A guest blog from Brandon Sopko:
Over the past few years, an overwhelming majority of college sports fans have come to believe that the Big East Conference is superior to the Atlantic Coast Conference when it comes to men’s college basketball. Contrary to popular belief, only a naïve fan would conclude this.
The ACC has been recognizably dominant over the past decade, as I’m sure many of you would agree. Four or five years ago, the ACC was the top dog by a landslide. Over the last couple years however, fans began prematurely ranking the Big East above the ACC as the best conference in the nation.
A solid argument could give this proclamation credibility. Over the past three years, the Big East has had several teams ranked in the Top 25 including seven teams already this season. It’s hard to make a case against the conference that has boasted more than a quarter of the Top 25 in 2010 – a dominant yet misleading figure.
You read me right – misleading. Big East fans: Congratulations on doing well in the regular season, but by the end of March, nobody cares. Seriously. Nobody.
College basketball is all about the month of March. March Madness is the second highest-rated event in American sports behind only the Super Bowl. And March Madness is what the players play for, and not in-season rankings.
Every college basketball player’s dream is to win a National Championship. So let’s look at the “Big Dance” over the past ten years and, even more recently, over the past three years when all you Big East bandwagon jumpers think your conference has become elite.
In the past ten years, the ACC has produced five national championships while the dominant Big East has produced only two. That’s right, over the past decade, 50% of the national champions represented the ACC. Oh, but the Big East has dominated the Top 25 and Selection Sunday the past two years, right? In the eyes of some, the Big East has been untouchable in 2008-09 and 2009-10, but it’s funny how the ACC both national champions from the Big East’s glory years. The Big East hasn’t cut down the nets since 2004.
Well Big East fans, let’s look closer at how your ‘dominant’ regular season teams have done over the past three years…
In 2008, the Kansas Jayhawks won the National Championship. During the ’08 tournament, North Carolina (of the ACC) was the only team of the two conferences to make it to the Final Four. The Big East team that lasted the longest in that tourney was Louisville. They made it to the Elite Eight were they were eliminated by…North Carolina (I repeat: From the ACC).
Moving on to 2009, North Carolina (did I mention they are from the ACC?) hoisted the final trophy. Although, in this season, the Big East was good enough to have two teams make it to the Final Four, and on opposite sides of the bracket I might add. With two chances to play in the championship game, neither Big East team made it. With a 50% chance to play for a championship, the nation’s “best” conference couldn’t do it.
Finally, we’ll look to last year’s tournament. Duke (also of the ACC) cut down the nets. The Big East was lucky enough to have one of its eight (12.5% of the field) representatives in the Big Dance reach the Final Four – West Virginia. The Mountaineers had made the Big East proud by losing to… you guessed it – Duke. The final score of the battle of the Big East’s best and the ACC’s best was 78-57. Big East, who’s your daddy?
In conclusion, if the Big East cares that much about the regular season, then yes, they are the dominant conference and I can’t (and won’t) argue against it. But overall, you have ways to go before you can claim the title as the best conference in men’s college basketball. The Atlantic Coast Conference is still at the top and in the winner’s circle, and until the Big East can win some Big games, it will remain on the outside looking in.
P-I-T-T Let's Go Pitt!
ReplyDeleteI will admit that your statistics do speak for themselves in terms of top dominance by the ACC in comparison to the Big East with regard to NCAA championships but I believe you lose the bigger picture. The ACC has been based purely on the winnings of teams on Tobacco Road(Duke and North Carolina) the last 5-7 years. One could argue Maryland at the end of the 90's, early 2000's, but in recent years they have struggled to make the tournament. The Big East is extremely well balanced having between 4-6 teams vie for the regular season and post season conference titles. Essentially this is a debate on what you consider quality. To be put in perspective I would argue would you rather go to a bar where there is only one or two hot girls and know if you get lucky you could take them home, but more than likely get shut down and just wish you could get with the hot girl, or would you rather go to a bar where there are a bunch of good looking girls that you would probably make out with but unfortunately not take them back to your place?
ReplyDeleteClearly the ACC is the bar with only 2 hot girls, but they possess the greatest chance to get lucky(win the NCAA Championship). The other scenario of making out with a good looking girl is a lot like the Big East. Making out with the girl represents our regular season doing the preliminary work of being successful, but our lack of championships shows our inexperience to seal the deal(not bringing the girl back). Although Big East teams are successful, they are left with a sour taste in their mouth as they cannot go as far as planned.
However, I would still take the ultracompetitiveness, if that's a real word of the Big East compared to the awful showing of regular season ACC basketball. How many times is the ACC on television if Duke or North Carolina are not involved? On the other hand, the Big East showcases as many as 10 teams on a semi regular basis as their level of basketball is of much more quality. I guarantee atleast 8 teams in the Big East would finish in the top 2-3 of the ACC if given the chance to switch conferences.
Therefore, I say you can have your championships I'd rather have the quality basketball since making out with a girl at a bar is much better than not getting anything the whole night.
You my friend know nothing.. Stick to your stats and we shall stick to reality...
ReplyDelete--—-———---------------------------------
And boom goes the dynamite.