GophersInIowa
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The Big Ten generally gets criticized for it's slow pace and lack of scoring. So I figured why not actually look at the numbers to see (I'm a statistics guy). I figured out the average points scored in conference games of the top 9 conferences. The Big Ten finished last, but not by a whole lot. The difference between the top and bottom conference was only 4.7.
Atlantic 10 - 67.9
Pac-12 - 67.8
Missouri Valley - 66.7
ACC - 65.7
Big East - 65.3
SEC - 65.1
Big 12 - 63.8
Mountain West - 63.7
Big Ten - 63.2
To me, there isn't that huge of a difference between those conferences.
Then I wondered how this compared to years past. I picked 2003-2004 to compare each conference (don't ask why that year, just randomly picked). All but one conference has seen their scoring decrease. Scoring in some conferences has decreased a lot. 2003-04 average scoring (number in parenthesis is the difference from 03-04 to this season):
ACC - 73.2 (-7.5)
PAC-12 - 73.2 (-5.4)
Big 12 - 69.8 (-6.1)
Atlantic 10 - 68.1 (-0.2)
Mountain West - 67.5 (-3.8)
SEC - 67.4 (-2.3)
Big East - 67.2 (-1.9)
Big Ten - 65.4 (-2.2)
Missouri Valley - 64.9 (+1.8)
I eyeballed a few seasons before and after 03-04 just to make sure that year wasn't an outlier. There's a few things that popped into my mind as to why this is:
1. More players leaving early. After looking at the numbers, the underclassmen leaving in general has increased, but not by a lot. 10-15 more players leaving isn't going to account for the numbers being this much lower.
2. Free Throws. Just looking at the ACC as they've had the biggest drop, teams are shooting almost five less free throws now than in 03-04, and making about four less. Could this be because of the 3-point shot?
3. Players aren't as good with the basic skills as they used to be. I heard someone say the other day that players don't know how to pass into the post now days.
What does everyone else think?
Atlantic 10 - 67.9
Pac-12 - 67.8
Missouri Valley - 66.7
ACC - 65.7
Big East - 65.3
SEC - 65.1
Big 12 - 63.8
Mountain West - 63.7
Big Ten - 63.2
To me, there isn't that huge of a difference between those conferences.
Then I wondered how this compared to years past. I picked 2003-2004 to compare each conference (don't ask why that year, just randomly picked). All but one conference has seen their scoring decrease. Scoring in some conferences has decreased a lot. 2003-04 average scoring (number in parenthesis is the difference from 03-04 to this season):
ACC - 73.2 (-7.5)
PAC-12 - 73.2 (-5.4)
Big 12 - 69.8 (-6.1)
Atlantic 10 - 68.1 (-0.2)
Mountain West - 67.5 (-3.8)
SEC - 67.4 (-2.3)
Big East - 67.2 (-1.9)
Big Ten - 65.4 (-2.2)
Missouri Valley - 64.9 (+1.8)
I eyeballed a few seasons before and after 03-04 just to make sure that year wasn't an outlier. There's a few things that popped into my mind as to why this is:
1. More players leaving early. After looking at the numbers, the underclassmen leaving in general has increased, but not by a lot. 10-15 more players leaving isn't going to account for the numbers being this much lower.
2. Free Throws. Just looking at the ACC as they've had the biggest drop, teams are shooting almost five less free throws now than in 03-04, and making about four less. Could this be because of the 3-point shot?
3. Players aren't as good with the basic skills as they used to be. I heard someone say the other day that players don't know how to pass into the post now days.
What does everyone else think?
