Figure it is time to give out some ratings to the conferences. That will likely change over the weekend’s games – but figure that it is worth calling out for the first two rounds.
Atlantic 10: A+. It seemed odd that the A-10 had 5 teams in the tournament. Heck, the tradition-rich ACC only had 4, so how could the committee select 5 from this mid-major. All they have done since the games have started is go 6-0, including dominating performances by St. Louis, VCU and Butler. And then there is La Salle – the team that I thought shouldn’t be in compared to another SEC / ACC team. All they have done is won the play-in game and upset #4 seed Kansas State.
Atlantic Sun: A+. Not going to mention the other single bid conferences – but Florida Gulf Coast is the story of the tournament so far. And it bears to be mentioned that the team they beat in the conference tournament, Mercer – went on to win their first game in the NIT at Tennessee.
Big 10: A. The top teams (Indiana, Ohio St, Michigan St, and Michigan) all won convincingly. They lose a little credit because of Wisconsin’s unexpected loss – but then they get some credit back for the fact that both of their 8-10 teams in conference (Illinois and Minnesota) won their first round games. Going 6-1 is pretty good.
Missouri Valley: A. Wichita State unexpectedly destroyed Pitt – and Creighton managed to hold off Cincinnati to make the conference 2-0. Not as impressive as the A-10 – but you still get an A if you go undefeated.
ACC: A-. Miami and Duke dominated their games. And UNC jumped all over Villanova early and then held on to win their game. The only blemish was a 8-9 game loss by NC State. Pretty good start for the ACC.
SEC: B+. Florida didn’t show up for the first half and still was able to blow out Northwestern State. And Ole Miss totally upset Wisconsin getting lots of credit for a 12 seed victory. But then Missouri got blitzed by Colorado State. Based on seed, Missouri wasn’t supposed to win the game – but they weren’t supposed to lose by double digits either. That drops them from the top of the class.
Pac 12: B. The conference totally got a bad break with seeding. How Oregon went 22-4 while healthy, losing only neutral court / road games to RPI Top 100 teams, demonstrated they were back to full strength in the Pac 12 tourney, and only got a 12 seed is still one of the most puzzling parts of the selection process. But they and Cal both knocked off #5 seeds to get to the Round of 32 – and Arizona looked good in their victory. Not going to take credit away for Colorado losing a close game that they were supposed to lose – but UCLA getting crushed – even while down an important player, pushes them down.
West Coast Conference: B. St. Mary’s looked great in the first four games – and then almost upset Memphis. Gonzaga won – but #1 seeds are supposed to win their first games by double digits – not by 6. They are where they are expected to be in wins – but it is strange that the team that lost is the one that performed better compared to expectations.
Mountain West: C. New Mexico’s loss to Harvard is what crushes their grade. You have to win your games when you are a top 3 seed. Didn’t help that UNLV lost as a #5 seed to a team it beat earlier in the season. However, San Diego State and Colorado State ran to easy victories. Wanted to reward the 7 and 8 seeds for their victories – but when a protected seed loses as well as the conference’s second best team, it averages out to a mediocre grade.
Big East: D. Louisville and Syracuse took care of business as expected – which is the only thing keep this from being an F. Georgetown lost the biggest upset of the tournament to FGCU. Marquette as a 3 seed needed last second heroics to make the next round. Notre Dame and Pitt got blown out of the buildings. And while Villanova and Cincinnati weren’t supposed to win – they didn’t do anything that would bump up the conferences status. One of the Big East’s top 3 might still end up doing very well – maybe even winning the entire tournament. But when you are supposed to have 4 protected seeds and 2 others expected to advance to the next round – and you finish the round with just 3 of 8 teams remaining in the tournament, that is an awful start.
Big 12: D-. While Oregon never should have been a 12 seed, Oklahoma State as a 5 seed should not have lost by double digits. Kansas State as a protected seed should definitely not lost to La Salle. Oklahoma wasn’t supposed to win – but losing by 15 isn’t an inspiring performance. Then you have Kansas almost allowing Western Kentucky make history as the first ever 16 seed to win – the Jayhawks eventually pulled away for a 7 point victory. The only thing keeping this from a failing grade is the fact that the Jayhawks are still alive, and Iowa State destroyed Notre Dame. Actually maybe I should give them more credit for ISU eliminating Notre Dame’s hideous uniforms….
As the kids are going for their nap, I finally turned on today’s game. Hoping VCU comes back – looks like they had a rough first half. Go Rams!!!!!!!!!