Last Year's Conference's Ranked by KenPom

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Howdy ya'll.

Just out of curiosity, I decided to rank last year's conferences by their average KenPom ratings. Even though the tournament committee uses RPI (as CBB will be quick to remind us of) I have found KP to be a more accurate judge of a team's strength. I found some interesting numbers, ranked if you are curious,

B1G: 49.25
B12: 58.4
ACC: 66
PAC 12: 71.75
BEast: 75
SEC: 81.5
A10: 85.46
AAC: 89.9
WCC: 115.4
MWC: 130.27
MVC: 153.7
CUSA: 171.29

This is only one perspective but it tells me a couple of things. 1. There is a big divide between the top 8 conferences and the rest. 2. The BEast is safe inside that top 8, coming in 5th. 3. The B1G is ridiculously good. 4. The AAC is the most top heavy conference in the history of sports.

And again, just out of curiosity I re-ranked the conferences but factored in next year's realignment. Here's how the spread will look.

B1G: 56.93 (Rutgers is that bad)
B12: 58.4
ACC: 63.4
PAC 12: 71.75
BEast: 75
SEC: 81.5
A10: 85.46
WCC: 115.4
AAC: 120.82
MWC: 130.27
MVC: 153.7
CUSA: 180.07

With the trade of Louisville/Rutgers for ECU/Tulsa/Tulane, the AAC's average KP drops down to mid major levels. They will be actually worse than the WCC and only slightly ahead of the MWC. Granted, some of their programs such as Temple and South Florida should be better next season, but the AAC may be heading for mid-major status. Are the trio of UConn, Cincy, and Memphis now the Gonzaga, St. Mary's, and BYU of the east?

[77ncaachamps]

UConn
Memphis
Cincy
Temple

Those are the top four teams in the 2014-15 AAC, in my opinion.
The Big East's?

Georgetown
Villanova
Marquette
Xavier

Not that much of a difference, but it's the core that matters: Creighton, Providence, Seton Hall, and St. John's compared to Houston, South Florida, Central Florida, and SMU.

[Galway Eagle]

UConn
Memphis
Cincy
Temple

Those are the top four teams in the 2014-15 AAC, in my opinion.
The Big East's?

Georgetown
Villanova
Marquette
Xavier

Not that much of a difference, but it's the core that matters: Creighton, Providence, Seton Hall, and St. John's compared to Houston, South Florida, Central Florida, and SMU.

SMU will be awesome next year in the AAC. Providence will probs be better than us next year.  If you're talking about the best four programs in each conference then yes you're probably right.

[ChicosBailBonds]

RPI  Big East 4th
Sagarin  Big East 5th
Team Rankings Big East 5th
Warren Nolan (NPI)  Big East 4th

[MU82]

Howdy ya'll.

Just out of curiosity, I decided to rank last year's conferences by their average KenPom ratings. Even though the tournament committee uses RPI (as CBB will be quick to remind us of) I have found KP to be a more accurate judge of a team's strength. I found some interesting numbers, ranked if you are curious,

B1G: 49.25
B12: 58.4
ACC: 66
PAC 12: 71.75
BEast: 75
SEC: 81.5
A10: 85.46
AAC: 89.9
WCC: 115.4
MWC: 130.27
MVC: 153.7
CUSA: 171.29

This is only one perspective but it tells me a couple of things. 1. There is a big divide between the top 8 conferences and the rest. 2. The BEast is safe inside that top 8, coming in 5th. 3. The B1G is ridiculously good. 4. The AAC is the most top heavy conference in the history of sports.

And again, just out of curiosity I re-ranked the conferences but factored in next year's realignment. Here's how the spread will look.

B1G: 56.93 (Rutgers is that bad)
B12: 58.4
ACC: 63.4
PAC 12: 71.75
BEast: 75
SEC: 81.5
A10: 85.46
WCC: 115.4
AAC: 120.82
MWC: 130.27
MVC: 153.7
CUSA: 180.07

With the trade of Louisville/Rutgers for ECU/Tulsa/Tulane, the ACC's average KP drops down to mid major levels. They will be actually worse than the WCC and only slightly ahead of the MWC. Granted, some of their programs such as Temple and South Florida should be better next season, but the AAC may be heading for mid-major status. Are the trio of UConn, Cincy, and Memphis now the Gonzaga, St. Mary's, and BYU of the east?

I'm not sure I'm right about this, but isn't Ken Pom the guy who had Bucky ranked No. 1 for like 4 straight years and he had to admit that there was something funky about Bucky's style that made them a statistical outlier in his system?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I'm not sure I'm right about this, but isn't Ken Pom the guy who had Bucky ranked No. 1 for like 4 straight years and he had to admit that there was something funky about Bucky's style that made them a statistical outlier in his system?

Funny enough, in this their best year, they were only ranked 5th

[Tums Festival]

Howdy ya'll.

Just out of curiosity, I decided to rank last year's conferences by their average KenPom ratings. Even though the tournament committee uses RPI (as CBB will be quick to remind us of) I have found KP to be a more accurate judge of a team's strength. I found some interesting numbers, ranked if you are curious,

B1G: 49.25
B12: 58.4
ACC: 66
PAC 12: 71.75
BEast: 75
SEC: 81.5
A10: 85.46
AAC: 89.9
WCC: 115.4
MWC: 130.27
MVC: 153.7
CUSA: 171.29

This is only one perspective but it tells me a couple of things. 1. There is a big divide between the top 8 conferences and the rest. 2. The BEast is safe inside that top 8, coming in 5th. 3. The B1G is ridiculously good. 4. The AAC ACC is the most top heavy conference in the history of sports.

And again, just out of curiosity I re-ranked the conferences but factored in next year's realignment. Here's how the spread will look.

B1G: 56.93 (Rutgers is that bad)
B12: 58.4
ACC: 63.4
PAC 12: 71.75
BEast: 75
SEC: 81.5
A10: 85.46
WCC: 115.4
AAC: 120.82
MWC: 130.27
MVC: 153.7
CUSA: 180.07

With the trade of Louisville/Rutgers for ECU/Tulsa/Tulane, the ACC's AAC's average KP drops down to mid major levels. They will be actually worse than the WCC and only slightly ahead of the MWC. Granted, some of their programs such as Temple and South Florida should be better next season, but the AAC may be heading for mid-major status. Are the trio of UConn, Cincy, and Memphis now the Gonzaga, St. Mary's, and BYU of the east?

Did the ACC and AAC get swapped in these two spots?

[Dawson Rental]

SMU will be awesome next year in the AAC. Providence will probs be better than us next year.  If you're talking about the best four programs in each conference then yes you're probably right.

Let us not forget the backsliding that will happen at Houston in light of their two best players transferring due to the coaching change.

[THRILLHO]

Just because I'm wary of average, and there is no single defined way to measure conference strength, I thought I'd throw in conference rankings by median team, just to see what pops out. When there was an even number of teams there is no single median so I averaged the ranking of the two median teams.

Conference	Median Ranking (kpom)	Team
B12	36	Average of Texas and Oklahoma
ACC	41	FSU
B1G	48.5	Average of Minnesota and Illinois
P12	54.5	Average of ASU and Cal
BEast	63	Average of St. Johns and Georgetown
SEC	81	Average of Missou and Mississippi
AAC	81	Average of Memphis and Houston
A10	85	St. Bonaventure

The most interesting thing to me was how good the Big 12 was. Only TCU's horribleness made them look worse than the Big 10. On the other hand, the ACC and Big 10 are still very impressive considering how many teams they have. The Big East doesn't move positions

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

But wait, what about the Big East being a dying mid-major conference? We cant let the facts get in the way of that.

[keefe]

I'm not sure I'm right about this, but isn't Ken Pom the guy who had Bucky ranked No. 1 for like 4 straight years and he had to admit that there was something funky about Bucky's style that made them a statistical outlier in his system?

There is nothing funky about Wisconsin's style of play. Don't people know Ken Pom's true identity?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Did the ACC and AAC get swapped in these two spots?

The second one yes. It is now fixed. But the AAC is the most the most top heavy conference IMHO.

[MaymonsPops]

SMU will be awesome next year in the AAC. Providence will probs be better than us next year.  If you're talking about the best four programs in each conference then yes you're probably right.

I don't see it. Bryce Cotton was perhaps the most important player to his team in the entire NCAA. Couple that in with losing Batts, I'm not sure they sniff the tourney this year and I have hope for Marquette to at least be a bubble team. I don't think their recruiting class comes in and dominates off the bat.

[The Equalizer]

Are the trio of UConn, Cincy, and Memphis now the Gonzaga, St. Mary's, and BYU of the east?

We're supposed to overlook the fact that UConn just won its 2nd national championship in four years (and 4th overall), and lump them with three teams who each can claim an Elite Eight as their biggest-ever school achievement (with one of them not having been there in 33 years, and one 55 years removed from the achievement?)

To answer your question: No, I don't think UConn, Cincy or Memphis are now the Gonzaga, St. Mary's and BYU of the east.

Ask again in 30 years.  If UConn, Cincy and Memphis have one elite eight in that time between the three of them, then the question warrants a serious discussion.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

We're supposed to overlook the fact that UConn just won its 2nd national championship in four years (and 4th overall), and lump them with three teams who each can claim an Elite Eight as their biggest-ever school achievement (with one of them not having been there in 33 years, and one 55 years removed from the achievement?)

To answer your question: No, I don't think UConn, Cincy or Memphis are now the Gonzaga, St. Mary's and BYU of the east.

Ask again in 30 years.  If UConn, Cincy and Memphis have one elite eight in that time between the three of them, then the question warrants a serious discussion.

It obviously isn't a perfect comparison. I was more drawing the connection of a trio of talented teams who year after year dominate in a sub par conference. But I see your point

[MUDPT]

Pomeroy ranks conferences for everyone so we don't have to.

1. Big 10
2. Big 12
3. ACC
4. PAC 12
5. Big East
6. SEC
7. AAC
8. A-10
9. West Coast
10. Mountain West

Pomeroy mentioned in his post-season wrap-up that maybe the Big East should have more teams to differentiate the good and the bad.  Specifically from an RPI perspective, two more wins over a bad team will look better than two losses from a better team.