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Every weekday, a panel of our college hoops experts discusses the biggest issues, trends and themes happening in and around college basketball.
1. What is the best conference in college basketball?
Andy Katz: This will change every season, but I'll lean toward the ACC this season with two potential Final Four teams in Duke and North Carolina as well as plenty of teams that could go on a deep run like Virginia and Louisville. Syracuse, Pitt, Florida State and possibly a few others could be sleepers to allow the ACC to be well represented in March.
C.L. Brown: Unlike last season when the ACC failed to live up to the hype, the league should produce results to go along with the expectations. Duke, North Carolina, Louisville and Virginia are all ranked in the top 10. The middle of the league has been soft in recent years, but looks like it has toughened up considering Syracuse is perhaps the fifth best team.
Eamonn Brennan: Where people sit on this typically comes down to whether they factor in only a league's best teams -- the quantity and quality of the league's tournament contenders, say -- or the entire conference, top-to-bottom. I prefer the latter method, which is why I struggle with picking the ACC ... even as I go ahead and pick the ACC anyway.
2. What is the most underrated?
Katz: The Atlantic 10. The league doesn't have a title contender but has recently had quality depth and plenty of spoilers. VCU, Dayton and George Washington headline a group that will prove to be pests come March. There will be a few others still to be determined.
Brown: As much as I just talked up the ACC, the Big 12 could actually be more competitive. Four teams are in the top 20 (Kansas, Texas, Iowa State, Oklahoma) and Kansas State (Marcus Foster) and West Virginia (Juwan Staten) have star power. Unlike the ACC, the Big 12 still plays a true round robin meaning the title winner won't be questioned for its schedule like Virginia was last season.
Brennan: Are people outside the Big 12 taking a hard enough look at that league? Last season it sent 70 percent of its members to the NCAA tournament. All seven of those teams could very well get back, and the three teams that missed (West Virginia, Texas Tech and TCU) all look improved -- it's hard to argue with that kind of pound-for-pound strength.
3. What is the most overrated?
Katz: The Missouri Valley. Arch Madness has its charm, but the league has not been able to keep teams at the top to chase the favorite of the day. Wichita State is now the current king. The schools below need to make this a multiple-bid league on a regular basis. They must schedule up and win games early so when they meet a ranked Wichita State, the game matters for both sides and has national relevance.
Brown: The SEC got only three NCAA tournament bids last season. It needs teams aside from Kentucky and Florida to emerge before it'll be taken seriously again as a league. Arkansas, Georgia and LSU should make the league more competitive this season, but will it mean more bids?
Brennan: For two years, the ACC and its coaches have been hyping the old Big East arrivals as the new formation of a classic basketball superconference, but outside the league's best five or six teams -- which are very good -- things look pretty average. If people start saying the ACC is the greatest league in decades, then it might achieve the rare feat of being both the best and most overrated league in college hoops.
Earlier Words: 11/10 »
