Power Conferences Day 2

I’m not even going to pretend like I was useful at work yesterday. Too many games on and not enough screens at times. As useless as I was yesterday, I’m about to be more useless today. Let’s talk about that.

Big 12

This was the best conference, hands down, all season long. Every game was must watch tv, and it seemed like every night there was a marquee game that lived up to its hype. Some might call Kansas’ 25-6 record a disappointment with how many starters they brought back after a national championship, but the fact they won the regular season title playing the gauntlet of a schedule they did is worthy of the #1 overall seed in the tournament in my eyes.

Many Bracketologists have the conference with 7 teams in already with Oklahoma State on the bubble. If they can beat in-state rival Oklahoma in the first round and get past Texas in the quarterfinals, this conference will have 8 teams who can all make a deep tournament run.

Kansas and Texas are the obvious favorites, but West Virginia feels like a team that has something to prove after winning 3 of their last 4 to cement their tournament status. Their lone loss during that stretch? A 2 point loss on the road at Kansas, who they would play in the quarterfinals.

I wouldn’t put too much stock in Baylor’s 15 point loss to Iowa State at home. For some teams, senior night is a motivator, for others it can be a distraction. If I’m a Bears fan, I’m more concerned about having to play ISU again in the first game of the Big 12 tournament. Iowa State swept them and neither game has been close. Baylor has shown they can outscore their opponents when they control the pace and get in the right sets for open 3s, but they’ve struggled against the best defenses in the country who can guard the perimeter. They might drop to the 3 or 4 line if they can’t get past the Cyclones.

TCU has to be one of the deepest teams in the country with 10 guys averaging double digit minutes per game. When you have a dude like Eddie Lampkin who plays with an edge and a fuck you mentality, it’s easy to understand by. Them and Kansas State are very similar in their up-tempo style of play while still playing tremendous defense. That is going to be an incredible quarterfinal matchup Thursday night.

This is the hardest conference to make a prediction for, but the tournament I’m most looking forward to. Gun to head, I’ll go Texas because I like their draw to the finals more than Kansas’ side of the bracket. They’ll have to play the winner of the Oklahoma game, who will be hungry for a tournament bid, and either Kansas State or TCU in the Semifinals.

Big East

It feels weird not having Villanova at the top of the standings in this conference as the Jay Wright gravy train is over in Philly. I like UConn as a potential national champion pick. They have Adama Sanogo, a true difference maker, at the wing, a 7 footer in Donovan Clingan, and Tristen Newton, a senior guard who will take care of the ball in crunch time. They’ll have a favorable draw as a 3 or 4 seed, however, in the Big East tournament, they’ll have a much more difficult time getting to the finals. If they can get past Providence, they’ll still have to play Marquette, the number 1 seed, before playing someone from the bottom of the bracket.

You could go with a hungry dawg runs faster mantra for this tournament and hope the 6-2 run Villanova had to finish the season wasn’t a fluke, but I’m not sold on the Wildcats. I’ll take a more talented team that has something to prove this season. Xavier is a proud program that hasn’t won the Big East tournament since 2006. They have 3 experienced guards leading their team in minutes, points, assists and steals. Definitely worth taking in a top heavy conference.

Big Ten (B1G)

Finally, I get to rant about this overinflated conference with Purdue at the top and a bunch of meh teams following them (including my Michigan Wolverines). As a supporter and lover of all things B1G, I will say it is disgusting and a disgrace some bracketologists are actually considering having 10 teams from this sorry excuse of a conference. There are so many mid-major schools (Charleston, Belmont, Toledo/Kent State, Florida Atlantic/North Texas) who deserve these spots more than Penn State and Rutgers.

As much as it pains me to say it, it’s Purdue and everyone else. I might do the “blindly bet Michigan” and “hungry dawg runs faster” mantras for Michigan, and they matchup pretty well against Purdue with Hunter Dickinson on Zach Edey. They’ll play in the quarterfinals, and I like the Wolverines draw to the finals after that game. Northwestern has team of destiny vibes if you’re into that kinda thing. A team like Ohio State could completely blow up this years bubble with a win over Wisconsin.

Conference USA

I almost wrote Florida Atlantic Conference because they’ve dominated this league, going 16-2 in conference play, which is phenomenal considering you have North Texas, Middle Tennessee State and UAB led by Jelly Walker in the conference. I love the Owls, and they should get to the finals with the draw they have, but I’m sprinkling UAB. Jelly Walker got snubbed as a Wooden Award finalist (it’s really Zach Edey’s award to lose anyway), but he’s still a phenomenal player with talent around him, including a 6′ 11″ big man in Trey Jemison averaging 9 rebounds and 2 blocks per game in conference play. I’m sprinkling UAB to win this conference, but FAU should still easily make the field of 64.

MEAC

This is one of those conferences I usually blindly bet Norfolk State because of their pedigree, but they just lost regular season conference champion, Howard, by 20. North Carolina Central might be worth a sprinkle. They beat UNC Asheville in non-conference play and have won 7 games in a row, including an 8 point victory over Howard.

Mountain Best

Not a typo, the best mid-major conference resides in the rockies, and Wyoming is out to shock the world. The gritty Cowboys recently beat Nevada on senior night and (almost) covered against San Diego State. In all seriousness, using the hungry dawg mantra might be the best bet for this tournament. Nevada and Utah State both need to make it to the final to keep their bubble hopes alive, and luckily they’re on opposite sides of the bracket. Wyoming could play spoiler for Utah State (lol), but we might have a win or go home situation for the Mountain West championship.

Pac-12

Even in basketball, this conference can’t seem to get out of its own way to get numerous bids into the tournament. Right now they’re looking at 3 locks with ASU on the bubble, but a month ago we had Utah and Colorado in the conversation as well. Utah has 5 in a row while Colorado has lost 3 of their last 4, their lone win against the aforementioned Utes. I’d like to take the easy way out and say it’s UCLA and everyone else; with Jaylen Clark’s potentially severe injury, the door is open for a team to make a team to make a run. I’d like to say ASU for the Phoenix readers, but the bottom half of the bracket is a gauntlet with UofA, USC, Utah and ASU.

If a surprise team is going to make a run, I believe it will be in the top half. Wazzu has been frisky at times this year, so they might be worth a sprinkle, but Oregon has to win the conference to get into the tournament and has the makeup of a tournament team. They have 5 seniors they consistently play and the “master of the Rubik’s cube” (don’t sue me Jon Rothstein), Dana Altman…which I guess means he can always get things aligned regardless of circumstances. With them being on UCLA’s side of the bracket, experience, and a hungry dawg mentality, I’ll take the Ducks.

SEC

This conference feels down because it doesn’t have the dominant Kentucky, Florida or Auburn teams we’ve seen in the past, but the SEC is easily the second best conference in the country after the Big 12. They have a ton of talent at the top and several bubble teams in the middle to make this a compelling conference tournament. There are a ton of great story lines in this conference as well. It’s easy to point to Alabama and say they’re the clear favorite, they’ve been kil…dominat…beat…they’ve been really good all season thanks to Braxton Miller. Somebody pat him down because he’s been shoo….really good all season.

I’m so happy for Buzz Williams, who left Va Tech after going 100-69 with them and making 3 straight NCAA appearances. After a couple rocky seasons, he has the Aggies in second place and locked into at least a 7 seed in the tournament.

Coach Cal is literally and figuratively coaching for his job after last years upset to St. Peter’s and a less than stellar regular season. Tennessee looked like a national championship contender early in the season before losing 6 of their last 10 to end the season (although I think there’s still a lot of value with them to win the natty).

I can’t imagine Bruce Pearl out of the tournament. I need to see him sweating through his suit through the first weekend. Their win against Tennessee and a couple other bubble teams falling out of the running has put them in a good position to make the tournament, but a win in the first round to Arkansas would solidify their bid.

Vanderbilt is the true bubble team of the SEC. After a roller coaster of a non-conference schedule and nose diving in the opening half of conference play, Vandy has won 8 of their last 9 with multiple Q1 wins to put them in the tournament conversation. It feels making the quarterfinals won’t be enough, so they might have to beat Kentucky to cement their tournament status.

Texas A&M feels like the team with the most to prove. I understand they had some head-scratching losses to Murray State and Wofford early in the non-conference season, but they finished second in a strong conference and have a 7 seed. I like their chances of hanging a banner and improving their seeding in the tournament.

SWAC

Why? Why are you playing your tournament the same week as all these power conferences? Grambling has some impressive wins against Colorado and Vandy on their resume. I hate to go chalk, but they’re my pick to win the damn thing.

So much for short blogs. Tell your employer to bill me for wasting so much of company time. Only 3 more conference tournaments to break down and 4 more days until we find out who punched their ticket to the big dance! Love you, bye.