(09-23-2020 03:15 PM)schmolik Wrote:  

(09-21-2020 05:53 PM)Wahoowa84 Wrote:  

(09-21-2020 03:41 PM)schmolik Wrote:  

(09-21-2020 03:10 PM)Wahoowa84 Wrote:  

(09-21-2020 01:08 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  20 years ago, I used to say that the SEC was Kentucky and a bunch of A-10 type programs. Even then, the Big 12 was a huge step above the SEC.

Since then, the Big 12 lost 3 of its 4 worst programs (Colorado, Nebraska, and Texas A&M). Its other worst program (Baylor) struck magic, while Texas Tech and Texas sunk serious money into their programs and hired great coaches. They also added a top program in West Virginia, and what we all thought was a perennial bottom feeder in TCU... until TCU hired Jamie Dixon.

Today the Big 12 is a basketball gauntlet. It's not as large as the ACC or Big 10, but it's arguably the best conference top-to-bottom.

You can make a case that the B12 is arguably the best conference top-to-bottom. But suggesting that the B12 is a basketball “gauntlet” is exaggeration.

With the last realignment, the B12 lost a lot of basketball dead-weight. Unfortunately, basketball doesn’t pay as well as football...therefore, losing A&M and Nebraska also cost the B12 a lot of future TV revenue. Colorado was literally addition-by-subtraction in terms of conference revenue and basketball commitment. At this point, basketball-wise all B12 teams seem to invest somewhat in basketball.

To be a gauntlet, the B12 needs a few more elite teams. Kansas still dwarfs the rest of the conference. Texas Tech has had a few excellent seasons, but they need more. Playing Duke, UNC, UVA, Louisville and Syracuse can be called a gauntlet...and what FSU and ND did to win recent ACC regular season championships should be commended. The B12 has basketball balance, but not a lot of excellence.

Via Wikipedia,

Kansas has won or shared 18 Big 12 regular season titles. The rest of the conference has 10 combined. Kansas won or shared the Big 12 title 14 years in a row (2005 to 2018).

Kansas has a .818 regular season record in the Big 12. The next best is Texas at .607.

Kansas has won 11 out of 23 Big 12 Tournaments. Their record in tournament games is 46-12 or .793. Missouri (now in SEC) is next with .576 followed by Oklahoma State and West Virginia at .533.

How come Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Michigan State don't have the same conference statistics that Kansas has? Is Kansas a better team? No. It's because they play in better conferences. Duke and North Carolina aren't going to win the ACC 14 times in a row because they have each other and recently Virginia is a 3rd team. Kentucky still has Florida and Michigan State has plenty of challengers in the Big Ten. How come not one team could beat Kansas outright 14 straight years? In that 14 year span, Kansas lost in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament 3 times and the 1st round twice but even when they sucked they still were good enough to at least win a share of the Big 12.

Just because a team loses in the first or second round of the NCAAT doesn’t mean that they “sucked”. Take it from someone whose team was the first #1 seed to ever lose in the first round (to UMBC for goodness sakes)...upsets happen, especially in a one game competition. ?

Kansas is definitely a blue blood, and by far the best basketball program in the B12. That doesn’t mean that the B12 isn’t generally balanced and arguably the strongest conference during the past half-dozen years.

This was my comments about Kansas's Big 12 streak in 2018. Of course they just happened to make the Final Four that season:)

https://www.bloggingthebracket.com/2018/...-in-sports

Good read...but you’re living in the past if your argument is that Kansas’ streak was overrated because the B12 stinks at basketball.

As luck would have it, Texas Tech and K State both beat the Jayhawks in the 2018-2019 regular season standings for the B12...killing your despised streak. Then the Red Raiders made it all the way to the NCAAT championship game...which was not a fluke accomplishment (if anything, Kyle Guy and D’Andre Hunter pulled off the miracle).

Final KenPom ratings over the past 5 seasons:
2020 - KU #1, Baylor #3, WV #10, TTU #21
2019 - TTU #5, ISU #15, KU #17, KSt #20, TX #25
2018 - KU #9, TTU #11, WV #12, TCU #24
2017 - KU #6, WV #7, Baylor #13, ISU #17, OSU #22
2016 - KU #3, WV #8, OU #10, ISU #20, Baylor #24

The fact that Kansas is a blue blood is undeniable. Four out of five years, Kansas was competing for a national championship. The one year that Kansas “underachieved”, they were a 4-seed in the 2019 NCAAT.

Just as impressive is that all 10 teams in the B12 have been ranked this highly during the past five years. TTU, TCU, Baylor and K State were historically basketball-challenged programs...they have now raised their level of play. No other conference is even close to that level of balance.

After A&M, Colorado and Nebraska left the B12, the quality of basketball has improved.