B1G only conference with three teams in Elite 8. Best conference?

Submitted by Mr. Elbel on

Michigan, Wisconsin, and Staee all made it to the Elite Eight, giving the B1G 3 teams to make it this far, more than any other conference. It's not hard to see since it's only 8 teams, but here's the breakdown:

B1G (3): Michigan, Wisconsin, Staee

SEC (2): Florida, Kentucky

Pac-12 (1): Arizona

AAC (1): Uconn

A-10 (1): Dayton

(Nicely done, ACC; Big 12.... nicely done.)

 

My question, then, is does this at all validate the B1G as the best conference in basketball? Last year it was a no-brainer. This year there has been more speculation. So are we the best or is this just the tournament being the tournament?

If we are the best, does that mean Michigan will finally get the respect we deserve, or do we have to make it past UK for anyone to start believing that this team can win it all?

I think that the B1G is definitely the best conference, and this just proves it. I'm not sure that the media or anyone else will give us a fighting chance in this game, though. I would hope that should we make a second-straight Final Four, the critics will drop. Thoughts?

 

MGoGrendel

March 29th, 2014 at 8:04 AM ^

the cream generally does rise to the top in the tourney. AND, there are a couple of lower teams that do pull upsets, but they rarely make it to the Final Four. The recent chart posted on the main page (http://mgoblog.com/content/hokepoints-states-principle-b ) showed the overall success of the higher seeds.

With the number of B1G schools in the higher seeds (1-4) and the success we've had, I think this correlates to us having the best conference.

Plus, all season "the consensus" was that the B1G is the best conference and everyone always agrees with the consensus! (/s - as if it's needed).

gopoohgo

March 29th, 2014 at 1:23 AM ^

Will be nice if a B1G team (preferrably Michigan) wins it all...but having the top 3 B1G teams go through to the Elite Eight is a nice testament on the depth of the conference.

 

Rabbit21

March 29th, 2014 at 1:26 AM ^

Tournament performance tends to  be highly over-rated as a measure of conference strength, but it is easily translatable to the general public.  Now if a Big Ten team actually won the championship that would be nice, too.  

And hey I am all for pointing out having a strong basketball conference as long as we don't mirror SEC football and start doing something stupid like "B-1-G" at games.

dahblue

March 29th, 2014 at 1:34 AM ^

As the guys on CBS/TNT mentioned, the SEC has only lost 1 game. Of course no mention of the 3 Big10 teams or the fact that the SEC only sent 3 teams to the tourney. Then they all picked Kentucky. We shall get no respect even if we win it all.

taistreetsmyhero

March 29th, 2014 at 1:32 AM ^

I don't think any of the remaining teams from the Big Ten have near the on-paper talent as the top teams from last year's Big Ten (maybe MSU). It's also just crazier and crazier to think that this team is a 2 seed, and last year we were a 4 seed.

Skip Kentucky. How fun would a game between our squad from this year vs. our squad from last year. Bet JMo would have let's of pent up anger to release upon upstart Freshman Mitch McGary.

Nothsa

March 29th, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^

Last year's top-half of the B10 was pretty clearly better than this one's. And yet only Michigan went really deep in the 2013 tournament. Matchups and the random stuff that happens in a single-elimination tourney winnowed out some really good teams.

So yes, 3 B10 teams in the Elite 8 appears to offer solid support for the conference being the best in hoops this year (and just see how much tougher the league is next year when both UMD and Rutgers join up! Oh boy!), but, if not a one had made it this far, the conference would still have been the best in college basketball.

 

CompleteLunacy

March 29th, 2014 at 1:59 AM ^

For all the talk of how brutal our region was, Michigan has a chance of winning it where 7 seed Texas was the lowest seed they had to beat. Obviously Kentucky is much better than their 8 seed right now...but we avoided Dook, Louisville, and Wichita State. Did anyone predict that happening? The magic of a high seed and a bit of luck. This is an excellent opportunity...hopefully M takes advantage.



Beat the Wildcats!

JohnnyV123

March 29th, 2014 at 2:13 AM ^

They are going to start saying the SEC is the best conference in basketball if Kentucky and Florida make it to the Final Four because...ESPN!

Kind of like how last year all the writers were going "See Big East (AAC) is the best basketball conference." because they won the national championship.

Tater

March 29th, 2014 at 3:42 AM ^

The Big Ten has great depth as its supposed "strength," but it is the top three teams that made the Elite Eight.   I am thinking the best top end and the best depth equals the best conference.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

Coldwater

March 29th, 2014 at 6:41 AM ^

The Big Ten has good depth, but still fights the stigma of no National Champion since State in 2000. It's great we get teams to Final Fours, but eventually you have to close the deal and win the big one.

LSAClassOf2000

March 29th, 2014 at 6:57 AM ^

I don't know if we should necessarily put a lot of stock in games in isolation, which is basically all that the Tournament is since we're playing teams that we may not necessarily see for years on end otherwise. Still, the fact that the Big Ten, as a conference, is yet again showing that it can take its collective game and win with it against some pretty stiff competition outside its own conference seems like evidence to me that we are a competitive, tough conference regardless. 

maizenbluenc

March 29th, 2014 at 7:17 AM ^

Why don't we wait for observations like this until after the tourney is over? if you haven't immediately knocked on wood, all three teams are horribly jinxed.

Saint_in_Blue

March 29th, 2014 at 8:00 AM ^

The B1G conference won't get any respect until a team from the B1G wins a championship. Otherwise it's just going to be a mediocre conference with decent competition from top to bottom. And even if the conference is fortunate enough to get 3 teams in the Final Four, that sentiment won't change with the media.

XM - Mt 1822

March 29th, 2014 at 8:29 AM ^

big10 tough and we are good.   3 b-10 teams in the final 8 corroborates it, 2 or 3 in the final 4 would be like a clarion call for all other conferences to bow down to us.  insert mathlete numbers-ninja statistic here:_____________.      proved it. 

Princetonwolverine

March 29th, 2014 at 8:33 AM ^

Even after we beat TN last night the announcers couldn't stop talking about how good TN was. No respect. 

Of course fans of the SEC will continue to argue TN would have won except for the "bad" call.

Beat Kentucky then we can talk.

Blarvey

March 29th, 2014 at 8:34 AM ^

I think the tournament is a tough judge because of matchups and seeding, plus if the final was to be Kentucky vs. Florida people would be saying the SEC is the toughest conference and was dissed by the committee. I think you could probably make the case that they were considering how well they have played compared to the Big 12, Pac 12, and A10.

That said, the old and new Big East teams may struggle for a while because their new conferences are nowhere near as good as the old competition was, so I think they were overrated.

Sweet Life

March 29th, 2014 at 9:03 AM ^

It has been a great showing in the tournament this year for the Big 10, but we really need one of the three teams to break the drought and win the Championship to convince a lot of other folks that the Big 10 is best.

From a statistical standpoint, the Big 10 has won Kenpom's conference ratings every year since 2011 and will almost certainly win this year as well.  Since 2003, the first year for Kenpom, no other conference has won the conference ratings for more than 2 consecutive years.  The 4 year dominance by the Big 10 indicates a top to bottom breadth that no other conference can currently match.

allintime23

March 29th, 2014 at 9:29 AM ^

Validated and supremacy secured. There's no way around it. Michigan just beat the hottest team in the tourney and Wisconsin has been smashing everyone. Staee while unwatchable do to the izzo cry constant , weird stuff, looks very dependable.

rob f

March 29th, 2014 at 9:48 AM ^

secures 3 of the 4 Final Four berths, that should be enough to convince the nay-sayers. 

Even then, though, the media will be trotting out all sorts of excuses.  It's what they do.

BlueCube

March 29th, 2014 at 10:01 AM ^

mentioned John Beilein and what a great offensive coach he is. They pointed out tiny adjustments they made on Tennessee that led to open shots. That was nice but they basically were saying that the only hope Michigan has is if Beilein pulls off a miracle.

Personally I think Beilein can throw in a few things today that will cause problems for a young Kentucky team. I think Michgan's experience and talent will overcome Kentucky. I expect us to cut down on turnovers which will give us an edge.

At that point everyone will say Michigan won because of Cauley-Stein's injury.

gwkrlghl

March 29th, 2014 at 10:14 AM ^

Strange that none of the talking heads are mentioning the very real possibility of having 3 of 4 Big Ten teams in the Final Four

  • Wisconsin looks excellent against Baylor and will play Arizona well
  • MSU is going to be a big favorite again UConn ime
  • Michigan-Kentucky will be a good game

Anyway, very realisitc chance of getting 3 Big Ten teams and Florida in the final four but no one seems to be entertaining the idea. Big Ten gets no respect

MaximusBlue

March 29th, 2014 at 10:21 AM ^

Going through the grind of a B10 season and conference tourney prepares teams for these moments. If you look at all 3 matchups, they're all very winnable. There's a pretty good chance we could see 3 B10 teams in the final four. I don't think that's been done since the 80's Big East days.