Can BIG hoops make SEC football argument, that upsets actually mean the conf is good?

[BleedGopher]

per the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

If the Big Ten really is the best conference in college basketball, then it's time for the SEC football argument.

You know it. It's the one where the depth of a conference matters almost as much as its elite teams, the one where losing proves how good a conference is.

Now, this might be tough, because the SEC had seven straight national titles to fall back on prior to this season, and that kind of thing makes it easier to claim that, say, Mississippi State beating Florida in 2010 is a plus.

The Big Ten has one national title in basketball, Michigan State in 2000, in the last 24 years. So this may be a harder point to make. (Also, if anyone has seen Ohio State shoot, this may involve quite a sales job.)

But the bottom of the conference is better. The bottom is legitimately better.

http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2014/01/can_big_ten_basketball_make_th.html

Go Gophers!!

 

[SelectionSunday]

The bottom of the Big Ten most definitely has risen up.

Goodness, I expected to sit down last night to watch two rather nondescript Big Ten tilts and lo and behold Penn State and Northwestern beat OSU and Bucky, respectively, on the road. That tells me the conference is getting so much better at the bottom, especially the "beating them on the road" part of the equation. (note to Gophers, how about you do that down the stretch, win a road game you're not supposed to?)

That said, the Big Ten isn't going to get all the street cred it craves until someone wins it all. That's just the way it is, and I don't have a problem with that. It's not like the Big Ten doesn't have national contenders every season. It regularly sends teams to the Final 4 and the championship game. Someone just has to finish the deal when they reach Championship Weekend.

 

[station19]

Plain and simple........OSU and Wisky just aren't as good as people thought they were.

 

[Monty519]

Plain and simple........OSU and Wisky just aren't as good as people thought they were.

Yeah, but when you look at the teams they had beaten (Wisky in particular more than OSU), it's not like they didn't build the resume to warrant where they were. They've just fallen off IMO. But they were "that good" at the time I think.

 

[Hates Monikers]

The way to tell which conferences are the best is to see who wins inter-conference games, particularly among the top teams. There's typically a much larger sample size in basketball than there is football.

 

[howeda7]

Plain and simple........OSU and Wisky just aren't as good as people thought they were.

Agree on OSU. I think Wisconsin is 'good' and better than a typical Bo team. But they were never one of the 5 best teams in the country.

 

[Saber]

I think Wisconsin has just had their weaknesses exposed and haven't adapted to how people are atacking them, while everyone else in the conference has seen the blueprint and is emulating it.

 

[Gopherguy0723]

I don't think the Big Ten is as good as originally thought. I don't think any conference is clearly the best right now.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

I feel like in-conference games should not affect a conference's quality at all. In any given B1G game, the B1G will necessarily go 1-1, regardless of who wins.

 

[Dr.Don]

I don't think the Big Ten is as good as originally thought. I don't think any conference is clearly the best right now.

Huh??? Now you have lost some of us. The B1G IS as good as originally thought. But, the only way to prove it is to play the games.

 

[Gopherguy0723]

Huh??? Now you have lost some of us. The B1G IS as good as originally thought. But, the only way to prove it is to play the games.

I find it hard to believe that Ohio State and Wisconsin are as good as people thought they were. Thus, we are weaker at the top than expected.

 

[Dr.Don]

I find it hard to believe that Ohio State and Wisconsin are as good as people thought they were. Thus, we are weaker at the top than expected.

I disagree, Gopherguy. I think we are stronger at the bottom than expected.

 

[Gopherguy0723]

I disagree, Gopherguy. I think we are stronger at the bottom than expected.

I think it is both.