Why A Wisconsin National Championship Would Be Good For College Basketball

[brandx]

Okay, someone must be using that new math, because I'm not sure it's possible for the Big East to be 7-5 vs the Big 10 and 1-7 against the top half. Also, three of those top half losses came from our second-last place team.

Obviously I meant 1-5 since it was 7-5 as a whole. (I'm sure if I hadn't written it, I would have been the one pointing this out.)

But I would still like to see some predictions by anyone here on how they think conferences will do comparatively this weekend. And if you think how they do reflects on the conference as a whole.

[GGGG]

But I would still like to see some predictions by anyone here on how they think conferences will do comparatively this weekend. And if you think how they do reflects on the conference as a whole.

In 2008-09, we all made a big deal out of half of the E8 and F4 being Big East teams.  We crowed about the Big East being the best conference around.  That year, the BE was fourth in conference RPI behind the ACC, B10 and B12.  

So conference strength is oftentimes cherry picked by those statistics that make it look good.  In reality it is a mix of the following...

**Conference RPI
**Strength at the top
**Number of NCAA bids
**Advancement in the tournament: S16, E8, F4.

The 2008-09 BE wasn't great at the first, but real good at the the last three.  This year's BE looks real good on the first and third.  But I have to admit, I am worried about the second and fourth.  Really there is only one "elite" BE team this year.  You have to go down in the polls a long way before you find another BE member.

If the seeds hold out, only two BE teams will make the S16.  And one of them is Georgetown - a program that never fails to disappoint.  And while I think Nova might make the Final Four, I really can't say that I am "confident" in it.

So I understand where you are coming from.

[GGGG]

One more point, if Creighton is better than Rutgers, that helps the BE's RPI when compared to the B10.  But in reality, no one really cares if the bottom of a conference is better than the bottom of another conference. 

[brewcity77]

I'm not home so I couldn't look up the numbers, but I will say that a 7-2 record by non-Marquette teams (we weren't good) isn't bad.

I do think NCAA results are a bit overrated, but I have the Big East going 10-6. Villanova with half of those wins. Of course, the average fan only watches in March and will base their opinions on this month. While I'd love to say we'll have a banner year, I think some of the matchups just suck. Most notably the 4-seed and theoretical pod favorite Georgetown likely having to play two veritable road games to reach the Sweet 16.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Conference rankings examine the entire conference, the best through the worst.  On that level, Big East was rated 2nd best in the country.

How well teams do in the tournament is a different animal.  Those are individual teams that were at the top of their conference.  For those making the argument that how a conference does in the tournament is the end all be all, then they have to be on board with the notion the Horizon League was somehow one of the top leagues in the country because of how one team, Butler did.  Or the Colonial Athletic Association with George Mason, etc, etc.

[MarquetteDano]

http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/skedball-weekend-sports-tv-ratings-3-14-15-2015.html

The ratings below are household ratings from the 56 television markets with local Nielsen meters for Saturday March 14 and Sunday March 15, 2015. The 56 markets (out of 210 total) cover about 70% of the US television population.

College Basketball

Saturday
1.55 rating CBS 1:00 pm Big Ten Semifinal: Purdue vs #6-Wisconsin
1.90 rating CBS 3:30 pm Big Ten Semifinal: Michigan State vs #8-Maryland
1.20 rating CBS 6:00 pm Mountain West Championship: Wyoming vs San Diego State
1.55 rating ESPN 1:00 pm SEC Semifinal: Auburn vs #1-Kentucky
0.94 rating ESPN 3:00 pm SEC Semifinal: Georgia vs #21-Arkansas
1.59 rating ESPN 6:00 pm Big 12 Championship: #13-Iowa State vs #9-Kansas
2.31 rating ESPN 8:30 pm ACC Championship: #19-North Carolina vs #11-Notre Dame
1.13 rating ESPN 11:00 pm PAC-12 Championship: Oregon vs #5-Arizona
0.28 rating FS1 8:00 pm Big East Championship: Xavier vs #4-Villanova

Sunday
1.20 rating CBS 1:00 pm Atlantic 10 Championship: VCU vs Dayton
2.63 rating CBS 3:30 pm Big Ten Championship: Michigan State vs #6-Wisconsin
1.95 rating ESPN 1:00 pm SEC Championship: #21-Arkansas vs #1-Kentucky
1.25 rating ESPN 3:15 pm AAC Championship: UConn vs #20-SMU

3.86 rating CBS 6:00 NCAA Tournament Selection Show

This is the equivalent of Yankees fans coming other's boards to show their tv ratings and budgets are better than other teams.

Congrats... you are the Yankees.  Only difference is they have  25 championships.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Terrible article riddled with factual errors.  Wisconsin graduates there players?  Checkout this link from last year:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/03/17/ncaa-men-basketball-tournament-teams-see-record-graduation-rates/P3QxfXSFvfLBDJUmDDmLML/story.html

For those who didn't click through it says the Wisconsin Men's Basketball Graduation rates are:

Black: 0.0
White: 100.0
Overall: 44.0

Purdue is a good team?  I'd say mediocre but that's an opinion, not fact.  Dekker and Kaminsky returned for degrees?  Well Dekker is a junior so unless he's set to graduate early he didn't return for his degree.  Let's see what happens this year and what he thinks of coming back for his degree.  Improving draft stock and winning a national championship were probably the biggest factors for their return.  Let's see if Kaminsky has time to finish while going through the draft process.  Some do, some don't.

And I haven't even touched on the racial comments at the end of the article.  Regardless of the writers race, saying essentially "White people want the white people to win" is a sad commentary on the perception race plays in American society.  I don't give two $h*t$ if the National Champs are predominantly white, all black, or purple & green!  For the record, I'm white.  And I'm insulted!

the article doesn't mention what time period those graduation rates are from but it possibly could be the 2013-2014 season. WI only had Brust for their senior class that year so pretty misleading to state that only white players graduate but 0 black players do, accurate but misleading.

[CTWarrior]

Both articles had many mess-ups.

However, I do think it is noteworthy that in 2015, a mostly white team -- and Wisconsin goes all-white whenever Hayes leaves the floor -- is a legitimate title contender.

I have to admit, I was flipping channels one night (I think it was this season) and I stumbled across a T-wolves game and immediately noticed they had a "white-out" on the floor.  It was so surprising that I watched for a few minutes (until the next commercial break, probably), which I don't normally do for the NBA unless a former MU player is involved or it is the playoffs.  I don't think of myself as racist at all, but I definitely did that.  I think it was just that it was so unusual/surprising to see.

[JWags85]

Obviously I meant 1-5 since it was 7-5 as a whole. (I'm sure if I hadn't written it, I would have been the one pointing this out.)

But I would still like to see some predictions by anyone here on how they think conferences will do comparatively this weekend. And if you think how they do reflects on the conference as a whole.

I have the BE as 6-4 through the weekend (Nova and GT in the S16; Xavier and SJU falling first round) and B10 as 5-5 (UW and Maryland in the S16; Purdue, OSU, Iowa, and Indiana all losing their first games.)

[brandx]

I have the BE as 6-4 through the weekend (Nova and GT in the S16; Xavier and SJU falling first round) and B10 as 5-5 (UW and Maryland in the S16; Purdue, OSU, Iowa, and Indiana all losing their first games.)

I hope they go 6-4 with 2 teams advancing.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Jackson is back.....time to disrupt chemistry.

[brewcity77]

Jackson is back.....time to disrupt chemistry.

The whole Jackson thing reminds me of Dominic in 2008-09.