Another #1 Bites The Dust

On Big Monday, #4 Pittsburgh beat #1 Connecticut 76-68. This is the fifth number one to lose this season which means we will have our sixth new number one this next Monday.

I'm happy that UConn was stopped because I'm sick of seeing Calhoun on Sportscenter telling me how great he is and how great the Big East is this year. I think that the Big East definitely has some good schools but it isn't the best conference in my opinion. 

Here are my rankings:

#1: The ACC

North Carolina, Wake Forest, Clemson, Duke, Florida State

Between these five teams there could be two number one seeds given in the tournament. Top to bottom I don't think that there is a more athletic and talented conference. Even the "bad" teams in this conference would dominate other conferences. If you were to take McClinton and Miami out of the ACC and throw them into the Big 12, you'd be looking at a team that would easily be the number 2 or 3 team in that conference instead of the #10 in the ACC.

#2: Big East

UConn, Marquette, Pitt

I know this is supposed to be the big, bad conference like the SEC in college football but they don't really scare me. UConn and Pitt are solid number one seed contenders with their combination of inside and outside game and the Marquette looks like it is shaping up to be something exciting. The rest of the conference has a Jekyll and Hyde show going on. On any given night it seems that Louisville could beat Connecticut or lose to DePaul. I know that this is true in the ACC too (NC dominates Duke at times but loses to Boston College). The reason that the Big East is not my top conference is because I think that ACC is tough(could be ranked at any given time) 10/12 teams and that the Big East is tough about 7/16. Some teams from #8 down have a bloated overall W-L thanks to very light out of conference schedules.

#3: Big 12

Oklahoma

I think that Oklahoma is the only real contender in this conference but I think that the rest of the pack is above mediocre enough to put them ahead of the Pac-10 or Big Ten. I'm still not sure about Oklahoma and I would like to see what they would do head to head against a larger foe.

#4: Pac-10

The what the hell happened here conference. UCLA, Zona St., and even Zona were supposed to be top flight teams this year but have been beaten by some lower opponents. Washington is in the lead and kudos to them but I think that they are Pac-10 version of Missouri (where is the legitimate post offense?).

#5: Big Ten

I just had to put them up here to say please, please, please stop rating Michigan State so high. I really can't stand Izzo but what have they done to merit a top 5 ranking? Lost to NC and Maryland by a combined 53 points. Please let me know if you have an argument for Michigan State or the horrendous basketball that is the Big Ten right now.

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Blake Griffin and Oklahoma will most likely be the next top dog as long as they are able to beat Texas this coming Saturday. With only one loss the Sooners look like they could keep the top spot until the tournament thanks to the remaining Big 12 schedule. The scariest game left on their schedule looks like March 4th against now #10 Missouri. They run the fast break and press full court all game long. The Sooners will be favored though thanks to the Tigers lack of big man and/or anything to stop Blake Griffin.

Oh yea...

- D-Rea