After watching about 4 solid months of CBB around TV all year long, it is very clear to me that there are 3 to 4 distinct levels of CBB in terms of talent, coaching, speed, defense and depth.
1) SEC......Far and away the best conference by a very wide margin.....this is probably the best conference ever in terms of talent from top to bottom and that includes the old Big East when that league received 11 bids....the difference back then was the league had RU floundering, USF (Which is now an afterthought in the AAC), Depaul (which seemingly cannot get things fixed in a bad Big East etc)
This years SEC teams that are not going to make the NCAAs could all win other conference tournaments in any other league outside of the B1G and Big 12.....that means they could get an automatic bid IF they were in a different conference in hoops.
2) A Tie with the B1G and Big 12.....right now, the lean would be towards the B1G, but its very minor. The difference is whether Houston and Iowa State are better than Michigan State and Michigan or Wisconsin.....but today, I would like to think Washington and Penn State along with Iowa, are better than Colorado and Arizona State of the Big 12, but I cannot say that with any certainty.
4) ACC.....the harsh reality is this league should get only 3 bids and the middle of this league is very solid.....BUT the league has lost a LOT of top flight coaches in the last 3 to 5 years......
Coach K
Roy Williams
Tony Bennett
Jim Laranaaga
Leonard Hamilton
Buzz Williams
Jim Boeheim
These coaches have either left, are retiring or on the way out after this year.....There are numerous National Championships, Final Fours, Elite 8s and NCAA births departing from the league and there is no league who's suffered more coaching drain, than the ACC.....add in the loss of revenue to the SEC and others and there's no feasible way to shoot their way back to a Top 3, anytime soon.
5) Big East.....in reality, this is a great spot for a league, that has Basketball only schools but not really carrying the types of depth that the SEC has. It has UConn and the best Basketball coach of all time in Pitino, carrying the torch.....they gained Pitino and lost Jay Wright. But this is a well coached league and has 4 Hall of Fame caliber coaches (Huley, McDermott, Pitino and Shaka Smart). Ironically, those 4 schools are the only ones counted on for the reasonable future to make a NCAA tournament......Sean Miller at Xavier is very good, but he has now competition because he lived off of cheating and buying players at Arizona and now everyone can do so.
The rest of CBB, in actual terms of talent and coaching is solid, but there's literally no chance that like past years, a Western Kentucky or a San Diego State could win the conference tournament in the B1G, SEC or Big 12.
How does that impact RU.....what does it mean for RU fans, B1G fans or CBB fans??
It means this is the new normal......the days of worrying about your OOC schedule is limited to playing a SEC or Big 12 school.....playing anyone else from the Ivy League or other conference should only mean scheduling a win.
RU this year at full strength and roster, even as flawed as it is....
A) Is better than Gonzaga, St Mary's who are locked into an automatic bid.....
B) better than every team in the Mountain West conference, (outside of maybe Utah State....
C) At worse, 4th ih the ACC behind Duke, Louisville and Clemson, but I would have no problem putting RU on a neutral court with Clemson or Louisville and knowing RU can win that game.
D) RU would be a lock for no worse than 5th in the Big East.....keep in mind that 1st place St Johns is a poor shooting 3 point team and is a team that barely beat RU in the exhibition game at the RAC.....and that game was before RU elevated Dylan Grant and others into their rotation. And UConn winning 2 NCs, has no bearing on this years team, who lost to Seton Hall and has a spotty resume.
Viewing these leagues as "Equal", is a farce and no longer reality in 2025.....South Csrolina, which is last in the SEC, would be on the bubble in the Big East and next to Xavier in terms of rankings.
I believe the only fair path will be for these leagues to split and have their own set up and national tournament and let these other leagues battle it out to qualify for the NCAA tournament.....it should be a small tournament to make the main tournament.
In time, it's the only fair path to reward the schools who have the challenging path towards the post season and to not overrate these other leagues, who don't have to play the same level of competition for 4 months.
RU has a roster that can win 2 to 3 NCAA tournament games, but is just in the wrong league and wrong injury situation this year to overcome it. Watching games from the Big East, Mountain West, AAC, ACC and other leagues like the West Coast Conference is a large enough gap, that it's glaringly obvious that this is what has to happen and will in the near future.
This is the new normal in 2025 folks, time to adjust and watch the games closer and make a new evaluation of the product......
1) SEC......Far and away the best conference by a very wide margin.....this is probably the best conference ever in terms of talent from top to bottom and that includes the old Big East when that league received 11 bids....the difference back then was the league had RU floundering, USF (Which is now an afterthought in the AAC), Depaul (which seemingly cannot get things fixed in a bad Big East etc)
This years SEC teams that are not going to make the NCAAs could all win other conference tournaments in any other league outside of the B1G and Big 12.....that means they could get an automatic bid IF they were in a different conference in hoops.
2) A Tie with the B1G and Big 12.....right now, the lean would be towards the B1G, but its very minor. The difference is whether Houston and Iowa State are better than Michigan State and Michigan or Wisconsin.....but today, I would like to think Washington and Penn State along with Iowa, are better than Colorado and Arizona State of the Big 12, but I cannot say that with any certainty.
4) ACC.....the harsh reality is this league should get only 3 bids and the middle of this league is very solid.....BUT the league has lost a LOT of top flight coaches in the last 3 to 5 years......
Coach K
Roy Williams
Tony Bennett
Jim Laranaaga
Leonard Hamilton
Buzz Williams
Jim Boeheim
These coaches have either left, are retiring or on the way out after this year.....There are numerous National Championships, Final Fours, Elite 8s and NCAA births departing from the league and there is no league who's suffered more coaching drain, than the ACC.....add in the loss of revenue to the SEC and others and there's no feasible way to shoot their way back to a Top 3, anytime soon.
5) Big East.....in reality, this is a great spot for a league, that has Basketball only schools but not really carrying the types of depth that the SEC has. It has UConn and the best Basketball coach of all time in Pitino, carrying the torch.....they gained Pitino and lost Jay Wright. But this is a well coached league and has 4 Hall of Fame caliber coaches (Huley, McDermott, Pitino and Shaka Smart). Ironically, those 4 schools are the only ones counted on for the reasonable future to make a NCAA tournament......Sean Miller at Xavier is very good, but he has now competition because he lived off of cheating and buying players at Arizona and now everyone can do so.
The rest of CBB, in actual terms of talent and coaching is solid, but there's literally no chance that like past years, a Western Kentucky or a San Diego State could win the conference tournament in the B1G, SEC or Big 12.
How does that impact RU.....what does it mean for RU fans, B1G fans or CBB fans??
It means this is the new normal......the days of worrying about your OOC schedule is limited to playing a SEC or Big 12 school.....playing anyone else from the Ivy League or other conference should only mean scheduling a win.
RU this year at full strength and roster, even as flawed as it is....
A) Is better than Gonzaga, St Mary's who are locked into an automatic bid.....
B) better than every team in the Mountain West conference, (outside of maybe Utah State....
C) At worse, 4th ih the ACC behind Duke, Louisville and Clemson, but I would have no problem putting RU on a neutral court with Clemson or Louisville and knowing RU can win that game.
D) RU would be a lock for no worse than 5th in the Big East.....keep in mind that 1st place St Johns is a poor shooting 3 point team and is a team that barely beat RU in the exhibition game at the RAC.....and that game was before RU elevated Dylan Grant and others into their rotation. And UConn winning 2 NCs, has no bearing on this years team, who lost to Seton Hall and has a spotty resume.
Viewing these leagues as "Equal", is a farce and no longer reality in 2025.....South Csrolina, which is last in the SEC, would be on the bubble in the Big East and next to Xavier in terms of rankings.
I believe the only fair path will be for these leagues to split and have their own set up and national tournament and let these other leagues battle it out to qualify for the NCAA tournament.....it should be a small tournament to make the main tournament.
In time, it's the only fair path to reward the schools who have the challenging path towards the post season and to not overrate these other leagues, who don't have to play the same level of competition for 4 months.
RU has a roster that can win 2 to 3 NCAA tournament games, but is just in the wrong league and wrong injury situation this year to overcome it. Watching games from the Big East, Mountain West, AAC, ACC and other leagues like the West Coast Conference is a large enough gap, that it's glaringly obvious that this is what has to happen and will in the near future.
This is the new normal in 2025 folks, time to adjust and watch the games closer and make a new evaluation of the product......
