On Tuesday night, Baylor picked up arguably the best road win of the college basketball season, a two-point triumph over Kansas State at the Ocatagon of Doom.  Up to that point, people had been skeptical that the Bears could truly be considered an elite team.  Maybe it was last year’s late-season collapse.  Maybe it has […]

I realize that doing anything related to logic and numbers in a league with 12 teams named the Big Ten seems counterintuitive, but I’m not going to let that stop me.  Here are some interesting numbers I found for each of the league’s 12 squads.  And unlike the contrast between the conference’s name and its […]

Over the last few weeks, Kansas State climbed into the Top 25 and amassed an 11-1 record before losing at Kansas last night.  Their best wins have come on the road against Virginia Tech, on a semi-neutral floor against Alabama, and in Hawaii against Long Beach State to win the Diamond Head Classic.  Their loss […]

Despite the fact that conference play has started in most leagues and we now have at least a dozen games upon which to evaluate each team, there are still some squads I can’t get a great read on.  Over the coming weeks, my plan is to take a closer look at these teams in an […]

A few weeks ago I looked at the contenders in the Missouri Valley, and now it’s time to do the same for the Mountain West.  Following the departures of BYU and Utah and the addition of Boise State, the MWC has just eight teams.  There’s no way the top of the league will rival last […]

By pretty much any measure, the Pac-12 is a sham, and any number of people have written about how poor the league is this year and how few tournament bids it should get. With that as backdrop, this may seem like piling on.  But while it’s easy to point to the league’s mediocre 80-52 non-conference […]

With six teams in the Top 25 and the best winning percentage of any league, I think we can all agree the Big Ten is the best conference in the country.  And just in case we can’t, Pomeroy has them atop his rankings as well. And if even that isn’t enough, maybe this will help. Since […]

Since I have noticed myself developing a serious man crush on Marquette over the past couple weeks, I thought I would take a closer look at their advanced metrics to either validate my feelings or tell me I should stop sitting outside of Buzz Williams’ house at night. On the offensive end, the Golden Eagles […]

With the young season now a month old, things are starting to take shape in the Big Ten.  While Ohio State has done nothing to suggest they aren’t still a heavy favorite to with the conference title, there have definitely been some surprises amongst the teams behind the Buckeyes.  In case you (or a managing […]

It’s relatively easy to pick out teams who aren’t playing well.  The signs are obvious, like losing at home to Presbyterian.  Or wearing a jersey that says UCLA.  You get the idea. But ultimately the question is why are the teams playing poorly, and that’s what I intend to find out through this series.  In […]

My first inclination when writing this was to simply post Ken Pomeroy’s tweet from Sunday night where he claimed “The ACC basically has no chance” and move on.  I mean, who am I to argue with that considering the source?   But after Michael’s journey through absurdity where he besmirched Pomeroy’s win probabilities, the state […]

I love Big Ten basketball.  There, I said it.  While the league has endured more than its fair share of ridicule and scorn over the past few years from those who aren’t enamored with the style of play, it’s what I grew up on and what I still follow religiously today.  I’m sure each of you has a […]

Every program has one.  A player who fans simply can’t figure out.  A guy who flashes talent one game and gets shut out the next.  I’m not going to try and play armchair psychologist here, but in many cases a closer look at the numbers can provide additional insight into some of college basketball’s enigmas. […]