Seth Berland

Welcome. Now that football season is over, a lot of fans will be turning their full attention to the college basketball season. The problem is, they’ve already missed out on half the season or have not been paying that close of attention to it. No worries, as I am here to fill you in on how the top conferences have done, where they stand now, and where they appear to be going for the best time of the year: March Madness. That way, you will have no problem filling out the perfect bracket and winning your office pool (hey, it has to happen eventually!).

(Conference rankings are based on conference RPI and are listed in that order)

 

Atlantic Coast Conference

Best wins: Louisville over Kentucky, North Carolina over Wisconsin, Louisville over Indiana, Duke & Florida St. over Florida

Current Standings (top 6):

  1. Florida State (4-0, 16-1)
  2. Notre Dame (3-0, 14-2)
  3. North Carolina (2-1, 14-3)
  4. Duke (2-2, 14-3)
  5. Virginia Tech (2-2, 14-3)
  6. Virginia (2-2, 12-3)

Analysis: The ACC (yet again) seems to be far and way the best conference in basketball. Only problem? They keep knocking off each other. Not a single team in the conference (as of 1/11) is below .500. Louisville, Duke, Virginia Tech, and Clemson all had very strong starts to the season, but all of them sit at or below .500 in conference play. The good news is that this will likely be a 10-12 bid conference and will be a ton of fun to watch every day of the season.

 

Big East Conference

Best wins: Georgetown over Oregon, Butler over Villanova, Villanova over Purdue

Current Standings (top 6):

  1. Villanova (4-1, 16-1)
  2. Creighton (3-1, 15-1)
  3. Butler (3-1, 14-2)
  4. The team that starts with X (3-1, 13-3)
  5. Seton Hall (2-1, 12-3)
  6. St. Johns (2-3, 8-10)

Analysis: While this is a totally different Big East than the peak in the 2000’s, it is still a very strong conference. Highlighted by defending-champion Villanova, the Big East also has three other very strong teams in Creighton, Butler, and that other team. It will be a tight conference race, but it should be a 5 bid conference with potential to do some damage in the tournament.

 

Big 12 Conference

Best wins: Baylor over Louisville, Oregon, and Xavier, Kansas over Duke, West Virginia over Virginia

Current Standings (top 6)

  1. Kansas (4-0, 15-1)
  2. Baylor (3-1, 15-1)
  3. West Virginia (3-1, 14-2)
  4. Iowa State (2-1, 10-4)
  5. Texas Tech (2-2, 13-3)
  6. Kansas State (2-2, 13-3)

Analysis: No surprise here with Kansas in first place (yet again), but they have as much competition as they have in years. Baylor started the season unranked but has ascended to a #1 ranking (before their loss to West Virginia. Speaking of West Virginia, they have also had a very strong start to the season, picking up the nice win over Baylor and another over Virginia. I expect the Big 12 to have around 5 tournament bids.

 

Big Ten Conference

Best wins: Indiana over Kansas and North Carolina, Purdue over Notre Dame, Michigan over SMU

Current Standings (top 6):

  1. Minnesota (3-1, 15-2)
  2. Maryland (3-1, 15-2)
  3. Purdue (3-1, 14-3)
  4. Michigan State (3-1, 11-6)
  5. Nebraska (3-1, 9-7)
  6. Wisconsin (2-1, 13-3)

Analysis: The Big Ten seems to be pretty wide open right now with a lot of surprise teams (for better or worse). Minnesota is sitting pretty at 3-1 in the conference and 15-2 overall, Nebraska got off to a scorching start to conference play with wins at Indiana and at Maryland. Purdue seems to be the most impressive however, especially after a big win against Wisconsin. As for the disappointments, Michigan State may have over-scheduled at the start of the season and couldn’t pull off the upsets before turning it around in conference play, while Indiana pulled off two good wins at the beginning of the season and is faltering in conference play. The Big Ten seems to be a lock for about 9 teams in the big dance.

 

Southeastern Conference

Best wins: Kentucky over North Carolina and Michigan State, Texas A&M over Virginia Tech

Current Standings (top 6):

  1. Kentucky (4-0, 14-2)
  2. Florida (4-0, 13-3)
  3. South Carolina (2-0, 12-3)
  4. Mississippi State (2-1, 11-4)
  5. Georgia (2-1, 10-5)
  6. Alabama (2-1, 9-6)

Analysis: Seems to be the same old SEC yet again this year. Kentucky at the top, Florida close behind, and then the rest. South Carolina has been good this season, but the rest of the conference seems to be pretty typical. Kentucky has been very good though, picking up a big win over North Carolina in arguably the game of the year so far. Look for Kentucky to make some noise in the tournament again, while 3-4 other teams will be looking to pad their resume to stay in the tournament field.

 

Image result for pacific 12 conference

Pacific 12 Conference

Best wins: UCLA over Kentucky, Colorado over Xavier, Arizona over Michigan State

Current Standings (top 6):

  1. Arizona (4-0, 15-2)
  2. Oregon (4-0, 15-2)
  3. UCLA (3-1, 16-1)
  4. Utah (2-1, 11-4)
  5. Washington State (2-1, 9-6)
  6. USC (2-2, 15-2)

Analysis: The Pac-12 is actually pretty balanced throughout. Arizona, Oregon, and UCLA seem to be the class of the league, while USC had an undefeated out of conference schedule. Utah, California, and Colorado all have good records, and Washington stays watchable as long as Markelle Fultz is playing. Those top 3 will likely be the only teams fighting for the top of the conference, but what a fight it will be. Regardless, the Pac-12 should have around 5 teams in the conference should they all keep this up.

 

Atlantic 10 Conference

Best wins: Rhode Island over Cincinnati, Duquesne over Pittsburgh

Current Standings (top 6):

  1. VCU (3-0, 13-3)
  2. Dayton (3-0, 12-3)
  3. Richmond (3-0, 9-6)
  4. Rhode Island (2-1, 10-5)
  5. St. Bonaventure (2-1, 10-5)
  6. La Salle (2-1, 8-5)

Analysis: VCU, Dayton, Richmond, and Rhode Island are clearly the top class of the league, but it is still pretty solid throughout. St. Bonaventure is sporting a good record as is George Mason (2-2, 12-5) and Davidson has the electric Jack Gibbs lighting up the scoreboard for them. UMass (0-3, 10-6) has been disappointing in conference play but will look to turn things around to make the tournament. The A10 should be a 3 bid conference, with a chance of 4 if St. Bonaventure and George Mason can turn it up a little or if Richmond can win the automatic bid.

 

American Athletic Conference

Best wins: Temple over Florida State and West Virginia, Cincinnati over Iowa State

Current Standings (top 6):

  1. SMU (4-0, 14-3)
  2. Cincinnati (3-0, 13-2)
  3. Houston (3-1, 12-4)
  4. UCF (3-1, 12-4)
  5. Memphis (2-1, 12-4)
  6. Tulsa (1-1, 7-7)

Analysis: The American conference has some very distinct tiers. SMU and Cincinnati are the clear top 2, with Houston, UCF, Memphis, and Temple falling close behind. Notice a team missing? That would be UConn (1-3, 6-9), who stumbled out of the gate with two horrible losses and hasn’t recovered. The SMU vs. Cincinnati game on 1/12 will be huge to sort out the top of the conference. Look for a very interesting two team race, with a possible third surprise team to emerge from the group.