College Basketball Winners & Losers
A look at the Winners and Losers during “Feast Week.”
In this edition, I’ll be focusing on conferences rather than individual teams or players. Which conferences showed up? Which came up short?
Winners:
The Big Ten
It didn’t turn out to be a slam dunk for the Big Ten, but it’s close enough.
The conference that hasn’t won a National Championship since 2000 won several early-season tournaments:
Michigan (destroyed their competition in the Players Era Festival)
USC (Maui Invitational)
Purdue (Baha Mar)
Iowa (Acrisure Classic)
Additionally, Wisconsin made it to the Rady Children’s Invitational title game, and Washington played for the Acrisure Holiday Invitational title.
While it wasn’t a tournament, Michigan State defeated North Carolina in a non-conference matchup.
Was everything perfect? Of course not. While Michigan was cruising in the Players Era Festival, Maryland/Oregon/Rutgers all went 1-2 (two of the wins were over UNLV). UConn led from start to finish in its win over Illinois, while California pulled off an upset against UCLA, likely knocking the Bruins out of the Top 25.
Overall, however, the Big Ten made the early-season statement it wanted to make.
The Big 12
The Players’ Era Festival featured a competition format that allowed several teams to finish undefeated.
Besides Michigan, the other two unbeaten squads were from the Big 12: Kansas and Iowa State.
Both teams beat one strong opponent. Kansas defeated Tennessee while Iowa State defeated St. John’s.
Additionally, Houston and Baylor went 2-1. The Cougars entered the tournament with title aspirations, but their close overtime win over Syracuse made that nearly impossible. Their chances were officially buried with the loss to Tennessee. Baylor will need Creighton to wake up if they want that win to mean something at the end of the season.
Back to those losses by Wisconsin and Washington in separate Acrisure championship games. Both losses came against Big 12 opponents: TCU stunned Wisconsin, and Colorado took down Washington.
A third champion emerged on Friday as BYU won the ESPN Events Invitational with a win over Dayton. The Cougars are 6-1, with their lone loss to UConn in Boston.
Four Big 12 squads are unbeaten, as Oklahoma State joined Arizona, Colorado, and Iowa State thanks to their win over Northwestern in the Thanksgiving Classic.
Losers:
The ACC:
We are being told that the ACC is “improved” this season. So far, there’s no indication that’s the case.
Heading into Maui, North Carolina State was the lone ranked team. They lost in the first round to Seton Hall and ended up 6th in the 8-team field.
In the Players Era Festival, Notre Dame and Syracuse combined to go 1-5. To Syracuse’s credit, they took Houston to overtime.
In a marquee clash between traditional power teams, North Carolina lost to Michigan State.
Only one school won a tournament, as Stanford won a pair of close contests against Minnesota and Saint Louis to win the Acrisure Invitational. Additionally, California pulled off an upset over UCLA. How funny is it that highlights from the Atlantic Coast Conference came from West Coast universities?
No, I am not ignoring Duke’s fun win over Arkansas. It’s been a mixed bag for Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons have two losses, both by a point against ranked teams (Michigan, Texas Tech).
The Big East:
Creighton, ranked in the preseason, has flopped. St. John’s, considered a National Championship contender, has three non-conference losses. Both teams went 1-2 in the Players Era Festival.
Additionally, the conference is hurt by typically NCAA Tournament teams who may not be at that level this season. Both Marquette and Xavier appear to be underperforming compared to their typical level.
While UConn looks strong and St. John’s should bounce back, who will pick up the pieces in the middle of the conference? Seton Hall played well in the Maui Invitational, knocking off NC State and playing eventual winner USC to the wire. Villanova is on a 5-game winning streak with their lone loss to BYU by five in the season opener.
Someone has to earn NCAA Tournament bids, and the Big East will receive multiple. However, there are reasons to be concerned about the number of bids they will receive.
Somewhere in between:
The SEC:
One thing appears certain: The SEC is no longer the conference it was last season.
They did win a big tournament (Vanderbilt in the Battle 4 Atlantis), and Tennessee defeated Houston in the Players ERA Festival.
Additionally, LSU won a smaller-scale tournament (Emerald Coast Classic over DePaul)
However, many early-season matchups haven’t gone their way. Arkansas has played two tough opponents (Michigan State, Duke) and lost both games. Florida has losses to Arizona and TCU. Overall, the conference is 11-15 in Quadrant 1 games.
Before bridge jumping commences, I should point out that the SEC is still ranked #1 in the country. They will be well represented in the NCAA Tournament. However, it is fair to wonder if some margin for error is lost.
What about the mid-majors?
The mid-major contingent didn’t pull off many upsets during Feast Week. Some of that is because majors and mid-majors are separated in many tournaments.
One of last year’s best mid-majors was UC San Diego (Big West). The Tritons are off to a 7-0 start this season, including wins over Temple, Bradley, and Towson to take the ESPN Invitational Adventure Bracket. All three wins were by double digits.
Meanwhile, New Mexico State (Conference USA) won the Cancun Challenge due to victories over Samford (campus game), UC Irvine, and Georgia State. Once the powerhouse school in the WAC, New Mexico State is off to a 6-0 start.
Santa Clara (WCC) is trying to build a resume behind Gonzaga and St. Mary’s. The Broncos lost to St. Louis by one in the Acrisure Invitational before knocking off Minnesota in the consolation game. They also own wins over Xavier (road) and Nevada, teams with several NCAA Tournament appearances over the last several seasons. However, neither appears to be on that level this year.
Last but certainly not least, Buffalo (Mid-American) improved to 7-0 with wins over VMI and Bucknell in the Fort Myers Tip-Off (Palms Division). The Bulls are now 8-0 after a win on Saturday over Canisius.
Unfortunately, these mid-major conferences will likely struggle to secure multiple NCAA Tournament bids.