Is The Big East Really The Best Conference?
Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 11:30PM 
By JOHN P. WISEOne Great Season
I'm not sure I'm so convinced the Big East is the best conference in the country. It's hard to say the Big Ten or the ACC is better, but perhaps the Big 12 might have a claim.
Certainly it depends on your metrics, but here are a few quick comparisons worth noting:
+ Two Big East teams (South Florida, DePaul) are stuck on single-digits in the wins column. No Big 12 team has fewer than 12 victories this season.
+ The Big East has an impressive four teams with at least 22 wins through Thursday's games. So does the Big 12. That means that 25 percent of Big East teams are at 22+ wins, while 33 percent of Big 12 teams are.
+ The Big East hasn't had a team ranked No. 1 all season long. Kansas has held the top spot, albeit for just one week.
+ Three Big East teams have spent 22 weeks among the AP Top 5 this season. Three Big 12 squads have spent 20 weeks there. Pretty much a wash.
+ If Kansas is the Big 12's best chance to make the Final Four, and Pittsburgh is the Big East's top contender, which squad is the Big East's answer to Texas? The Longhorns are also a legitimate threat come out of the Big 12 and earn a trip to Houston in April. I don't see a second Big East team getting to the Final Four, though I know it's hard to base an argument on predictions.
ESPN and others say every year throughout the entire season, but particularly when bubble talk starts to percolate, that it's a given how far ahead of everyone else the Big East is. But if recent history is any indication, don't expect a Big East beast to cut down the nets at Reliant Stadium in six weeks.
A Big East team hasn't played for a national championship since Connecticut won it all in 2004. And once the league expanded to 16 teams before the 2005-06 season, it actually took three full seasons before the conference got a team to the Final Four. In all, only three Big East squads have advanced to the final weekend since the expansion that everyone thought was going to dramatically change the power structure.
Maybe call the Big East the deepest conference in the country, but it's hard not to be when you're the only BCS league with 16 teams. Considering no other BCS conference has more than 12 teams, you'd better have some depth and balance.
Big East
Reader Comments (3)
It's science.
1.Big East
2.Big Ten
3.Big 12
4. who cares about the rest of the scraps between the SEC, Pac 10, Conference USA, The A-10........
Top 25 RPI wins 6. St John's, ND, UL, 5. BYU, Pitt - all are Big East teams except for BYU
15 teams have 3 or more Top 25 RPI wins....11 of those teams are from the Big East.
(info from Lance McAlister's Twitter feed)
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