It is time to look at the next batch of conferences in this series that honors the true forces in NCAA basketball, the fruitcakes who like to play Jekyll and Hyde, and the frauds that have been exposed (or are in the process of being exposed) as overrated. 

This edition examines the Big Ten, Big XII, CAA, and Conference USA. The analysis continues to move in alphabetical order to avoid any charges of bias.

For complete definitions and a thorough look at the ACC, Atlantic 10, Big East, and Big South, click here. To quickly wrap up what has already been discussed, I’ve provided the following table, with a couple of sentences for the conferences not already examined in-depth.

America East: Vermont (FORCE), Binghamton (FRUITCAKE), Albany (FRAUD)

Oddly enough, Vermont has lost to both Albany and Binghamton, but remains the most talented team in the conference. Binghamton earned wins over Rutgers and Tulane, but also has losses to awful teams. Albany defeated both Vermont and Binghamton, but don’t be fooled. They followed the wins up with losses to Maine and Stony Brook.

ACC:  Duke (FORCE), Maryland (FRUITCAKE), Boston College (FRAUD)

Atlantic Sun:  E. Tennessee St. (FORCE), Jacksonville (FRUITCAKE), Mercer (FRAUD)

Mercer opened the season with wins over Alabama and Auburn but has been sketchy ever since.

Atlantic 10:  Xavier (FORCE), Massachusetts (FRUITCAKE), Dayton (FRAUD)

Big East:  Connecticut (FORCE), Notre Dame (FRUITCAKE), Villanova (FRAUD)

Big Sky:  Portland St. and Weber St. (both are 1/2 FORCE, 1/2 FRUITCAKE), Montana (FRAUD)

Portland St. scored one of the biggest upsets of the season (over Gonzaga), but will fight Weber St. (who have already beat the Vikings 80-66 on the road) for the conference title.

Big South:  No FORCE, including VMI; Liberty (FRUITCAKE), Radford (FRAUD)

Moving on to today’s analysis, first up is the (sigh) Big Ten. This should be fun.

Big Ten Conference

THE FORCE:  Michigan State Spartans (15-3, 5-1)

Michigan State remains at the top of a conference literally full of fruitcakes. You can call them the banana bread, if you want. 

The Spartans didn’t exactly cement their status with a loss to Northwestern, but don’t forget that they rolled off 10 straight victories before the upset, including impressive wins over Illinois, Kansas, Ohio St., Minnesota, Penn St., and Texas.

THE FRUITCAKE(S):  Penn State Nittany Lions (15-5, 4-3) and Northwestern Wildcats (10-6, 2-4)

Okay, I admit that I could have practically picked a name out of a hat. I simply couldn’t write this article with only one Big Ten fruitcake; let’s just say the papers from the hat stuck together. Of all the candidates, these two truly befuddle me. 

While teams like Minnesota, Illinois, and Purdue were certainly candidates, their losses have been mostly understandable. The Nittany Lions, on the other hand, have losses to Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Temple to go with their win over Purdue.

Northwestern looked to be joining Iowa and Indiana in the cellar of the Big Ten, until they pulled off a win over Minnesota and a road stunner over Michigan State.  Good luck placing bets on any team in this conference.  Save your money.

Either team could finish anywhere between third and ninth in this fruitcake conference.

THE FRAUD:  Michigan Wolverines (13-6, 3-4)

The Wolverines edge out Wisconsin and Ohio State in this category, partially because they have lost to both teams. Even worse for Michigan fans, their hopes rose for a surprise season after an early-season upset of then No. 4 UCLA coupled with a shocker over No. 1-in-waiting Duke. 

Right now, that feels like years ago, and the UCLA win has lost some of its luster as the Bruins slip down the rankings.

The Wolverines are young and it hasn’t helped that DeShawn Sims seems to have lost his shooting touch. The defensive lapses and inability to hold a lead against mediocre teams bodes poorly for the immediate future.

Losses to Maryland and Wisconsin, in addition to three straight conference losses, exposed significant weaknesses.

Facing six more games against currently ranked teams, including a tilt with No. 3 Connecticut, means that Michigan may struggle to finish as anything more than a quintessential bubble team at best.

Big XII Conference

THE FORCE:  Oklahoma Sooners (18-1, 4-0), featuring Blake Griffin

This may sound ridiculous, but Oklahoma has to be one of the more overrated 18-1 teams I have ever seen. The Sooners keep playing close contests against teams with far less talent, but they just keep winning those games. Not too many people are going to care about the margin of victory. 

However, depending on how things shake out, their rather weak non-conference slate may very well be what costs them a No. 1 seed in March.

Oklahoma struggled mightily with mediocre Nebraska and Kansas State teams and above-average Texas A&M, but looked strong in dismantling Texas and is handling Baylor easily so far today.

Blake Griffin is the true force here, more so than the Sooners as a team. He averages 22 points and 14 rebounds a game while shooting .635 from the field (including .500 from behind the arc), and he may be pulling away in the race for Player of the Year.

THE FRUITCAKE:  Kansas Jayhawks (14-4, 3-0)

The Big XII has their share of fruitcakes much like the Big Ten, but Kansas edges out Texas, Texas A&M, and Missouri. 

It should be noted that Kansas has played much more like a “force” of late, but their youth and inexperience makes it likely that there will be more stunning losses like those the Jayhawks have already suffered to Massachusetts and Arizona.

They beat fellow fruitcake Tennessee on Jan. 3 but were clearly outclassed at Michigan State in a 75-62 Jan. 10 loss.

Kansas has one of the easiest schedules in the Big XII, with just one matchup each against Baylor, Texas and Oklahoma. Expect a couple more surprising losses for the Jayhawks, but they should earn a decent seed in March.

Starting a freshman, two sophomores, and two juniors, they are prime candidates for a first or second-round tournament upset.

THE FRAUD:  Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-5, 2-2)

Nebraska’s highest-quality win is a 56-51 home victory over Missouri, which isn’t saying much. The Huskers also have embarrassing losses against UMBC, Iowa State and Oregon State. Texas A&M (15-4, 1-3) better get it together quickly, or they may be joining Nebraska in this category soon.

Really, they shouldn’t be so embarrassed. Despite the bandwagon getting crowded after wins over Missouri and Kansas State and a hard-fought loss to Oklahoma, the Cornhuskers are more likely to finish very near (or below) Iowa State in the bottom half of the Big XII. 

It is highly unlikely that Nebraska will reach beyond the NIT come March.

Colonial Athletic Association

THE FORCE:  Virginia Commonwealth Rams (15-5, 8-1)

In a month, this team has moved from Fruitcake to Force. I originally had George Mason (14-5, 7-2) slotted here but it appears that the Rams will hold on to knock the Patriots from their perch atop the CAA. If George Mason was to come back, they would deserve this position instead.

VCU is on their way to their seventh straight victory after an embarrassing two-point loss to Delaware.

As goes senior guard Eric Maynor, averaging 23 points and six assists, so go the Rams.  With some pretty bad losses (East Carolina, Delaware, at Rhode Island, at Vanderbilt), VCU will need to win the conference tournament to assure themselves a bid to the NCAA tournament in March.

George Mason, with losses to Hampton, Liberty and Northeastern, find themselves in the same position.

THE FRUITCAKE:  Northeastern Huskies (12-6, 7-1)

The Huskies play some of the best defense in the CAA and have scored upsets over George Mason and Providence. However, they could only manage 37 points in a loss to South Florida and just 48 in a blowout loss to Memphis.

Are they the team that beat Hofstra by 23 at home or lost to Hofstra on the road?

Good luck figuring that out.  Their next three games (at Old Dominion, at VCU, Delaware) will help sort out whether Northeastern is more Jekyll or Hyde. 

Keep your greenbacks in your wallet if you’re thinking about a wager.

THE FRAUD:  Old Dominion Monarchs (11-7, 4-4)

I really thought ODU would challenge for the CAA title yet again this year, but I was wrong, and it is only going to get worse for the Monarchs. They are the only team that plays the current top-four teams in the CAA twice each, meaning several more losses are on the horizon.

They will likely continue to beat CAA bottom-feeders like UNC-Wilmington and William & Mary, but don’t have the depth or talent to compete with VCU and George Mason.

Wins over Charlotte, Richmond, and Duquesne, along with a seven-game winning streak in December, have proven fraudulent with losses to Georgia State, Bucknell, Marshall, and James Madison now on the record.

The once-mighty Monarchs are not likely to earn even an NIT bid, but hopefully, this program won’t stay down long.

With only one senior on the team (none who start), coach Blaine Taylor will continue rebuilding this program that has yet to return to the perennial contender status it enjoyed from 2004-2008. 

The 2008-09 season could mark the first time ODU fails to make a postseason tournament (they made the CBI quarterfinals last season) since 2003-04.

Conference USA

THE FORCE:  Memphis Tigers (16-3, 5-0)

Perhaps the weakest of all “forces,” Memphis pulled out a victory over Tennessee today to maintain this designation in this generally weak conference. Still, Memphis has zero bad losses (Xavier, Syracuse, at Georgetown), a 10-game winning streak, and a stunning 47 consecutive conference win streak.

This year, that streak says more about Conference USA than it does Memphis. It’s hard to believe that there’s not an CUSA AD outside the city of Memphis who isn’t thinking, “Hey, Big East, think we could have a few of those 743 teams you have back?”

Memphis recently returned to the top-25, but nail-biters against Tulsa (a game they should have lost) and Central Florida shows how vulnerable the Tigers really are.

Their defense remains stout, but the offense is questionable, led by Tyreke Evans shooting a mediocre .453 from the field. In fact, no starter averages even close to .500 from the field and only two reserves (including Preston Laird, who averages less than half a shot per game) have hit that mark.

With games remaining against Tulsa, Tulane, UAB, UTEP, and second-place Houston (twice), Memphis is bound to have their conference streak ended soon.

THE FRUITCAKE:  Tulsa Golden Hurricane (12-7, 2-2)

This is one of the most confounding teams in the nations and for that, they edge out UTEP and UAB for the fruitcake designation.

I picked them to upset Memphis a couple of weeks ago and they did. That is, until the final seconds when Tulsa allowed a Tiger opponent to slice through them like a hot knife through butter and lay in the game-winning bucket.

The Golden Hurricane play the best defense in Conference USA, but two one-point losses to Memphis and Tulane keep them from having a perfect 4-0 record.

They thoroughly shut down Illinois in a four-point November loss, gutted Charlotte and impressively defeated Texas A&M, but also own an inexplicable 12-point loss to Ohio University.

Tulsa is already dangerous but unless they find more offensive production from someone other than Ben Uzoh, they won’t be able to really challenge Houston and Memphis for the CUSA title.

The next two games are tonight’s matchup at UTEP and a home game with UAB. In true fruitcake style, they will likely earn a 1-1 split.

THE FRAUD:  UTEP Miners (11-7, 2-2)

Although UTEP handed WCC power St. Mary’s their only loss of the year back in November and lost by just three to current No. 1 Wake Forest, the Miners have proven to be very mediocre since.

Disappointing losses to Houston and UAB indicate they are not yet ready to compete for a conference title. Worse yet, their resume includes losses to New Mexico State and Santa Clara.

The team that was once thought to be second-best in CUSA (after UAB lost several players to academic suspension) now appears headed for a mid-tier finish that at best will send them to the NIT.

Looking ahead to our next edition, it will be time to examine several mid-majors of interest. Included will be the Horizon League, the MAAC, the Missouri Valley, and the surprising Mountain West Conference. I look forward to hearing your opinions, as always!

After looking at the major and many of the mid-major conferences, I have concluded that nearly every one of them has at least one “force,” one “fraud,” and one “fruitcake” (a team that would make Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde proud).

The definitions are as follows:

The Force: This is a team that much is or was expected of, and they are delivering on those expectations.  They are not just winning now; they will continue to win.  They must be a legitimate threat to win the regular-season conference title.  They need not have been a preseason favorite, but they need to have proven that they are “the real thing.”

The Fruitcake (pictured above): This is a team that you don’t want to place any wagers on.  One day, they might take down a top-5 team; the next, they may lose to a mediocre team from the Atlantic 10.  They are the Jekylls and Hydes…one can never be sure which team will show up on any given day.

The Fraud: This is a team that either has a gaudy record because they have been beating up on inferior opponents or has been thoroughly underwhelming not because they lack the talent, but because they were overrated to begin with.  They may or may not have been exposed yet, but are candidates for a one-and-done in March, if they are playing in the NCAA tournament at all.

In order to prevent any accusations of bias (especially the evil scourge of “East Coast Bias”), the conferences included will be listed in alphabetical order.  In this edition, I will take a look at the ACC, Atlantic 10, Big East, and Big South.  Part II will examine the Big Ten, Big XII, CAA, and Conference USA.

Atlantic Coast Conference

The Force: Duke Blue Devils (16-1, 3-0)

Wake Forest (16-0, 3-0) is undefeated and No. 1 in the country, so why does Duke get the nod?  As detailed in a previous article, I believe the Devils have more staying power than the Deacons.  They have faced a more challenging schedule and have dominated (not just defeated) all the currently ranked opponents they have faced. 

The Blue Devils have faced six teams that have been ranked at some point in the season to Wake’s four and have looked extraordinary in those wins, while Wake had a tough time putting away Clemson and UNC (no shame in that) in the second half.  Make no mistake: Wake Forest is no fruitcake or fraud and Jan. 28th witnesses a clash of these two titans in Winston-Salem.

The Fruitcake: Maryland Terrapins (12-5, 1-2)

Maryland has a blowout of Michigan State on their resume (at a neutral court) as well as a home win over Michigan.  The Terps are five points from a 3-0 record in the ACC, suffering a two-point loss at Florida State and a three-point loss to Miami (FL), two quality ACC opponents. 

Nevertheless, the games are losses and devastating ones at that.

Maryland has just one bad loss, but it’s a doozy.  They fell 66-65 at home to Morgan State and will likely need a minimum 9-7 conference record, complete with a couple of quality wins over the top teams in the ACC, to be dancing in March.

The Fraud:  Boston College Eagles (13-6, 1-3)

I thought Virginia Tech (12-5, 2-1) would be pencilled into this slot given their preseason expectations, but Boston College has gone out of their way to prove themselves more worthy of the “fraudulent” label.

How do you squander the poll standing you gain after handing North Carolina a shocking loss in Chapel Hill?  Follow it up with a 12-point home loss to mid-tier Ivy League school Harvard and three additional losses, including to the aforementioned Hokies.

The Eagles will be looking at the NIT in March, assuming they manage to stay a couple of games above .500.  What a shame for phenom Tyrese Rice.

Atlantic 10 Conference

The Force: Xavier Musketeers (15-2, 4-0)

Look, someone had to be the force.  Xavier may not have proven themselves to be among the elite teams in the country, but they are far and away the best in a weak conference.  Their only losses are a blowout at Duke and a subsequent loss to Butler, one top-10 team and one top-20 team.

Xavier should run through the vast majority of their conference schedule with ease and have at least garnered wins over Missouri, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati and their best opponent, Memphis.

The Fruitcake: Massachusetts Minutemen (7-9, 2-1)

Oh, where to start.  Apparently, this team has a set of robots that occasionally come out to play well (or, conversely, it might be robots during the losses, judging from the manner in which they stand still playing defense).

They have recent wins over Temple (9-7, 1-1) and Dayton (16-2, 2-1), but they also own recent losses to St. Louis and Vanderbilt (by 30!).  Earlier this season, they edged Kansas on the road after losing six in a row to teams that included Toledo, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Jacksonville State.

If you’re thinking of placing money on a Minutemen game, keep your wallet in your pants (or purse).

The Fraud: Dayton Flyers (16-2, 2-1)

Dayton has not been fully exposed yet, but a 18-point loss to Creighton and a more recent 13-point loss to UMass have helped pull the curtain back.

Their lone marquee victory came a full 13 games ago when they upended Marquette, but that is about the only decent competition they have faced. 

The Flyers may very well ride a gaudy conference record and a pathetically weak non-conference slate (which includes a three-point win over Wofford and a one-point win over SEC weakling Auburn) to a decent seed in the NCAA tournament, but they are a prime candidate for a one-and-done when (or, rather, if) they get there.

Big East Conference

The Force: Connecticut Huskies (16-1, 5-1)

The Huskies get the nod over Pittsburgh due to their strength of schedule, their play in the most recent games, and the comparison of common opponents.  In league play, UConn hammered Rutgers (9-9, 0-5) 80-49 while Pittsburgh struggled to a six-point win against the weak Scarlet Knights.

Pittsburgh earned wins over substantially inferior opponents during their non-conference slate while the Huskies were garnering victories over the likes of Wisconsin, Miami (FL) and Gonzaga.

These two teams are very close but will not play until February 16th, the first of two showdowns that could very well determine a No. 1 seed in March.

The Fruitcake: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-5, 3-3)

There are certainly multiple candidates for this particular slot, but Notre Dame has recently proven themselves to be quite the fruitcake.

They have wins over Texas and Georgetown to go with recent back-to-back losses to Louisville and Syracuse, fellow fruitcake nominees.

It is the inexplicable loss to St. John’s that remains the most frustrating for Irish fans, however.  With consecutive upcoming games against Connecticut, Marquette, Pittsburgh and a non-conference tilt at UCLA, the next six games will define the Irish season.  The best bet is that they’ll go 3-3 to cement their fruitcake status.

They have the talent to be a top-ten team but the results to fall out of the rankings entirely.  Luke Harangody and Kyle McAlarney need to return to their early-season form, and they need substantially more help from their teammates.

The Fraud:  Villanova Wildcats (14-3, 2-2)

Don’t be surprised if this currently ranked team gets left out in March or is one of the last teams in.  Villanova is 14-0 against ranked opponents and 0-3 against those in the top-25 (Louisville, Marquette, and Texas).  The toughest opponent in their non-conference schedule was Temple, and that is not saying much.

The next eight games feature Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Marquette and West Virginia, with the “easy” games being Cincinnati, Providence and South Florida, all of whom are capable of playing with Villanova.

The Wildcats have hands-down one of the easiest schedules in the Big East (they only play UConn, Pitt, Notre Dame, Louisville and Georgetown once each), and that might be the nail in their March coffin if they don’t reel off a few wins against quality opponents.

They may be ranked in the top-20 in some polls.  Don’t believe the hype.

The Big South

The Force:  None

That’s right.  No one gets nominated, including Virginia Military Academy (14-3, 6-1).  Yes, the opening season 111-103 win over Kentucky was impressive, but it was just that: an opening game.

Since then, VMI has just been an above-average Big South squad in a conference that lacks any real “force.”  Their 91-80 home defeat to Liberty eliminated some deluded fans’ belief that they would roll through the conference undefeated.

The Keydets usually score a ton of points, but their thin resume includes a 3-point win over Richmond, a four-point win at Gardner-Webb, and a one-point home victory over Coastal Carolina.  They rarely have looked dominant and that win over Kentucky feels like years ago.  It will to the Selection Committee as well.

The Big South remains a one-team conference at the moment: the team that wins the conference tourney.

The Fruitcake: Liberty Flames (13-6, 4-3)

A loss to Clemson is forgivable.  Losses at DePaul and St. Louis are understandable, if disappointing.  Losses to UNC-Asheville, Presbyterian and Winthrop are downright embarrassing.  And for those of you that think Winthrop is the team they were the last couple of years, keep in mind that they are now 4-12 overall and 3-4 in the Big South.

The wins over CAA leader George Mason, ACC foe Virginia and VMI make Liberty hard to figure out.  Guard Seth Curry (Stephen’s brother) has the potential to ignite this squad on any given night, and Liberty’s youth makes them a frustrating team to pull for.

If they can improve their consistency as they gain experience, they should provide a stiff challenge to VMI for the conference championship and Seth Curry will make them a dangerous first-round matchup in March if they do so.

The Fraud: Radford Highlanders (9-9, 6-1)

They may have earned a conference mark of 6-1 thus far, but their next three games are against VMI, Liberty, and Gardner-Webb, and the Highlanders are likely to be underdogs in all three.

It was nice while it lasted, but this team has neither the talent nor the depth to challenge the best of the Big South.  They will be fortunate to finish with a .500 mark in the conference.  They do not own a win over a Division I school with a winning record.

I hope you enjoyed this first installment.  I estimate that there will be three more in order to cover a decent range of conferences, and not just the ones that attract the most media attention.

As always, I welcome your comments and criticisms. 

Bleacher Creatures appear to see it differently, clearly tiering the conferences into just two at the top and three more a significant step behind. Read ahead to find which conferences fall where in the first installment of the Conference Rankings, compiled from lists submitted by fans from coast to coast.

If you would like to read the original version of Conference Rankings (which were my own rankings only), you can read the long version here or the short version here. If you like a good background story, it will get you up to speed on most of what happened in November and December.

To vote in the next set of rankings, you can email your top-10 (or top-five or top-as far as you want to go) to nathanmedic2003@yahoo.com or post them on my profile.

Points are awarded by giving one point to a tenth-ranked conference up to ten points for the top-ranked conference. It couldn’t have been any closer for the top spot, which belongs to the…

1.  Big East [104 points, (6) first-place votes, Nathan's Ranking: 1]

(note: Louisville’s loss to UNLV occurred after the writing of this article)

I have stabbed my conference in the back, and I’ve got some “splainin” to do. Why has the Big East jumped the Big Ten and ACC?  Well, obviously, because Daniel Damico got his rankings in just in time.

No, I can’t blame it on him. Unlike earlier in the season, they have been winning the games they are supposed to, while some teams in the ACC (notably, Miami, FL and Georgia Tech) have been disappointing of late.

Lew Wright suggested the only way to argue against the Big East is to “shout louder than anyone else in the room.” The point is they received a ton of preseason hype and have generally failed to live up to expectations. Until the last couple of weeks, teams at the top of the Big East were winning by small margins over inferior teams and losing games they weren’t supposed to.

Lately, however, they have won key games against non-conference foes, including West Virginia‘s (10-2) upset over Ohio State, and Marquette‘s (11-2) buzzer-beater victory over N.C. State. Pittsburgh (12-0), though playing as a favorite, came back from a second-half deficit to beat a good Florida State team on the road.

There are a few bad apples at the bottom of this behemoth’s barrel, but that can be said for the Big Ten (Iowa and Indiana) and the ACC (see below) as well. The emergence of West Virginia as a ninth potential tourney team and the presence of seven teams in the top-20 is enough for me to (very) precariously place them at No. 1 for at least a week, anyway.

2.  Atlantic Coast [103 (5), Nathan's Ranking:  2]

They lost the top spot by the hair on Rick Majerus’ head. Garnering the rest (five) of the first-place votes, the ACC placed no lower than third, and that was only on one ballot.

With Oklahoma’s loss, the ACC will likely have three of the top five teams in the nation. Unanimous No. 1 North Carolina (12-0) continues to crush all comers, No. 5 Duke‘s (11-1) only loss is to a ranked team it had already beaten (Michigan), and No. 6 Wake Forest (12-0) is steamrolling its competition. No. 20 Clemson (13-0) also remains undefeated, though it is the only other team that the ACC places in the top-25.

Voters continue to cite the stigma of being “top-heavy” as a major reason for voting the ACC behind the Big East. Georgia Tech (8-4) didn’t help by blowing a game to CAA foe Virginia. Don’t write hate mail; I know Virginia’s still in the ACC…for now.

Three teams are now entrenched in the basement (Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Virginia). N.C. State and Boston College are not far behind, looking mostly unimpressive in recent victories over weaker competition.

The ACC is nipping at the heels of the Big East. One major loss or victory can easily turn the tide, both for me and, it appears, the B/R voters.

3.  Big Ten [84 points, Nathan's Ranking: 3]

In the previous rankings (which were only my own), I placed the Big Ten at “1a,” just behind the ACC. The perception of the Big Ten by B/R voters is not nearly as positive, with one voter calling them, “the most overrated conference in the NCAA.”

I disagree wholeheartedly, but many of you do not, placing them on the same tier as the Big XII and the Pac-10, rather than on par with the Big East and the ACC.

The fact remains (as has been played out today) that the teams at the top of the Big Ten are simply not as good as those at the top of the Big East and ACC. It is still difficult for voters to place Minnesota (12-0), Illinois (13-1), or Ohio State (9-1) in the same league as Duke, UNC, Wake Forest, Georgetown, Syracuse, or Pittsburgh.

It appears the Big Ten will either have to garner even more non-conference victories or that some teams will have to emerge as “elite” before the voters are convinced.

In non-conference play, Illinois hammering Missouri was impressive; Ohio State getting punted by West Virginia was not.

The Big Ten ranked as high as second on two ballots, but also as low as sixth on one ballot and fifth on another.

4.  Big XII [77 points, Nathan's Ranking: 4]

Unlike the Big Ten, voters agree on what they think of the Big XII, as the conference ranked fourth on all but two ballots, one of which placed them at third and one of which slotted them fifth.

Keep in mind No. 5 Oklahoma‘s (11-1) stunning loss to SEC opponent Arkansas did not factor into the votes for this set of rankings; Missouri‘s (11-2) thrashing at the hands of Illinois did, however.

There is a significant schism between the top half of the Big XII, which includes No. 8 Texas (10-2), No. 19 Baylor (11-1), and Texas A&M (11-1), and the bottom half, which includes a disappointing Kansas (9-3) team.

Although all of the Big XII’s teams are at least two games above .500, many in the bottom half of the conference have already taken bad losses, most recently Colorado‘s (7-5) back-to-back losses to Vermont (really) and Buffalo (no, really).

5.  Pac-10 [68 points, Nathan's Ranking: 5]

There are a wide variety of opinions on the Pac-10, with some believing Stanford (10-0), USC (9-3), and California (11-2) will join UCLA (10-2) and Arizona State (11-1) in the national rankings before all is said and done. Like the SEC, the Pac-10 has had a generally weak out-of-conference schedule, which has inflated the records of several teams, and several have already suffered bad losses.

Several voters noted the talent level in this conference is higher than the teams’ results thus far indicate. Lew points out that while recruiting scorers is about “as tough as finding a price marked down at Wal-Mart,” he also believes that the defensive-minded coaches and toughness of the Pac-10 players will have them winning “when it counts, in March.”

Not surprisingly, West Coast voters tended to rank the Pac-10 higher, as they placed as high as third on two ballots, and as low as seventh on one other.

6.  Southeastern [50 points, Nathan's Ranking: 6]

It should be pointed out almost all votes were in (including mine) before Arkansas‘ (10-1) monumental upset of Oklahoma. The Razorbacks may have single-handedly saved the SEC West, as LSU (10-1) is nowhere near as good as their record, most recently escaping with a 81-79 home win against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Tennessee (8-3), like many of the SEC teams, is inconsistent but extraordinarily athletic, and Florida (11-2), like LSU, has not beaten a single ranked (or even decent) team. Right now, the SEC has just three tournament-worthy teams (Tennessee, Kentucky (11-3), and Arkansas).

The entire SEC (Schedule Easy Cupcakes) is at least three games above .500, which means absolutely nothing, given their pathetically weak out-of-conference schedules.

The SEC ranked as low as ninth on one ballot and no higher than fifth.

7.  Atlantic 10 [38 points, Nathan's Ranking: 7]

This conference may be fading. After being embarrassed by Duke on a national stage, Xavier (9-2) fell to Butler at home. Dayton (12-1) has a gaudy record but only one quality win (over Marquette) and an 18-point loss to Creighton. The upsets and close losses to highly-ranked teams seem to have been an anomaly, rather than a trend.

Only half of the A-10 is better than a game above .500 and it looks unlikely that more than two teams will be dancing come March.

Fourteen teams in the A-10? They may want a recount, considering the dead weight at the bottom that’s dragging down the conference’s RPI.

On ballots that named at least eight conferences, the A-10′s ranking fell between fifth and ninth.

8.  Mountain West [30 points, Nathan's Ranking: 8]

The MWC doesn’t have any ranked teams (yet), but it still has a lot of dangerous teams that either have nabbed some surprising wins or close losses to ranked teams. BYU (12-1) is a one-point loss to Arizona State from being undefeated, and the entire conference is above .500, with the exception of Colorado State (5-9).

The Cougars and UNLV (11-2) are clearly the cream of the crop, but nearly every other MWC team has been impressive against quality opponents at various times.

Of ballots that ranked at least seven teams, the MWC was unranked on only one, showing as high as sixth on multiple ballots.

9.  West Coast [16 points, Nathan's Ranking: 9]

The WCC is lucky to still be in the rankings after Gonzaga‘s (8-3) loss to Portland State. Voters likely remembered the near-miss to UConn and the continued upswing of St. Mary’s (12-1), though the bottom of this conference is nothing less than putrid.

The WCC ranked no higher than eighth on any ballot, and went unranked only on ballots that ranked nine conferences or less.

10.  Conference USA [8 points, Nathan's Ranking: NR]

Almost all rankings (including my own) were submitted prior to Houston‘s (8-2)drubbing of Massachusetts, Tulsa‘s (8-5) near-miss against BYU, and UAB‘s (8-5) four-point loss to No. 25 Butler. 

These teams, as well as UTEP (7-5), Tulane (6-6), and East Carolina (8-4), hold the key as to whether Memphis (8-3) USA, er, Conference USA, has any chance of moving up the board.

Conference USA ranked no higher than ninth and went unranked on several ballots.

Others Receiving Votes: Missouri Valley (4 points), Summit (3), Horizon (1)

Fell Out: N/A, first week

Participating voters: Daniel Damico, Lew Wright, Trey Bradley, Nathan B, Jameson Fleming, Joe Guarr, Travis Miller, Give em Hell Devils, Samuel Silverman, HD Handshoe, Benjamin Williams

Senior All-American and Player of the Year candidate Tyler Hansbrough led the way with 26 points on 10 of 15 shooting (.667) and 10 rebounds, his second double-double of the season.  He was also perfect from the charity stripe, hitting all six of his free throw attempts. 

Hansbrough’s field goal percentage and free throw percentage, the latter of which is exceptionally high for a big man, are part of what make the Tar Heel PF/C so incredibly dangerous.  His heart, of course, is a major factor as well, and there is no stat line for that.

Ty Lawson’s speed was on display yet again, as he contributed 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting (.667), 6 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals, while turning the ball over just once. 

Lawson’s assist to turnover ratio is among the highest in the nation, and his name continues to be mentioned in Player of the Year conversations as well.  If he keeps playing as he has in the first 12 games, the conversation will continue.

Shooting guard Wayne Ellington’s disappointing start continued on Sunday as he hit just 2 of 7 (.286) from the field, though he did go 5 of 6 from the free throw line.  He has been particularly cold from behind the arc, and he missed both 3-point shots he attempted against Rutgers.

The fact that UNC is routinely blowing out teams by 15 to 20 points while Ellington remains cold only furthers the argument that this team will be virtually unbeatable while they remain healthy.  Deon Thompson, Danny Green, Ed Davis, Larry Drew II, and Will Graves have all stepped up in the absence of defensive specialist Marcus Ginyard (who returned to the court for the first time, playing 11 minutes on Sunday) and freshman center Tyler Zeller, who is likely out for the season with a broken wrist.

Ginyard had three points and two steals in the brief time that he played.  He looked smooth, making a superbly athletic move to score his one field goal of the game.

Rutgers shot nearly 50% from the field and was led by freshman Mike Rosario, who dumped in 26 points on 9 of 17 shooting.  Rosario added three assists and two rebounds, and shot an impressive 4 of 8 (.500) from behind the arc.

If the Tar Heels had any weaknesses on display, it was the field goal percentage allowed and their own paltry .286 3-point effort.

For North Carolina, conference play begins Jan. 4th at home against Boston College.  The Scarlet Knights are not as fortunate, facing successive games against No. 3 Pittsburgh and No. 2 Connecticut.

For those of who you would prefer “a number and a nugget,” I’ve produced this shorter version.  As always, I strongly encourage you (for better or for worse) to comment on the rankings.

I’d like very much to see your rankings as well, and if there is enough interest, I may even compile them much like Jameson does with the teams’ rankings each week.

Here they are, short and sweet:

1.  Atlantic Coast

UNC, Duke and Wake Forest may very well be the top three teams in the nation.  The “middle of the pack” all have similar resumes:  difficult schedule, quality wins against ranked and unranked opponents, and a lack of bad losses.  Virginia is beyond awful, but even Virginia Tech is improving.  VMI has the best win in the state of Virginia right now (over Kentucky).

1a.  Big Ten

They are close enough to the ACC that I had to designate them “1a.” instead of “2.”  This weekend alone, Minnesota, Michigan State, and Purdue all notched impressive victories over Louisville, Texas, and Davidson, respectively. 

The conference also suffered some disappointing losses, with Iowa dropping a game to Drake and Northwestern losing to Stanford.  Penn State, Wisconsin, and Northwestern have all cooled off after hot starts.

Ultimately, the bottom of the Big Ten is slightly better than the ACC, the top is slightly worse, and the ACC gets the edge by winning the middle—by a very small margin, just like the result of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

3.  Big East

The losses at the top are mounting: Louisville to Western Kentucky and Minnesota, Syracuse to Cleveland State, Marquette to a Tennessee team that lost to Temple and could only beat Belmont by two, Georgetown also to Tennessee, and Notre Dame to UNC and Ohio State, though the Buckeyes are better than advertised. 

Connecticut and Pittsburgh remain undefeated, but the Huskies barely beat Buffalo and would have lost to Gonzaga had the Bulldogs not mishandled nearly every possession in the final minute of regulation.  The Panthers faced their first competition of any significance last night and were losing deep into the second half against Florida State.

With a poorly finished basement (Providence, DePaul, Rutgers, South Florida) and too many close calls or stunning losses at the top, the Big East has lost the right to be ranked above the ACC or Big Ten…for now.

4. Big XII

Oklahoma looks great with an easy schedule, Texas looks good with a very difficult schedule, and Baylor, Missouri, and Texas A&M are outperforming expectations.  We’ll know more about this conference when conference play starts.  It’s hard to tell if the middle to bottom teams are dangerous upstarts or fodder for the top five.

5. Pacific-10

After stunning Gonzaga, Arizona took it on the chin in losing to UNLV.  Arizona State managed a one-point win over BYU last night, but most of the schools in the Pac-10 have a similar story, for the most part: poor strength-of-schedule, no marquee wins (not even UCLA, who has lost to both ranked teams it has played), and some bad losses.

Stanford is undefeated at 7-0, but its best win is over Northwestern, a significant improvement over the patsies that they had played prior to the Wildcats.

6. Atlantic Ten

Outside of Xavier and Dayton, this league is very hit-or-miss.  The rest of the conference has notched significant wins (for example, UMass over Kansas, Temple over Penn State and Tennessee) and close losses to highly ranked teams (for example, Rhode Island to Duke, and Temple and Charlotte to Clemson). 

But they’ve also piled on some miserable losses, making the profile of No. 3 to No. 14 teams in the A-10 about the same.  That profile isn’t good enough for the Big Dance, unfortunately. 

7.  Conference USA

UAB’s players should have studied harder.  They might have been able to contend with a weakened Memphis team if they had more than six scholarship players left.  UTEP (who handed St. Mary’s its only loss of the season), East Carolina, Houston, and even Tulsa (who has beaten Texas A&M) all have the potential to play with the big boys when they are on.  The rest of the league is pretty bad.

8.  Southeastern

Tennessee is good, but not Top-10 good.  Florida and Kentucky are okay, but not Top-25 okay.  South Carolina, LSU, and Arkansas are average, but not NCAA Tournament-worthy. 

If I am on the Selection Committee and I look at this conference right now, I have a real hard time justifying a spot any team beyond Tennessee or the conference tournament winner.  The SEC can thank a pathetically weak out-of-conference schedule (with few exceptions), a series of stunning upsets, and a lack of marquee wins.  Oh, yeah, and some really bad (though young) basketball teams.

9.  Mountain West

There are no real standout teams, but a heck of a lot of dangerous ones, including BYU, UNLV, and Utah.  This conference may improve its position throughout the year, but a golden opportunity was missed when BYU lost by just one to Arizona State on a neutral court last Saturday.

 10.  West Coast

They should change the name to the Mountain Cliff.  The drop-off after Gonzaga and St. Mary’s is as steep as it gets.  Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount are two of the worst teams in the nation.  San Diego is a huge disappointment.  I do think two teams will be dancing come March.

Alright, I know it might be ugly, but bring it on.  I’ve shortened this version of the article, which means you’ll likely sharpen your attacks.  Have fun!