No, he is not right.
Yes, conference ratings are a composite of ALL teams in that conference. So, if a conference is rated #2, you can't say that it is "bad." Maybe the conference isn't so great but saying it's "bad" is simply wrong because that would mean that at least every conference ranking below it must be bad. If that were the case, then college basketball must be "bad."
There is only one conference team ranking below 100 on NET (PSU) and they're not far below 100. A top 100 team isn't "bad" given that the team is ranked in the top 28% of D1 teams. Rankings are always in comparison to objects in the sample, not some subjective ideal.
When it comes to P6 conferences, who would you take (showing top 5 and bottom 3 of each conference): *KenPom Rankings*
ACC:
TOP: UNC 6, Duke 13,Clemson 33,Wake 41,Virginia Tech 60 BOTTOM: Louisville 195, Notre Dame 160, Georgia Tech 128
B10:
TOP: Purdue 2, Illinois 10, Badgers 11, MSU 16, Nebraska 45 BOTTOM: Penn State 107, Rutgers 95, Indiana 93
B12:
TOP: BYU 9, Iowa State 12, Baylor 14, Kansas 18, TCU 25 BOTTOM: West Virginia 136, Oklahoma State 117, UCF 69
BE:
TOP: UCONN 7, Creighton 15, Marquette 17, St John's 31, Xavier 34 BOTTOM: DePaul 280, Georgetown 182, Seton Hall 59
Pac 12:
TOP: Arizona 3, Colorado 21, Utah 30 Washington State 47, Oregon 53 BOTTOM: Oregon State 170, Californina 121, UCLA 106
SEC:
TOP: Tennessee 4, Auburn 5, Alabama 8, Kentucky 20, Florida 35 BOTTOM: Vandy 187, Missouri 112, Arkansas 105
I think one could make a strong arguments on the following:
1) The BE is the best overall conference from top to bottom. The the exception of two outliers, Georgetown and DePaul, the 3rd worst team in the conference, Seton Hall, has a KenPom of 59 still. 9 out of their 11 conference teams are in the top 60, with 7 being in the top 50.
2) The ACC is the worst P6 basketball conference this year in terms of top level teams, at this point in the season.
3) In terms of top level teams, it should go: SEC, Big 12, BE, then the B10. In terms of overall, BE is best, then B12, then SEC, then B10...then P12 and ACC.
I don't think a one can stand on a hill for the B10.