[h=1]The Power Five of college hoops[/h][h=3]ACC, boasting 176 NCAA tournament wins since 2000, tops conference ranking[/h]
By [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]John Gasaway[/FONT] | ESPN insider
Last week, the NCAA Division I board of directors voted to grant increased autonomy to the Power Five conferences. This reform was tailored expressly to address the needs and concerns of the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC.
Those five conferences (plus Notre Dame) form a natural top tier in football. But when it comes to picking a "power five" in the college hoops world, the decision isn't nearly as clear cut.
To be honest, I'm not sure there are five conferences in college basketball that warrant the "power" description. Still, I think we can arrange a convincing hierarchy and select five conferences that are more impressive than all others.
Below, I've discussed the strengths and weaknesses of each major conference and picked the five conferences I think are college basketball's best.
Conferences were measured according to two criteria: first, and most heavily, NCAA tournament success. And second, top-to-bottom strength.
In my opinion, the entire composition of a conference isn't as important as how its best teams perform on the biggest stage. If it were, Tulane's presence in the American would harm the conference's reputation as much as UConn's helps it. That kind of calculation doesn't make much sense.
Certainly top-to-bottom strength is an important consideration, but a conference's success in the NCAA tournament deserves far more credence.
Two final notes on these conference rankings. First, all figures have been tallied according to present membership. The ACC gets retroactive credit for the Louisville Cardinals' tournament wins, for example, while the Big Ten receives retroactive blame for the five-year (and then some) futility of Rutgers.
Second, in counting tournament wins, I've tossed out victories recorded prior to the round of 64. Conferences earn no extra credit for having a team that barely makes the field and then wins its game in Dayton (as NC State did in March).
So without a further ado, here is your college basketball Power Five.
[h=3]1. ACC[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 176 (1st)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 2nd
No conference has navigated realignment even close to as well as the ACC has. Over the past few years, the ACC has added Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame (though not for football) and, most recently, Louisville to a conference that already includes Duke and UNC. The Big Ten head office will tell you that a school like Louisville isn't a fit with the rest of the league's member institutions in terms of academics. But for better or worse, the Cardinals make an already strong ACC even stronger.
[h=3]2. Big Ten[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 151 (2nd)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 1st
The Big Ten shows up as the strongest conference in the nation from top to bottom over the past five seasons. But before Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany crows too loudly, let's keep in mind that his league finished in a statistical dead heat with the ACC in total conference strength. One more season of hoops could give this rolling five-year distinction to the ACC.
In any event, the ACC (or, more precisely, the conference's current membership) has enjoyed more success in the NCAA tournament over the past 15 years. The Big Ten's national title drought tends to attract all the attention in this kind of discussion. Still, even if Michigan had shocked the world and defeated Louisville in the 2013 title game, the numbers would more or less be the same. When it comes to basketball, the ACC and Big Ten form a clear top two. And at least for now, it is Delany's league that's the clear second banana.
[h=3]3. Big 12[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 118 (4th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 3rd
Kansas has dominated the Big 12 in every conceivable way. With a best-in-the-nation 38 NCAA tournament wins since 2000, the Jayhawks have a strong claim in the "best program in the nation" discussion.
Beyond KU, however, consistency hasn't been a trait of Big 12 programs. Texas, for example, ranks No. 2 in the league in NCAA tournament wins over the past 15 years (with half as many as the Jayhawks). They have had quite an up-and-down go of things, though. In fact, Kansas State or Baylor may have a better statistical case for being the Big 12's second-best program over the past five seasons.
[h=3]4. SEC[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 121 (3rd)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 5th
When it comes to basketball performance, the SEC is a league divided against itself. The conference has two of the top seven programs in the nation in Florida and Kentucky, but it also has five programs that haven't appeared in the last five NCAA tournaments: Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State and South Carolina.
Thanks primarily to the Gators and Wildcats, the SEC holds a three-win lead over the Big 12 in tournament victories since 2000 -- not exactly a meaningful distinction. There's a clear difference between the two leagues in terms of top-to-bottom strength, however, which pushes the SEC down to fourth place.
[h=3]5. Pac-12[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 96 (5th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 6th
Between roughly 2009-10 and 2012-13, the Pac-12 (or Pac-10, as it was known until 2011) endured arguably the worst dry spell of any major conference in recent times. The league failed to earn a top-four seed in four consecutive NCAA tournaments.
The rise of the Arizona Wildcats under Sean Miller, however, has returned a measure of luster to a league that has both a storied past and enough tournament wins for a chair at the major conference table in hoops.
[h=3]Big East[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 77 (6th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 4th
The Big East looks great on paper in terms of NCAA wins this century and, particularly, in overall strength. That being said, a word of caution is in order.
Some of the Big East's statistical appeal is the product of what diligent hoops analysts in white lab coats term the Brad Stevens Echo. Butler won 10 tournament games in just two seasons under Stevens, and his teams were strong enough to put the Bulldogs' current five-year average at No. 5 in the league, behind only Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova and Xavier. Whether BU will perform at a level equivalent to the Big East's median program going forward is an open question. Last season, the Bulldogs were the league's ninth-best team, ahead of only DePaul.
[h=3]The American[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 69 (7th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 8th
I've already declared the American a major conference, but it rates as the weakest member of that exclusive club. Of course, Connecticut is Connecticut. Memphis will continue to attract talent. Cincinnati is consistently an NCAA tournament team. SMU is showing amazing results under Larry Brown. One presumes that Temple will at some point return to its winning ways. The conference's bottom half is no oil painting, though. It's so weak down there that the American deserves to be rightfully penalized.
[h=3]Atlantic 10[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 31 (8th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 7th
The A-10 provides a useful illustration of why top-to-bottom talk can on occasion be misleading.
In terms of overall conference strength, the A-10 rates to be exactly as tough as the American over the past five seasons. That, along with the fact that the league typically earns a high number of NCAA tournament bids, has fueled talk of the A-10 being a major conference in basketball.
But here is one clear dividing line that I would suggest for defining a major conference: Your league has to win at least as many NCAA tournament games as the best team in the country. On this metric, the A-10 falls short. Kansas alone has more tournament victories since 2000 (38) than the A-10 (31) does. So too do Michigan State (36), Duke, North Carolina (34 each), Florida (33), Kentucky and Connecticut (32 each).
[h=3]Mountain West[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 18 (10th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 9th
Since its inception prior to the 1999-2000 season, the Mountain West has never put a team into the Elite Eight. San Diego State and New Mexico have been notably consistent over the past few years, though. If the Aztecs and Lobos keep doing what they're doing, the league's invisibility in regional finals will come to an end sooner rather than later.
[h=3]West Coast[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 25 (9th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 10th
Gonzaga has won 16 NCAA tournament games since 2000. No other WCC member has won more than three. (Again, I'm not counting victories recorded prior to the round of 64. Sorry, BYU.)
[h=3]Missouri Valley[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 17 (11th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 11th
Wichita State followed a trip to the 2013 Final Four with a 31-0 regular season in 2013-14. But Gregg Marshall's team needs some competition in the Valley. With Creighton having relocated to the Big East, it's not clear where that competition is going to materialize. No MVC program besides the Shockers has reached the Elite Eight since Larry Bird took Indiana State all the way to the 1979 national championship game.
By [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]John Gasaway[/FONT] | ESPN insider
Last week, the NCAA Division I board of directors voted to grant increased autonomy to the Power Five conferences. This reform was tailored expressly to address the needs and concerns of the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC.
Those five conferences (plus Notre Dame) form a natural top tier in football. But when it comes to picking a "power five" in the college hoops world, the decision isn't nearly as clear cut.
To be honest, I'm not sure there are five conferences in college basketball that warrant the "power" description. Still, I think we can arrange a convincing hierarchy and select five conferences that are more impressive than all others.
Below, I've discussed the strengths and weaknesses of each major conference and picked the five conferences I think are college basketball's best.
Conferences were measured according to two criteria: first, and most heavily, NCAA tournament success. And second, top-to-bottom strength.
In my opinion, the entire composition of a conference isn't as important as how its best teams perform on the biggest stage. If it were, Tulane's presence in the American would harm the conference's reputation as much as UConn's helps it. That kind of calculation doesn't make much sense.
Certainly top-to-bottom strength is an important consideration, but a conference's success in the NCAA tournament deserves far more credence.
Two final notes on these conference rankings. First, all figures have been tallied according to present membership. The ACC gets retroactive credit for the Louisville Cardinals' tournament wins, for example, while the Big Ten receives retroactive blame for the five-year (and then some) futility of Rutgers.
Second, in counting tournament wins, I've tossed out victories recorded prior to the round of 64. Conferences earn no extra credit for having a team that barely makes the field and then wins its game in Dayton (as NC State did in March).
So without a further ado, here is your college basketball Power Five.
[h=3]1. ACC[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 176 (1st)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 2nd
No conference has navigated realignment even close to as well as the ACC has. Over the past few years, the ACC has added Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame (though not for football) and, most recently, Louisville to a conference that already includes Duke and UNC. The Big Ten head office will tell you that a school like Louisville isn't a fit with the rest of the league's member institutions in terms of academics. But for better or worse, the Cardinals make an already strong ACC even stronger.
[h=3]2. Big Ten[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 151 (2nd)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 1st
The Big Ten shows up as the strongest conference in the nation from top to bottom over the past five seasons. But before Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany crows too loudly, let's keep in mind that his league finished in a statistical dead heat with the ACC in total conference strength. One more season of hoops could give this rolling five-year distinction to the ACC.
In any event, the ACC (or, more precisely, the conference's current membership) has enjoyed more success in the NCAA tournament over the past 15 years. The Big Ten's national title drought tends to attract all the attention in this kind of discussion. Still, even if Michigan had shocked the world and defeated Louisville in the 2013 title game, the numbers would more or less be the same. When it comes to basketball, the ACC and Big Ten form a clear top two. And at least for now, it is Delany's league that's the clear second banana.
[h=3]3. Big 12[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 118 (4th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 3rd
Kansas has dominated the Big 12 in every conceivable way. With a best-in-the-nation 38 NCAA tournament wins since 2000, the Jayhawks have a strong claim in the "best program in the nation" discussion.
Beyond KU, however, consistency hasn't been a trait of Big 12 programs. Texas, for example, ranks No. 2 in the league in NCAA tournament wins over the past 15 years (with half as many as the Jayhawks). They have had quite an up-and-down go of things, though. In fact, Kansas State or Baylor may have a better statistical case for being the Big 12's second-best program over the past five seasons.
[h=3]4. SEC[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 121 (3rd)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 5th
When it comes to basketball performance, the SEC is a league divided against itself. The conference has two of the top seven programs in the nation in Florida and Kentucky, but it also has five programs that haven't appeared in the last five NCAA tournaments: Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State and South Carolina.
Thanks primarily to the Gators and Wildcats, the SEC holds a three-win lead over the Big 12 in tournament victories since 2000 -- not exactly a meaningful distinction. There's a clear difference between the two leagues in terms of top-to-bottom strength, however, which pushes the SEC down to fourth place.
[h=3]5. Pac-12[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 96 (5th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 6th
Between roughly 2009-10 and 2012-13, the Pac-12 (or Pac-10, as it was known until 2011) endured arguably the worst dry spell of any major conference in recent times. The league failed to earn a top-four seed in four consecutive NCAA tournaments.
The rise of the Arizona Wildcats under Sean Miller, however, has returned a measure of luster to a league that has both a storied past and enough tournament wins for a chair at the major conference table in hoops.
So much for college basketball's Power Five. Now, what about what I call the "other two"?
[h=3]Big East[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 77 (6th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 4th
The Big East looks great on paper in terms of NCAA wins this century and, particularly, in overall strength. That being said, a word of caution is in order.
Some of the Big East's statistical appeal is the product of what diligent hoops analysts in white lab coats term the Brad Stevens Echo. Butler won 10 tournament games in just two seasons under Stevens, and his teams were strong enough to put the Bulldogs' current five-year average at No. 5 in the league, behind only Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova and Xavier. Whether BU will perform at a level equivalent to the Big East's median program going forward is an open question. Last season, the Bulldogs were the league's ninth-best team, ahead of only DePaul.
[h=3]The American[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 69 (7th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 8th
I've already declared the American a major conference, but it rates as the weakest member of that exclusive club. Of course, Connecticut is Connecticut. Memphis will continue to attract talent. Cincinnati is consistently an NCAA tournament team. SMU is showing amazing results under Larry Brown. One presumes that Temple will at some point return to its winning ways. The conference's bottom half is no oil painting, though. It's so weak down there that the American deserves to be rightfully penalized.
Lastly, here are a few comments on four other conferences of note.
[h=3]Atlantic 10[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 31 (8th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 7th
The A-10 provides a useful illustration of why top-to-bottom talk can on occasion be misleading.
In terms of overall conference strength, the A-10 rates to be exactly as tough as the American over the past five seasons. That, along with the fact that the league typically earns a high number of NCAA tournament bids, has fueled talk of the A-10 being a major conference in basketball.
But here is one clear dividing line that I would suggest for defining a major conference: Your league has to win at least as many NCAA tournament games as the best team in the country. On this metric, the A-10 falls short. Kansas alone has more tournament victories since 2000 (38) than the A-10 (31) does. So too do Michigan State (36), Duke, North Carolina (34 each), Florida (33), Kentucky and Connecticut (32 each).
[h=3]Mountain West[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 18 (10th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 9th
Since its inception prior to the 1999-2000 season, the Mountain West has never put a team into the Elite Eight. San Diego State and New Mexico have been notably consistent over the past few years, though. If the Aztecs and Lobos keep doing what they're doing, the league's invisibility in regional finals will come to an end sooner rather than later.
[h=3]West Coast[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 25 (9th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 10th
Gonzaga has won 16 NCAA tournament games since 2000. No other WCC member has won more than three. (Again, I'm not counting victories recorded prior to the round of 64. Sorry, BYU.)
[h=3]Missouri Valley[/h]NCAA tournament wins since 2000: 17 (11th)
Five-season top-to-bottom strength: 11th
Wichita State followed a trip to the 2013 Final Four with a 31-0 regular season in 2013-14. But Gregg Marshall's team needs some competition in the Valley. With Creighton having relocated to the Big East, it's not clear where that competition is going to materialize. No MVC program besides the Shockers has reached the Elite Eight since Larry Bird took Indiana State all the way to the 1979 national championship game.
