College football completed its first final four on Monday earning nothing but praise for their adjustment to the new playoff system. But now we shift our attention to the hardwood and the collegiate sport that’s had a final four since 1939: Men’s Hoops.
As we dig into conference play, the unbeaten start to fall and the underdogs begin to rise. So which conference really is the best in the land?
The ACC is at the top of the list for best conference in the country this year as all five of the conference’s ranked teams sit in the top 15 in the nation. Unfortunately the bottom half of the conference doesn’t seem to contend that well with the big dogs.
No. 2 Virginia leads the way for the ACC as they are just one of two undefeated teams left in the nation. Junior Justin Anderson is leading the way for the Cavaliers by scoring nearly 15 points per game. Head coach Tony Bennett has done a great job with the Cavalier program, turning a mediocre team into conference champions in just five years at the helm in Charlottesville.
No. 4 Duke and No. 6 Louisville certainly hope that they can take down the Cavs this season. Duke and freshman Jahlil Okafor suffered their first loss of the season last Sunday at North Carolina State and then fell to Miami at home Tuesday night. As head coach Mike Krzyzewski closes in on 1,000 wins in his career at Duke, it would be an insult to count out the Blue Devils any year.
“They’re young and that’s obvious and young teams stumble,” Duke fan Fahd Shakeel said. “They have one of the best coaches ever and they have plenty of talent, they’ll finish top 10 and probably grab a two seed for the tournament and hopefully a run at the championship.”
Louisville, led by junior Montrezl Harrell and sophomore Terry Rozier, do have two losses this season already but one was to top ranked Kentucky and the other was on the road to No. 15 North Carolina by a point in a hard fought conference battle.
Along with Carolina in the ACC don’t forget about No. 12 Notre Dame who is looking very skilled while leading the nation in field goal percentage. Senior Jerian Grant has proven that he is one of the nation’s best players and junior Zach Auguste has been Grant’s partner in crime for the Irish this season by averaging 14.3 points per game.
The underdogs in the ACC that do have a shot of contending are Syracuse, Miami and North Carolina State. Miami and North Carolina State have already knocked off Duke in conference play this season and all three teams have great head coaches with plenty of experience.
The Big Ten this year isn’t as loaded as it has been in the past but as always will be competitive. No. 7 Wisconsin is the top squad in the conference this season with senior Frank Kaminsky averaging 16.9 points per game and junior Sam Dekker averaging 12.5 points per game.
Many experts thought that the Badgers might go undefeated this year in conference play but the Badgers suffered a surprising road loss to Rutgers. Now with the loss of senior guard Traevon Jackson with a fractured foot, the Badgers are using the “next man up” mentality in their rotation to fill the void for the next six weeks as they hope to have Jackson return by the conference tournament.
“It’s a dog fight in the Big Ten every night,” Big Ten basketball enthusiast Mitchell Krebs said. “It’s the most unpredictable conference and every team likes to beat up on each other.”
No. 14 Maryland is also a team to keep an eye out for in the Big Ten this year as head coach Mark Turgeon looks to lead his squad to their first NCAA Tournament appearance under him. Indiana, Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan State are also teams that have very successful coaches and should be around come tournament time.
Let’s shift our attention now to the weak SEC and the big blue, the Kentucky Wildcats. The Cats have been No. 1 in the polls all season long, but after surviving a three point overtime win at home against unranked Ole Miss and a double overtime win at unranked Texas A&M, it’s safe to say that their youth shows at times.
“I wouldn’t put any money on the cats going undefeated this year due to how unpredictable NCAA basketball is,” Kentucky fan Carter Marteeny said. “Although with that being said, you would be foolish to think that Wildcats would finish unsuccessful this season.”
Head coach John Calipari has been using his “two platoon” system this season by having five guys on the court to then sub them out and put the next five guys in at the same time. Calipari has done this so that he can keep his team fresh and healthy, although it seems as if he sticks to this plan for about the first ten minutes of the game and then just subs in who he needs.
Kentucky is led by the Harrison twins, Aaron and Andrew, as well as seven footer Willie Cauley-Stein. With three players at 7 feet tall on the roster, Kentucky has plenty of size and they play a great team game as well with seven players averaging 11.8-7.8 points per game. If the Cats have learned from their first two conference games, they should dominate the weak SEC and they showed it by toppling Mizzou by 49 on Tuesday.
Other than Kentucky, Florida, Arkansas and potentially LSU will be around in March but none of these teams grab your attention quite like the Wildcats do.
The PAC-12 will be competitive this season but will still be weak like the SEC. No. 10 Arizona has been upset in two of their last four games to unranked UNLV and Oregon State. Stanley Johnson the 6 foot 7 inch freshman from Fullerton, Calif. is heavily relied on by his teammates as he leads his team in scoring and is tied in rebounds with his sidekick sophomore Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
Arizona’s toughest competition in the PAC-12 this season will be No. 8 Utah. The Utes and head coach Larry Krystokowiak have come a long way from when he was hired in 2011. After finishing with just a 6-25 record that season the Utes look strong and should be dancing in March for the first time since 2009. Senior Delon Wright has been nothing short of magnificent for the Utes this season averaging nearly 15 points per game as he and his teammates look to be playing in meaningful games late in the season for the first time in their career.
Outside of these two teams, Stanford is the only other team that could potentially be in the field of 68 this spring.
No. 5 Villanova is one of the few original teams still left in the Big East, which is definitely not what it was five years ago. Due to conference re-alignment the Big East, who used to be the power house of college hoops, looks more like the laughing stock of all the conferences.
Senior Darrun Hilliard and junior Dylan Ennis are the Wildcats top two leading scorers this season and hope to bring head coach Jay Wright success and a Big East championship this season.
Seton Hall may have other ideas for the Big East championship however as they are currently No. 21 in the AP Top 25. The Hall issued Nova their first and only loss thus far of the season and junior Sterling Gibbs is averaging 17.2 points per game for the Pirates. Of course don’t count out Georgetown just yet in the Big East and the original Cinderella, Butler, who always seems to find who they are around tournament time.
You won’t find any Cinderella’s in this conference, the Big 12. These guys can play and they will beat up on each other this season. Seven of the 10 teams (yes there are only 10 teams in the Big 12) are currently ranked in the AP Top 25 with No. 9 Kansas headlining the conference.
Sophomore Fred Mason III, junior Perry Ellis and Freshman Cliff Alexander are leading the way for the Jayhawks and head coach Bill Self. Kansas will have to rely on those players to take them through the tough Big 12 this season.
Among the rest of the powerhouses in the Big 12 there is No. 11 Iowa State, No. 16 West Virginia, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 20 Texas, No. 22 Baylor and No. 24 Oklahoma State.
“The Mayor”, Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg, has watched his junior star power forward Georges Niang average 15.2 points per game to lead the Cyclones to a 12-2 start this season.
Of course teams are going to lose in this conference. Texas, led by sophomore Isaiah Taylor and Baylor, led by junior Taurean Prince, have gotten out to a tough start in conference play thus far by both starting at 1-2.
West Virginia leads the nation in steals per game with 13, and has come out dominating in Big 12 play by starting 3-1 with all of their wins coming in grand fashion. Senior Juwan Staten leads the club in points per game with 15.8 and sophomore Devin Williams has been racking up all boards this season with nearly eight rebounds a game.
Oklahoma was the latest team to fall to West Virginia and junior Buddy Hield played extremely well for the Sooners as he dropped 21 points in the loss but is leading the team in scoring at 17.2 points per game. The Sooners are second in the nation in defensive rebounds and will have to out-rebound their rivals Oklahoma State on Saturday to snap their two game losing skid.
Oklahoma State has played tough throughout conference thus far while leaning their two prolific scorers senior Le’Bryan Nash and junior Phil Forte III. Both Nash and Forte are averaging almost 18 points per game for the Cowboys.
The Cowboys and anyone of these teams could end up being Big 12 champions this season as they will beat up on one another to make it a very interesting year.
So, you’ve heard the arguments, digested the numbers and have read all the information. Who is the best conference in the nation?
