Everyone that watched the NCAA Tourney saw a big dose of the Charles Barkley bashing for the Big East. Obviously, UConn won and they are in the Big East but what does that say about the 9th place team in the conference winning the conference tourney and then the Final Four? I think it tells everyone how deep the Big East is and how there weren't a surefire #1 team in the country.
Like I've said before the NCAA Tourney is all about matchups. Many of the teams in the Big East ended up getting a tough draw. It's just not realistic to think that all the teams in the Big East were going to match the Sweet 16. Were most of their teams ranked high throughout the year? Yes, but it's a whole different scenario when it comes to most teams getting a full week to prepare for their first opponent in the tourney.
With UConn making the run that they did is flat out phenomenal. A team that went 9-9 during conference play was able to run the table. To me, that shows depth in the league. If you look at the results from other teams in the tourney, not exactly a easy draw:
Pitt lost to Butler
Notre Dame lost to Florida State
St. John's lost to Gonzaga
Syracuse lost to Marquette
Marquette lost to UNC
WVU lost to Kentucky
Villanova lost to George Mason
Cincinnati lost to UConn
Georgetown lost to VCU
Louisville lost to Morehead State
So, if you really look at things, Pitt, WVU, Cincinnati, and Georgetown all lost to teams that made the Final Four. Syracuse and Cincinnati lost to conference teams. St. John's got a tough draw after losing one of their best players (DJ Kennedy) to a torn ACL. 'Nova and G'town were playing like crap down the stretch and probably wouldn't have done much regardless and Louisville lost a heartbreaker to Morehead State.
If you look at the Elite 8, here is the conference breakdown
SEC (2) - Kentucky, Florida
Big East (1) - UConn
CAA (1) - VCU
ACC (1) - UNC
Pac 10 (1) - Arizona
Horizon (1) - Butler
Big 12 (1) - Kansas
Is the SEC the best league? Doubt it. Tennessee got smoked by Michigan and Vandy lost to Richmond. You never know what's going to have come tournament time. Could they saw that the Big East was the best conference in '85 when G'town, 'Nova, and Providence all made the Final Four? Maybe, I don't really remember the teams back then so I can't answer that.
This argument could go either way (kind of like this blogpost right now). I just think the gauntlet of teams you play in the Big East is the toughest in the country. Let's say you are Dook and you get put in the Big East for one season. You have a series of three games that goes as this: @ Syracuse, home vs. Notre Dame, @ Pitt. I certainly wouldn't want to play that schedule. I couldn't imagine Dook wanting to play that schedule either. That was a three game stretch that WVU had to play this year. Not fun.
All sports are, in one form or another, about matchups. But since basketball employs the least number of players in action, a glaring mismatch becomes more critical to the result of the game. The same is true in every league. As for Barkley, he was brought in to be a circus clown and he filled the role well. He knows as much about college basketball as I do about needlepoint.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, as you noted, Connecticut just got very hot. The fact they were unable to do so during the regular season does reflect on its league, though. This year, you have to give the Big East its due.