The Big East: Best Conference in the Country

When did the Big East become so good in College basketball? Remember the daus when the ACC ruled in college ball? With Maryland, Duke and Georgia Tech dominating the game, it seemed that these teams would be the consistent favorites and that the ACC would have a strong hold as the best conference in all of college basketball? However, in my opinion, there has been a changing of guard. The Big East is for real my friends.

With 16 total teams in the picture, this conference is simply packed with talent and potential and ready to make a mark in all of college basketball. With some shuffling this year with new teams joining due to college football dictating the shifting, it seems the changes have affected NCAAB more as the east has now become the best conference in college basketball. Let’s examine this conference and the teams involved...

Dominating the Top 25
As you can see, the Big East is packed with top 25 teams including two top 10's and a total of five top 25 teams. In essence, 1/5 of the Top 25 teams in the country are from the Big East and they range from #1 to #17. This doesn’t even include the two teams that dropped out of the top 25 in Syracuse and Louisville. Can you imagine that 13 out of the 16 teams are at .500 or higher?! If these teams didn’t have to play each other throughout the conference schedules, their records would even be higher! For example, Louisville used to be ranked in the top 25 but after their conference schedule started and their record of 4-7 during such play, they might not even go to the NCAAB tournament due to the difficulties they’ve had in their own conference. The same can apply to Syracuse who is at sub .500 in conference play at 5-6. Furthermore, when one team Big East team travels on the road to another team, they do not have an easy win awaiting them as in other conferences. For example, Rutgers played Villanova very tough and St. Johns defeated undefeated Pitt at home – this goes without saying that Marquette beat the undefeated Huskies at home as well. Of course, we can’t forget that Georgetown also defeated undefeated #1 Duke on the road as well. Thus, imagine this: The last three undefeated teams in college basketball have all been defeated by Big East teams with two of them being ranked #1 at the time (Duke and UCONN). Granted that UCONN and Duke still remain on top, it is clear that  no one is safe in this conference - at home or away.

Solid, Even at the Bottom
Another element that shows the strength of schedule of this conference is when you take a look at the two teams near the bottom. After all, the strength of your organization or group is how strong the weakest links are. However, just take a look at at the bottom rung of teams including South Florida (a team who played Villanova to within 3 points and lost), Depaul, Notre Dame, St. Johns, Rutgers, Providence and the once soaring Louisville Cardinals. Any one of these teams on any given day could beat one of the top 25 teams in the country – and even more likely at home. In fact, least 11 out of 16 of these teams deserve NCAA bids but I believe around 6-8 will get them with an outside shot at double digits. How can you deny teams that win on a consistent basis in their non-conference schedules and play their conferences opponents tough. In fact, if one is to go even .500 in their conference schedules, the team deserves to go to the NCAA tournament as you would have beat nearly 4 to 5 top 25 teams or once ranked in the top 25 which is a great year for any given team.

Gimme the Big East Any Day
Big East teams have shown the true caliber of college basketball teams and are winning consistently on the road as well. The Big East is simply where the big boys come to play. With their size, speed, and suffocating defense as shown by undefeated Seton Hall demolishing #14 ranked NC State at that time on the road and West Virginia snapping UCLA’s win streak at home, the Big East can matchup to anyone in non-conference play. The Big East team’s will be looking to feast on other competition besides themselves, and come tourney time, this is a conference that I will be riding whenever possible.

Disagree? Show me another conference that can matchups to these numbers and these accomplishments in-conference as well as non-conference. Big East basketball is here to stay and the guard has been changed for the best conference in basketball for some time to come.

All of you ACC alums are gonna barage me with emails I know. That's fine, let me know what you think!