisville 77, Ole Miss 68
Jarah Mariano
DeLeah Caro
Men's Grand Slam All-Time Leaders
Roger Federer's Grand Slam Titles
Comments (15) Add A Comment
finally the Big Ten is getting some respect....BOILER UP!
BoilerUP!
West Lafayette , IN
Total Comments (2)
Buckeyes will win conference and shock the world. Having the starting point guard out will just give the youngins' a chance to hoop. Go Bucks! Beat Texas!
Buckeye Larry
Total Comments (82)
These constant league comparisons are an asinine waste of time. Come tournament time, does one league play the other, or do teams from different leagues match up?
doghockey
Total Comments (136)
The gophers are getting tubby's paleyers and showing how good they are. sadly, basketball is the only one of the major sports that the big ten is good at.
ihaveanannoyingbutlo…
Total Comments (148)
I don't disagree that the Big 10 is better than originally advertised, but come on. The fact that the Big East "has four or five legit Final Four candidates," confirms that it's a superior league. In fact, I would put the #6-10 teams in the BEAST against the Big 10's #2-6 and the ACC's #3-7. I'm from ACC country and a huge UMD fan (I'm pretty sure if you live in Maryland it's illegal not to be), and even I have to give the Big East its props. I know the arguments about the bottom dwellers in the Big East, but the bottom line is that they would be competitive in every other league in the country.
Not to mention the Big East is the only league with multiple teams (or maybe even ANY team) that could ultimately contend with UNC with UConn, Pitt, and Louisville- all three match up well against the 'Heels. All one has to do is look to last year when Pitt simply outplayed a supposedly better Duke team on a neutral court at MSG (which led to Duke backing out of a contest with Villanova this year) and the #9 team in the league making it to the Sweet Sixteen.
In summary, there's no denying that the Big East is by far the best, toughest, most competitive (any other adjective that suggests they're better) conference. I understand, Bill, that you want to be different and make a name for yourself, but by the end of the year, you're just going to look foolish.
dcenev01
Conshohocken , PA
Total Comments (1)
this could be the dumbest article ive ever read. how can the big east be third?! they have one only one team under five hundred! if the season ended now you could make an argument for at least ten big east teams to make the tourney and this idiot even said and i quote "the league probably has four or five legit Final Four candidates." how can u say that and put them third. this guy should be fired for writting somethin this stupid
phillyfan2
Willow Grove, PA
Total Comments (4)
You're nuts. You just lost all credibility. Don't write an article or make phony statistics just to get a rise out of people. Get a clue.
Robbio3
Chicago, IL
Total Comments (8)
This article to simply designed to get web hits. Big East is better than...... ACC is better than.....Big 10 is better than.........and your bound to get 95% of college basketball fans(since 95% of all fans come from those confrences) to look at the article. Reality is that the Big Ten has no real contenders at this time for an NCAA title and the Big East has at least three. The ACC has UNC and that's all that really matters.
blueman2000
Conshohocken , PA
Total Comments (1)
I love how the big East apologists don't bother to come up with any facts to support their claims like "there's no denying that the Big East is by far the best, toughest, most competitive conference". They just say it because they believe it, and don't bother looking at a whole lot of evidence that suggests otherwise. The 6 teams at the bottom of the Big East are pathetic. No, Depaul (who northwestern beat by 32) would not be competitive in the Big 10. Neither would SJU, SHU, Providence, Rutgers, So Florida. You say that Louisville matches up with UNC??? Based on what - their quality wins over nobody and the fact they just lost to Minnesota and Western Kentucky? Pitt hasn't played a team in the top 50. Syracuse has "quality" wins over Kansas and Florida, who people are now realizing aren't all that good after all. Fact is, only one team so far - UConn, who squeaked out a win over a Gonzaga squad that has lost 3 of 4 - looks like they can play with the Big Boys, and most non-biased fans would expect UNC to win head to head probably 8 of 10.
Just because the Big East has the most teams - and therefore the most ranked teams - doesn't make it automatically the best league. Remember - getting 8 teams in is only 50%. That's less impressive than the big 10 getting 6.
Big East's 6-10 teams would beat the Big 10's 2-6? Now I am laughing. Let's see... that would mean OSU vs ND. Ooops, OSU won that one on the road. 10 (depaul) vs #7 (northwestern)... hmm. northwestern won that by 32. It means you have west virginia beating purdue, cincinatti beating Illinois, Louisville (#3) beating Minnesota (#6) (woops!).
Sorry decnev01, looks like your fantasyland actually ran into reality. You claim to be a Terp fan, but even most of the Big East fans around me aren't that deluded.
Or my personal favorite response: "The Big East has only 1 team under .500!" Look around. The second worst record in the Big 10 is 9-3. Given the patsies many Big East teams traditionally schedule for non conference (because conference play is so tough! waaa!), that's a pretty irrelevant statement.
Look, the Big East had an enormous amount of preseason hype. They haven't remotely played up to it. Rewind 6 weeks and you can keep making your claims about Big East dominance, but the reality so far says it's a whole lot closer than a lot of you would like to believe.
paulsr2003
New York , NY
Total Comments (1)
thanks to paulsr2003 for putting some perspective on things. the truth of the matter is that the big east has played and beaten nobody so far. UConn won against gonzaga on a lucky 3 to force overtime. their other big win was notre dame edging texas by 1. other than that they have a bunch of wins against teams like wisconsin, memphis, florida, and miami, all of which have 2-3 losses and are out of the top 25. even top teams like pitt and syracuse barely beat ACC teams rated like florida state (middle of the ACC team) and virginia (the worst team in the ACC). sure, based on the preseason hype the big east was easily the best conference, but not based on the actual results.
artdawg4
Newark , DE
Total Comments (10)
After watching my 'Horns lose to Michigan State and struggle early against Wisconsin, I have to agree that the Big 10 deserves respect this year. At least in this sport we'll eventually settle everything on the court, not in the processor of some @#!%-ing BCS computer. See y'all in March.
JRM1974
Total Comments (27)
What doghockey said. Still, nice to see the Big Ten solid again. Go Green.
MotownMadness
Total Comments (13)
And you would watch those #6-10 teams lose most of those games. The ACC and Big Ten are very solid conferences this year, with the Big Ten being the most improved. The Big East is solid too, but not to the exaggerated level of depth you are granting them with a statement like that.
KJMA
Las Vegas , NV
Total Comments (8)
Big Ten > Big East? Have you ever watched college basketball before?
The Pitt Panther:…
Telford, PA
Total Comments (43779)
Big East vs Big Ten is laughable.
The Big East and Big Ten have played each other 8 times this year, with the Big East winning 5 and the Big Ten 3. There is one more game to be played, Michigan AT UCONN. Looks like it will be 6 wins to 3 for the Big East.
The Big Ten is much better then anticipated, but to say they are better then the Big East is utterly laughable....did anyone see unranked West Virginia beat Ohio State in their own gym yesterday by 30 points? That was #13 Ohio State by the way.
MUWarrior74
El Segundo , CA
Total Comments (1)
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