After really seeing how good Providence is (and they did give us a really good game), I got to thinking how many teams from our conference would win the Big Ten if we were in there.
No doubt:
UConn
Louisville
Pitt
Marquette
Villanova
Syracuse
Most Likely:
WVU
Providence
That's 8 teams who I think would win it pretty easily. I would put my money on any of them over MSU or Purdue in the tourney. Too much talent/athleticism in the Big East and all those teams have good coaches.
Notre Dame also plays Big Ten style (but did lose to Ohio State) and might be in a position to win it.
Georgetown has a ton of talent too, but they don't seem to have it this year, though you could not count them out of a Big Ten league.
Maybe 10 then?
I think you're being a little too generous to the Big Ten, and Notre Dame doesn't play the Big Ten style, they play the ACC run n gun, no defense style.
16
Now let's be serious about this. I think the Big Ten is incredibly overrated but Michigan State is definitely one of the best 15 teams in the country and Purdue with a healthy Robbie Hummel is a solid top 20 team.
UCONN, PITT, MU, LVILLE & NOVA are all obviously better than Michigan State.
I feel that almost any Big East team could beat MSU or Purdue on any given night, but hell USF beat us. None of the other teams in my opinion have been consistent enough to finish ahead of MSU
I think Dominic Jones of USF would tear up the Big Ten. He is extremely underrated.
Mike Rosario of Rutgers would have a field day out there, too.
Aside from Sparty and Purdue, the Big10 is a joke.
Building on what lab_warrior said, how many BE teams would finish in the Top 2 or 3 in the Big Ten? I'd say 12. That's a huge difference especially in terms of making the tourney.A good team could get crushed in the BE and finish 11th, or 12th and end up in the NIT. That same team would probably finish 3rd in Big Ten and get an NCAA bid.
if we are talking top 2 or 3 in the Big Ten, i think we could definately say 16 teams
At least 16. A couple would probably find a way to win it twice.
Quote from: Mike McCarter on February 24, 2009, 11:40:56 PM
Building on what lab_warrior said, how many BE teams would finish in the Top 2 or 3 in the Big Ten? I'd say 12. That's a huge difference especially in terms of making the tourney.A good team could get crushed in the BE and finish 11th, or 12th and end up in the NIT. That same team would probably finish 3rd in Big Ten and get an NCAA bid.
I agree that the Big East is better than the Big 10 by a long shot, but which of DePaul, Rutgers, South Florida, Saint Johns or Seton Hall do you honestly believe would finish in the top 2 or 3 of the Big 10? These are not good teams, folks. None of them would finish in the top half of the Big 10. There is a reason why the Big East doesn't come out on top in these computer polls, and these 5 schools are that reason. They are weaker than the bottom third of any of the other BCS conferences.
(I also don't think Cincinnati, Providence, Georgetown or Notre Dame would finish in the top 3 of the Big 10 either, but I can at least see where people might think they could.)