2. Auburn: 27-2
4. Florida: 25-4
5. Tennessee: 24-5
6. Alabama: 23-6
18. Kentucky: 19-10
27. Mississippi: 20-9
31. Mississippi St: 20-9
34. Georgia: 18-11
38. Vanderbilt: 20-9
78. Louisiana St: 14-15
Having three teams in the top five, four teams in the top ten, five teams in the top 20, and nine teams in the top 40 is unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it. To put these figures in perspective, here's the Classic Big 10:
9. Wisconsin: 22-6
10. Michigan St: 23-5
15. Purdue: 20-9
22. Illinois: 18-11
25. Michigan: 22-6
32. Ohio St: 16-13
44. Indiana: 9-9
47. Northwestern: 16-13
74. Iowa: 15-14
89. Minnesota: 15-14
That's zero teams in the top five, two in the top ten, three in the top 20, and six in the top 40. That's pretty good -- but nowhere close to the Classic SEC. On paper, at least, this year's Classic SEC is the strongest basketball conference since the Big East sent three teams to the Final Four in 1985.
44. Indiana is 18-11, not 9-9. The Hoosiers are 9-9 in conference play.
ReplyDeleteHere's the Classic ACC:
ReplyDelete1. Duke: 26-3
14. Maryland: 22-7
17. Clemson: 24-5
39. N. Carolina: 19-11
67. S. Carolina: 12-17
77. Wake Forest: 20-9
102. Virginia: 14-15
126. N. Carolina St: 11-18
To give you a sense of how tough the SEC is, consider that St. John's (26-4) has played only eight games that Ken-Pom regards as an "A" level contest. The Johnnies are 4-4 in those games. Kentucky has played eighteen "A" level games. The Cats are 9-9 in those games. In non-A games, St. John's is 22-0, and UK is 10-1: UK's only non-A loss was at home against Arkansas.
ReplyDeleteLast year, the Cats only played eleven A games in the regular season. They went 6-5 in those games, and 17-3 in all other games.
ReplyDeleteMemphis rolls into Birmingham and beats UAB 88 to 81. The Tigers are now 24-5, and the Blazers are now 19-10.
ReplyDeleteWith Memphis State's victory, the Classic Metro Seven looks like this:
ReplyDelete23. Louisville: 23-6
44. Memphis St: 24-5
50. Cincinnati: 17-12
90. Florida St: 16-13
105. Saint Louis: 17-12
146. Virginia Tech: 13-16
155. Tulane: 17-12
I think Ken Pom has both U of L and Memphis State ranked lower than they should be.
Here's the Classic OVC, which is not having a banner year:
ReplyDelete116. Mid. Tenn. St: 20-9
144. W. Kentucky: 16-13
148. Murray St: 15-16
177. E. Kentucky: 18-13
278. Austin Peay: 13-18
306. Tennessee Tech: 15-16
325. Morehead St: 15-16
The OVC men's tournament starts today in Evansville, Indiana. Some year, I'm going to get myself free, and, if they're still playing it in Evansville, I'm going to buy the full book of tickets to the tournament. By then, I hope the original six are all back in the OVC--WKU, EKU, Murray, Louisville, Morehead and Evansville--but, of course, I'd be thrilled with your "Classic OVC" lineup of seven teams, too.
DeleteAllstate has a new commercial where a girl who's a UNC fan is dating a guy who's a Duke fan, and her family is all enraged. I've made this point before, but Duke and UNC really do not have that type of rivalry. Maryland fans hate Duke. Kentucky fans hate Duke. NCSU fans hate Duke. UNC fans do not hate Duke. Duke fans don't hate anyone, in large part because they literally don't know the names of the other teams that they play (except for UNC and UVA, which they regard as safety schools). If Allstate wants to make this commercial, they should have used Auburn and Alabama. Those guys really hate each other.
ReplyDeleteI've known a lot of people who went to Duke, and every one of them claimed to be Duke basketball fans, and I don't believe any of them -- not a single one -- would stay home from work to watch Duke play in the NCAA Tournament. They check in on Duke in much the same way they check in on their investments.
ReplyDelete