Big 12 0-3. Did our Entire Conference have an inflated opinion of themselves?
- Thread starter cuphues
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One and done tournaments provide little feedback to the strength of teams. Is UAB a better team than ISU? No. Not even close. But it's basketball, crazy things happen. If you really wanted to determine who was better, you would have a series. Obviously that isn't practical, so we'll stick with the more entertaining option.
Big 12 is a very good basketball conf but not great. 0-3 today though does not mean the Big 12 is a bad conf. More of an aberration. I pull for ISU when not playing Iowa but this is a good reminder to the wind bag fans who do nothing but blow about their teams and conf.
105-25 in non-conference games (counting today). Best in cbb. But a couple of upsets means the conference is overrated?
It's March Madness. Stuff happens. Baylor and ISU make one more layup each, and UNC/Notre Dame miss a couple of tough shots, and we're all talking about how the ACC might be overrated, and how ISU and Baylor just survived and advanced. Sucks that they both lost, but I'm not going to judge an entire season by a couple of flukes. Don't forget, the Big 12 still has four teams left in the field.
Similar to football bowls, I think the style of the conference really hurts during the tournament. In conference teams move up and down the floor with no attempt to slow it down. There's not a lot of variety within conference. Also, the Big12 scores a lot of points at the line during the season. So far, we haven't seen a lot of fouls called in Big12 games so you have to wonder if the games are played differently, or if it's just being called differently.
I don't think the RPI factors in entertainment value when calculating their conference strength metric.
The trend for the B12 to do badly in the tourney is squarely in place and has been for 10+ years.
There's something about this conference and our style of play that doesn't prepare us for winning tournament games.
I can't put my finger on it, but 10 years is long enough for me to think that it's not just bad luck (anything can happen in March).
There's something about this conference and our style of play that doesn't prepare us for winning tournament games.
I can't put my finger on it, but 10 years is long enough for me to think that it's not just bad luck (anything can happen in March).
This is a football answer to a BB question but since there are only 5 conferences it just is a fact of life that the second there is any weakness or rebuilding across the Big Ten or SEC (conferences that share territory with the Big 12 and have overlapping fanbases) the Big 12 stands to be overrated and wrongly credited since you can't criticize both the Big Ten and SEC without praising the Big 12. All the power conferences can't look bad at the same time.
This year the Big Ten lost a lot and the Big 12 teams all overacheived or at least got off to good starts like TCU or KSU.
I think the Big 12 just returns enough talent across the boards annually that their teams play well in the non conference due to that talent and with it being a smaller confernce come December most of the members have spent a little time in the polls here or there over the first 5-6 weeks and will all have good looking records at Christmas.
Pac 12 is the best in football right now but their hoops is hurting since only Arizona is recruiting at a big time level.
This year the Big Ten lost a lot and the Big 12 teams all overacheived or at least got off to good starts like TCU or KSU.
I think the Big 12 just returns enough talent across the boards annually that their teams play well in the non conference due to that talent and with it being a smaller confernce come December most of the members have spent a little time in the polls here or there over the first 5-6 weeks and will all have good looking records at Christmas.
Pac 12 is the best in football right now but their hoops is hurting since only Arizona is recruiting at a big time level.
did the double round robin plus a tournament against that many quality teams just beat us all up too much?
we never played as well as we did at Hilton the rest of the year... and we went 0-3 after wins against WVU...
did the physical toll of our own conference hurt us in March?
we never played as well as we did at Hilton the rest of the year... and we went 0-3 after wins against WVU...
did the physical toll of our own conference hurt us in March?
Just because the committee still uses RPI doesn't mean it isn't a ****** metric.
I think its less that the Big 12 is the BEST OF THE BEST and more the most even conference top to bottom. Our best teams may not be as good as Kentucky, and the ACC may have more 'good' teams but no conference is as good top to bottom.
In other words, We may be the third best conference in talent but the toughest conference to win consistently in.
In other words, We may be the third best conference in talent but the toughest conference to win consistently in.
I mean we already knew many games are played differently during the regular season. Watch some big 10 games and be amazed at how few fouls have been called in many of them.
I watch a lot of B10, and I think you do have a point in terms of less fouls being called compared to other conferences, but I have still noticed a huge game to game difference in what each particular crew calls as a foul. That's what is tough to adjust to and you have to adjust to it in game or else it's too late. That's what happens in tourney time as well. It all depends on the crew assigned to the game and how quickly you can adjust to take advantage of it (or whether or not you have a star power coach who can impact their calls like Izzo, Self, or Bo Ryan). If the B10 has an advantage in that area it's because maybe they are more accustomed to playing games that are "rough" than other conferences are simply because that style of play may be allowed more on average in their conference play.
I think there's a happy medium here in determining conference strength. The B12 looked pretty damn strong all season, but you can't discount how a conference performs in the tourney. That's the lasting impression of conference strength whether you like it or not. I'm not saying that is fair because I realize upsets happen. That's what makes March Madness so fun, or downright miserable, depending on which side of it you fall on.
I guess I would say that my hope is that more people will try to keep an open mind during in-season play in both football and basketball in upcoming years. It's easy to get caught up in the moment, but try to look at the big picture. The B12 isn't the only conference that beats each other up. I will say that I think style of play certainly has something to do with the B12's post season struggles in both football and basketball. I'm not sure how much of it is that though. Bad luck is certainly a part of it as well.
