RDF, get over yourself. I love your posts generally, but you lose legitimacy when you let your anti-Big Ten bias color your tournament analysis. One conference put 3 teams in the Elite Eight, one conference put two teams in the Final Four. That the rest of the conference was weak lower down--fine. But give the conference its due. It turns out it was vastly underrated this year--period. If it were the Big East with two in, you'd have been trumpeting another great year for the conference.
I wouldn't have said a thing about a dominant conference if Big East got 2 in--because it's a MEDIOCRE year for College Basketball--that's obvious. My praise for the Big East is yearly simply because it's the DEEPEST conference, not always the best at the top, but from top to bottom, there is no league that can match quality teams on a yearly basis.
As for the NCAA's, Syracuse was overrated all year, UConn was down--to be expected when you lose Ben Gordon and Emeka Okafor and have injury/illness they had, and Nova who was best team by Season's end lost their best all around player and still almost beat the most talented team in tournament. WVU proved my point by making a run and taking out Wake, a touted team.
As for the Big 10--they proved nothing to me. Clark Kellog made a good point about the league which backs up what I'm saying--Big 10 is down and really bad once you get below the respectable teams. They got some favorable matchups and took advantage of it, which is to be applauded. I have done that. However, it's a bit different to face teams like Big East does than seeing Penn State twice a year, Purdue Twice a year, Northwestern twice a year, and so on. Those teams are not very good. Iowa and Minnesota wouldn't have been top 8 teams in Big East and would've struggled to beat Rutgers. That's my point, period.
Wisconsin is well coached as is MSU and Illinois plays excellent team basketball. However, forgive me for being bowled over by Illini who were outplayed and didn't deserve to win--they got a break to extend their run. It's a helluva lot easier to win when you get away with things--ask Duke. They got some breaks and did a nice job of capitalizing. Wisconsin beat UNI, Bucknell, and NC State before playing their best game against UNC in a loss. If Hoyas made the tournament I'd say that if we had been presented that path, we'd have a decent shot of making Elite 8. Spartans had toughest path and impressed me the most, but Duke and Kentucky weren't to the level they were a season ago and while it's not Spartans fault, it's truth.
I'm sorry for offending those who think it's great basketball when you have some exciting games. It's been entertaining because nobody is very good this year. They are all about the same and to me the Final will be best game because it pits the two teams are best of a mediocre bunch this season. When you compare this year to last, the Final 4 teams are comprised of a group that featured:
2 First Round Losers--Louisville and Michigan State
1 Second Round Loser--UNC
1 Sweet 16 Loser---Illinois
Only memorable additions to those teams combined were Marvin Williams, Ellis Myles return from RS season, and Juan Palacios. Everyone else stayed intact. Are they great teams or best of a mediocre bunch. I've stated my case and brought supporting data listed above. Sorry if you like the big 10 or feel it's a great league--it's not. As for the comments on it being mediocre, it'd be same if any league got 2 teams this year but I would be touting Big East if Nova and WVU got in simply because it speaks of a DEEP conference and how difficult it is to win compared to teh top heavy conferences that don't have it tough night in, night out.
