Big East-ACC: Which Conference Is Better Doesn't Matter

As college basketball gets into the bulk of conference play, one of the topics in the spotlight this season debates which conference is better, the Big East or the ACC.

Such debate mentions that the Big East is the deepest league in the country. At multiple times this season, four teams in the Big East were ranked in the top 10 and seven total were ranked in the top 25.

On the other hand, many fans claim the ACC boasts the best top-four teams in the nation. The argument continues to mention that the teams in the ACC are not as deep as the teams in the Big East.

This struggle for conference supremacy is unneeded, however. The hierarchy of college basketball conferences is irrelevant. Teams play others teams, not conferences.

Conferences are constructed primarily based on proximity. And so to suggest that teams should fight to represent their conferences, or to say that collectively conferences must battle for a ranking order is pointless.

Conferences are arranged to reduce costs while traveling as much as possible. In no way did teams congregate when forming conferences to build a coalition in order to develop a conference stronghold.

Troubling is when fans attempt to convince fellow fans that the conference which their favorite team is in is better. Even more troubling is when crowds of fans begin to chanting the name of the conference they choose to represent.

Never at any point will this debate determine the path to the national championship. And so to continue to participate in an argument such as this one is foolish.

So if North Carolina and Duke earn a berth in the Final Four this season, as opposed to just one Big East team, this does not mean that the ACC is a better conference than the Big East.

Likewise, if more teams from the Big East play deeper in the NCAA tournament than the ACC, this does not conclude that the Big East was the best conference this season.

Again, to insist that a team should carry a mindset that focuses on defending the pride of its conference is a poor stance. Not only is this debate meaningless, but also in the end the debate proves nothing.

At the end of the season, a team wins the national championship. Sure, this team is a part of a conference, but in no way did a conference “win” that title. That team represents its university, first and foremost, not its conference.