We are still a few months away from March Madness, but we’re about to turn the calendars to January.
As we do, we can evaluate what we’ve seen so far in this College Basketball season, and give some thoughts on what’s to come as we build towards Selection Sunday.
The Best Conference In College Basketball?
Seems clear the answer is the SEC.
In ESPN’s current Power Rankings, they have 4 SEC teams in the Top 6, and 5 of the Top 7. Then an additional 3 teams in the rest of their Top 25.
CBS Sports’ Power Rankings tell a similar story, where the SEC has 8 of the Top 14 teams, and two others in the Top 25.
The current KenPom Ratings, have 4 of the Top 9, 6 of the Top 20, and 8 of the Top 30.
ESPN’s Bracketology has 13 SEC teams making the NCAA Tournament!
Who Has The 2nd Best Conference?
ESPN’s Bracketology currently has 10 teams from the Big Ten making the NCAAT, but of those teams Oregon ( currently a 3 seed ), UCLA ( currently a 4 seed ), and Purdue ( currently a 4 seed ), are currently the top Big Ten seeds.
ESPN’s Power Rankings have 4 Big Ten teams in their Top 25, with Oregon the highest at 8.
CBS’s Power Rankings have 6 Big Ten teams in their Top 25.
The KenPom ratings have 8 Big Ten teams in their Top 30, with Maryland the highest rated at 11.
ESPN’s Bracketology has 8 teams from the Big 12 making the NCAAT, with Iowa State currently on the 1 line.
ESPN’s Power Rankings have 4 Big 12 teams in their Top 25, with the Cyclones the highest at 3.
CBS’s Power Rankings also have 4 Big 12 teams in their Top 25, with Kansas joining Iowa State in their Top 10.
The KenPom ratings have 6 Big 12 teams in their Top 30, with Houston, Iowa State, and Kansas all in their Top 8.
Who Is The Best Team In The Big East?
Marquette is 11-2 overall, 2-0 in the Big East.
UConn is 10-3 overall, 2-0 in the Big East.
The Golden Eagles are 10th overall in KenPom, with the 16th rated offense, and 19th rated defense.
The Huskies are 15th overall in KenPom, with the 2nd rated offense, and 98th rated defense.
ESPN’s Bracketology has Marquette as a 2 seed, and UConn as a 4.
ESPN’s Power Rankings have Marquette 9th overall, and UConn 12th.
CBS’s Power Rankings have Marquette 8th overall, and UConn 19th.
Who Is The Best Out Of Dayton, Gonzaga, Memphis, and San Diego State?
ESPN’s Bracketology has Gonzaga (West Coast Conference) as a 2 seed, Memphis (American Conference) a 5, Dayton (Atlantic 10) a 7 seed, and San Diego State (Mountain West) a 9 seed.
ESPN’s Power Rankings have Dayton 15th, Gonzaga 16th, San Diego State 18th, and Memphis 20th.
CBS’s Power Rankings have Gonzaga 20th, San Diego State 21st, and Dayton and Memphis not-ranked.
KenPom has Gonzaga 6th overall, with the 3rd ranked offense, and 24th ranked defense.
Dayton is 32nd overall, with the 18th ranked offense, and 69th ranked defense.
San Diego State is 36th overall, with the 71st ranked offense, and 12th ranked defense.
Memphis is 42nd overall, with the 39th ranked offense, and 54th ranked defense.
Who Is The 2nd Best Team In The ACC?
Duke is 10-2 overall, 2-0 in league play, and 2nd overall in KenPom. They are 5th in the ESPN Power Rankings, and 4th via CBS’ Power Rankings.
ESPN’s Bracketology only has 4 ACC teams making the NCAAT (Duke as a 2 seed, Clemson a 6, Pittsburgh a 7, and North Carolina a 9).
ESPN’s Power Rankings has Duke as the only ACC team, with Clemson dropping out.
CBS’s Power Rankings have UNC at #26.
In KenPom, Pittsburgh is 25th, UNC is 28th, and Clemson is 31st
Some Random Teams I Like
- UC San Diego: 11-2 overall, and have won their last 9. The Big West team has 4 guys averaging double figures, with 2 guards shooting 40%+ from 3.
- Liberty: 12-1 overall, and have won their last 9. The Conference USA team has 6 guys averaging at-least 9.2 points per game, and 8 guys averaging at-least 7.1
- Bradley: 10-2 overall. The Missouri Valley team has 5 guys scoring 9.3+ points per game, and each of them are shooting 42%+ from 3.
- Arkansas State: 10-3 overall. This Sun Belt team had a competitive 9 point game at Alabama.
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Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.