Welcome to The Holy Land of Hoops

I used to have a running post on the prior Big East Boards that had the Big East vs. the other 5 power conferences in hoops and one that covered the hoops schools vs the basketball schools. I will do it again this season for hoops and maybe I will throw in some of the other sports like soccer, baseball, etc. I usually would update it every few days or so. I'll keep a running list of our record as against the ACC, Pac-12, Big Ten, SEC, Big XII and the American (they still have UConn, Louisville, Cincy and Memphis and in hoops we have been all referred to as the Power 7 conferences). Soccer will be starting in about a week or two so I will start it up. I just wish the conference website would get going as it is easier to get schedules and scores from one spot.

Thanks for doing it - I can make the thread a sticky once we have schedules.

admin wrote:Thanks for doing it - I can make the thread a sticky once we have schedules.

Sounds like a plan. I will set up one for Men's and Women's Soccer to start.

The thread should read Big East vs Other Power Conferences

I assume you mean Big 10, ACC, Big 12, SEC, PAC 12. I wouldn't include AAC.

I am including the AAC this year only because they will still have Louisville, UConn, Cincy, Temple, etc. While there are some lightweights there too, I think I would just include them for this year and see what it looks like next season.

redmen9194 wrote:I used to have a running post on the prior Big East Boards that had the Big East vs. the other 5 power conferences in hoops and one that covered the hoops schools vs the basketball schools. I will do it again this season for hoops and maybe I will throw in some of the other sports like soccer, baseball, etc. I usually would update it every few days or so. I'll keep a running list of our record as against the ACC, Pac-12, Big Ten, SEC, Big XII and the American (they still have UConn, Louisville, Cincy and Memphis and in hoops we have been all referred to as the Power 7 conferences). Soccer will be starting in about a week or two so I will start it up. I just wish the conference website would get going as it is easier to get schedules and scores from one spot.

Sounds like a great idea! Would it help if everyone posted their men's and women's soccer schedules here to help get you started?

I already have it started under separate threads...

Hoya wrote:The thread should read Big East vs Other Power Conferences

I assume you mean Big 10, ACC, Big 12, SEC, PAC 12. I wouldn't include AAC.

Subject Heading done as suggested. Keeping AAC in the mix.

The Men's Soccer and Women's Soccer will be moved to the other non-basketball boards on the home page. You can look for them there once the games start up.

Hoya wrote:The thread should read Big East vs Other Power Conferences

I assume you mean Big 10, ACC, Big 12, SEC, PAC 12. I wouldn't include AAC.

With defending national champion Louisville in the mix, as well as UConn, Memphis, Cincinnati, and Temple, the AAC will definitely be a power conference this year. That lineup, even when also including the other five relatively weak schools, would have been a stronger league last year than the SEC. It won't be surprising if the league is stronger than another power conference this coming year as well.

Even after Louisville and Rutgers leave, replaced with ECU, Tulane, and Tulsa, it's still a power conference. UConn is tied for sixth all time in national championships. Memphis has twice made it to the championship game, including one they came within a Mario Chalmers-buzzer beater of winning just five years ago. Cincinnati has won a NC and is in the top 25 more often than not. Temple is a reliable NCAA tournament participant, which is more than can be said of many, many power conference programs. The other schools need to step it up, but I think Houston, SMU, UCF, and USF at least are willing to put the financial investment to meet the challenge. How that plays out on the court remains to be seen.

Fair or not, conferences tend to be evaluated by how strong they are in their top 25 to 50%. The SEC is never questioned as a power league because of Kentucky, Florida, and the one or two other teams that are in the top 25 at the end of a given year. The remaining members who doddle in the NIT, CIT, or CBI tournaments, or worse yet, have losing records, don't harm the SEC's status as a power league because of strength at the top. Similar things can be said of the Pac-12 and even the ACC in recent years.

Heck, as an example of how much it matters for a league to be strong at the top, just look at Conference USA. Who besides Memphis has been any good in the last ten years? UAB, maybe 8 years ago? Yet C-USA has been consistently tabbed as one of the top mid-major leagues, ranking behind the MW and A-10 but on par with the MVC and WCC.