Conference Rankings: ACC Edges Big Ten and Big East

8. Southeastern

This is perhaps the worst year the SEC has seen in at least two decades.  Past years indicate that 2008-09 is likely to be an anomaly for the SEC, not a trend, but they are simply awful at this point.  It was not that many years ago that the SEC was arguably the best conference in college basketball, believe it or not.

Some fans had begun touting LSU (8-1) in the SEC West, but they fell to the first even mediocre opponent they played, a 72-61 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday.  The entire SEC West is filled with bad losses and weak schedules.  Right now, none of them would make the NCAA tournament, except by winning the SEC tournament.

Arkansas’ (8-1) best win is probably a nine-point victory over Austin Peay.  Or maybe the two-point win over South Alabama.  This is seriously the best their schedule has to offer so far.  It does not bode well for the Razorbacks, as they will face both Oklahoma and Texas at home in the coming weeks. 

At least they scheduled some ranked teams, however, which is more than I can say for most of the rest of the SEC.

The SEC East is in better shape, though Tennessee (8-2) is clearly not the top-10 team that many had projected them to be in the preseason.  They have notched two impressive wins over Big East foes Marquette and Georgetown, but lost to Temple by 16 and were lucky to escape with a 79-77 victory over Belmont on Saturday.

Florida (8-2) has lost both games to the only decent teams they’ve played (Syracuse and Florida State), and they have a weak non-conference schedule remaining.  If they are not exemplary in conference play, they will find it very difficult to even make the field in March.  The SEC could literally send one or two teams—that is how far they’ve fallen.

South Carolina (8-1) has one of the best point guards in the country in Devan Downey, but his presence hasn’t translated to much success on the floor in the last two years.  The Gamecocks have already lost to College of Charleston, and like the rest of the SEC East, they have no quality wins to speak of.

9. Mountain West

Look out SEC, because the Mountain West could pass you before long.

BYU’s (10-1) only loss is a one-pointer to a ranked Arizona State team, and UNLV (10-2) has quality wins over UTEP, Nevada, and Arizona.  The Runnin’ Rebels have lost only to California and Cincinnati, not terrible losses.

San Diego State (8-3), Air Force (7-2), and Utah (6-4) can be dangerous to above-average teams when they’re on.  Wyoming (9-1) is not nearly as good as their record indicates.

10. West Coast

Honestly, No. 7 through No. 10 are all pretty close, and the order could get shuffled in the next couple of weeks.  The primary reason the WCC ranks below the others is just how bad the third through eighth teams are.

It’s pretty much all downhill after Gonzaga (8-2) and St. Mary’s (9-1).  Both are likely candidates to dance in March, but San Diego is a major disappointment.  Pepperdine (1-11) and Loyola Marymount (0-12) may be two of the worst teams in the country right now.

St. Mary’s disappointing loss to UTEP (their only loss of the season) is looking better as UTEP starts to notch quality wins.  Gonzaga will certainly be a force all year long.

We’ll take another look at the conference rankings after the holidays.  I encourage you to leave your feedback (for better or for worse), and let me know how you think these conferences should be ranked!

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