Jim Boeheim says success measured by NCAA tourney, takes shot at Big Ten

[BleedGopher]

Per ESPN:

For Jim Boeheim, the only true barometer of a conference's success is its record in the NCAA tournament.

Based on that criteria, the longtime Syracusecoach said the Big Ten, which finished 9-9 in the NCAA tournament last year, was inferior to the ACC, which finished 14-5 and sent three teams to the Elite Eight.

"At the end of the day, you play for the [NCAA] tournament," Boeheim said Friday at his team's media day. "You can say what you want about the Big Ten. They sucked in the tournament. To me, that's what they did. All of their wins were in their league. If you can't play in the [NCAA] tournament, then you're not good."

Last season, the Big Ten secured nine NCAA tournament bids on Selection Sunday but only Michigan and Purdue reached the second weekend. Both teams were eliminated in the Sweet 16, extending the drought of a league that hasn't captured the national championship since 2000.

Last year, the ACC had just five bids -- its lowest tally since it sent four teams to the NCAA tournament in 2013 -- but North Carolina and Duke matched up in the Final Four in Mike Krzyzewski's final game and Miami made a surprise run to the Elite Eight.

Although Syracuse missed the NCAA tournament last season for the first time since 2017, Boeheim said the success of the ACC in the postseason proved its strength.

"I'll take the Sweet 16 if we finish [sixth in the ACC] overall," Boeheim said. "Would I like to do better in the regular season and [reach the Sweet 16]? Sure. But I'll take that every year. We've been very good in the tournament."

Boeheim: ACC won in tournament, unlike Big Ten

For Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, the barometer of a conference's success is its record in the NCAA tournament: "You can say what you want about the Big Ten. They sucked in the tournament."

www.espn.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[Roland Brooks]

Hard to argue

 

[bc2211]

Definitely something I would say if my teams sucked in the regular season.

 

[GopherVotary]

He’s not wrong.

 

[GopherJack]

He’s not wrong.

This

 

[jovs]

Two teams went 9-2 and that makes it the top conference. May have the stronger teams at the top but that doesn't make it the best overall conference.

 

[bc2211]

There’s some good questions about seeding theory.

Let’s say conference A is deeper and has 9 tournament entries. teams probably averages let’s say 22 wins.

Conference B isn’t as deep, and earns 7 bids. Conference B’s league is less balanced and the teams maybe average 24 wins.

If seedings were exclusively set by win totals, teams from conference B would be seeded higher and have more favorable matchups.

To gauge which conference is better, I’d want to know the win rates of conference A and B relative to expectations based on seed pairings.

I love the tournament, but I do think it rewards teams from shallower conferences with easier routes to the sweet 16 (see Gonzaga).

 

[MNJay]

You'd think a guy who recently killed someone wouldn't be running his mouth.

 

[minnyrules11]

Was supposed to retire after having a pedo on his staff but still coaching. Who cares what they or ACC do. Guy is a douche.

 

[Some guy]

There’s some good questions about seeding theory.

Let’s say conference A is deeper and has 9 tournament entries. teams probably averages let’s say 22 wins.

Conference B isn’t as deep, and earns 7 bids. Conference B’s league is less balanced and the teams maybe average 24 wins.

If seedings were exclusively set by win totals, teams from conference B would be seeded higher and have more favorable matchups.

To gauge which conference is better, I’d want to know the win rates of conference A and B relative to expectations based on seed pairings.

I love the tournament, but I do think it rewards teams from shallower conferences with easier routes to the sweet 16 (see Gonzaga).

Yes this


If teams 6-9 sucked

They wouldnt make the tourney.
That’s 4 fewer losses in the tourney

If they sucked the top 5 would be seeded higher and maybe get another 2-3 wins for the conferenxe


So big ten 9-9
But if teams 6-9 suck big ten more like 11-5

 

[Roland Brooks]

Big 10 has sucked plain and simple

 

[Roland Brooks]

Was supposed to retire after having a pedo on his staff but still coaching. Who cares what they or ACC do. Guy is a douche.

I actually care what the Big 10 does and they have sucked

 

[MNJay]

Yes this


If teams 6-9 sucked

They wouldnt make the tourney.
That’s 4 fewer losses in the tourney

If they sucked the top 5 would be seeded higher and maybe get another 2-3 wins for the conferenxe


So big ten 9-9
But if teams 6-9 suck big ten more like 11-5

Exactly. Overall record in the NCAA is a misleading stat.

A 9-seed losing a close game in the 2nd round is more impressive than a 1-seed winning a close game.

 

[Gopherfan84]

Big 10 has sucked plain and simple

They’ve been bad in the NCAAs. That doesn’t mean they are bad as a conference. It does mean their style of play isn’t conducive to one game single elimination brackets. Syracuse for example thrives in tournament play because they play and outlying defense that is hard to prep for on short notice. If Syracuse was in the B1G they’d get their butts kicked all year here too.
The NCAA tournament is a blast but it is a crapshoot with tons of variables. It’s not necessarily the best measurement for the quality of the conference

 

[Unregistered User]

I have a cousin who is a pro golfer. His brother is a competitive amateur golfer. That means everyone in my family are better golfers than the players on the web.com tour.

 

[GoodasGold]

He’s not wrong.

His wife is a looker.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

Big 10 has sucked plain and simple

Yep. Last 20 years have been overall poor showings in the NCAA tournament

 

[TruthSeeker]

Stop defending the Big Ten in basketball. It's a bad conference.

No team has won a title in more than 20 years.

Moreover, how many nba all-stars have come from the Big Ten in the last 20 years, let alone NBA starters. I'd bet the number is low and less than other big conferences.

 

[Gopherfan84]

Stop defending the Big Ten in basketball. It's a bad conference.

No team has won a title in more than 20 years.

Moreover, how many nba all-stars have come from the Big Ten in the last 20 years, let alone NBA starters. I'd bet the number is low and less than other big conferences.

If you take Kentucky and Duke out of their conferences when talking about all stars, it’s not really that much different. Pretty even as far as actual NBA players. B1G holds their own there

 

[MNJay]

Stop defending the Big Ten in basketball. It's a bad conference.

No team has won a title in more than 20 years.

Moreover, how many nba all-stars have come from the Big Ten in the last 20 years, let alone NBA starters. I'd bet the number is low and less than other big conferences.

Kansas wins the Big-12 every year and always gets a 1-seed and easy path to the Final Four. Same with Kentucky & Gonzaga. That doesn't mean their conferences are better than the Big Ten.

 

[upnorthkid]

Stop defending the Big Ten in basketball. It's a bad conference.

No team has won a title in more than 20 years.

Moreover, how many nba all-stars have come from the Big Ten in the last 20 years, let alone NBA starters. I'd bet the number is low and less than other big conferences.

Ja Morant*	Murray State
G	Trae Young*	Oklahoma
F-G	Jayson Tatum*	Duke
F	Andrew Wiggins*	Kansas
C-F	Joel Embiid*	Kansas
G	LaMelo Ball	N/A
G	Devin Booker	Kentucky
C-F	Karl-Anthony Towns	Kentucky
G-F	Zach LaVine	UCLA
F	Khris MIddleton	Texas A&M
G	Dejounte Murray	Washington
C	Rudy Gobert	N/A

Team LeBron​

POSITION	PLAYER NAME	SCHOOL
F	LeBron James*	N/A
F	Giannis Antetokounmpo*	N/A
G	Stephen Curry*	Davidson
G-F	DeMar DeRozan*	USC
C	Nikola Jokic*	N/A
C	Jarrett Allen	Texas
F	Jimmy Butler	Marquette
F-G	Luka Doncic	N/A
G	Darius Garland	Vanderbilt
G	Donovan Mitchell	Louisville
G	Chris Paul	Wake Forest
G	Fred VanVleet	Wichita State

All star games is a ridiculous point as that's hyper concentrated in terms of players and they're from a smattering of schools all over.

Raw numbers B10 is #5 of the conferences in players in the NBA.

If you remove Kentucky (29) from the SEC, the SEC is tied with the B10. The 5star, one and done talent is congregated in a couple of teams and those are the guys who fill NBA rosters.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Ja Morant*	Murray State
G	Trae Young*	Oklahoma
F-G	Jayson Tatum*	Duke
F	Andrew Wiggins*	Kansas
C-F	Joel Embiid*	Kansas
G	LaMelo Ball	N/A
G	Devin Booker	Kentucky
C-F	Karl-Anthony Towns	Kentucky
G-F	Zach LaVine	UCLA
F	Khris MIddleton	Texas A&M
G	Dejounte Murray	Washington
C	Rudy Gobert	N/A

Team LeBron​

POSITION	PLAYER NAME	SCHOOL
F	LeBron James*	N/A
F	Giannis Antetokounmpo*	N/A
G	Stephen Curry*	Davidson
G-F	DeMar DeRozan*	USC
C	Nikola Jokic*	N/A
C	Jarrett Allen	Texas
F	Jimmy Butler	Marquette
F-G	Luka Doncic	N/A
G	Darius Garland	Vanderbilt
G	Donovan Mitchell	Louisville
G	Chris Paul	Wake Forest
G	Fred VanVleet	Wichita State

All star games is a ridiculous point as that's hyper concentrated in terms of players and they're from a smattering of schools all over.

Raw numbers B10 is #5 of the conferences in players in the NBA.

If you remove Kentucky (29) from the SEC, the SEC is tied with the B10. The 5star, one and done talent is congregated in a couple of teams and those are the guys who fill NBA rosters.

So it's near the bottom of the power conferences, and there are zero all-stars on those teams.

Thanks for confirming. Good work.

 

[MNJay]

So it's near the bottom of the power conferences, and there are zero all-stars on those teams.

Thanks for confirming. Good work.

You must make a fortune betting on the games. Since you know the Big Ten will lose, you must bet millions.

Seriously...all the major conferences can play some good basketball. And over the years, the Big Ten has beaten higher-seeded teams as much as any other conference has.

 

[USAF]

Yes this


If teams 6-9 sucked

They wouldnt make the tourney.
That’s 4 fewer losses in the tourney

If they sucked the top 5 would be seeded higher and maybe get another 2-3 wins for the conferenxe


So big ten 9-9
But if teams 6-9 suck big ten more like 11-5

Holy cow. That might be your worst take ever. And that's quite a high bar to leap.

 

[TruthSeeker]

You must make a fortune betting on the games. Since you know the Big Ten will lose, you must bet millions.

Seriously...all the major conferences can play some good basketball. And over the years, the Big Ten has beaten higher-seeded teams as much as any other conference has.

Absolutely.

But the Big Ten over the last 20-25 years is clearly inferior to the other Power conferences. The Big Ten doesn't recruit the same caliber of players as the top teams in those conferences. That's why they don't produce NBA all-stars or win NCAA titles.

I actually expect this will change somewhat due to high school players jumping directly to the NBA. The really high end talent that the Big Ten doesn't recruit will no longer be avaliable to any college teams.

 

[MNJay]

Absolutely.

But the Big Ten over the last 20-25 years is clearly inferior to the other Power conferences. The Big Ten doesn't recruit the same caliber of players as the top teams in those conferences. That's why they don't produce NBA all-stars or win NCAA titles.

I actually expect this will change somewhat due to high school players jumping directly to the NBA. The really high end talent that the Big Ten doesn't recruit will no longer be avaliable to any college teams.

Michigan State has the #1 overall recruit in 2023 on Rivals. The next few are a mix of Kentucky, Duke, & uncommitted...and then Minnesota with Evans.

It's just utter nonsense for you guys to say the Big Ten doesn't play good basketball.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Michigan State has the #1 overall recruit in 2023 on Rivals. The next few are a mix of Kentucky, Duke, & uncommitted...and then Minnesota with Evans.

It's just utter nonsense for you guys to say the Big Ten doesn't play good basketball.

The results speak for themselves.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I think the lack of success in the NCAA Tourney is a little overblown. The Big Ten has played in the championship game 3 of the last 9 and 7 of the last 20.

 

[MNJay]

The results speak for themselves.

I agree.

Even in a down year, the Big Ten won 7 straight games in round 2/3 of the NCAA last year. While matched against similar seeds.

The odds of that are about 1 in 128.

Just because the few top teams always dominate their conferences and get 1 & 2 seeds every year doesn't mean the entire conference is better.

 

[SelectionSunday]

I would put it this way.

The Big Ten deserves the chiding it receives for its tournament performance, especially the no national title since 2000. That’s unacceptable.

That said, that doesn’t mean they haven’t deserved (most of) the hefty amount of bids they’ve received. No matter what Jim Boeheim thinks, bids are earned in the regular season. At-large bids aren’t team or conference birthrights, they’re earned. Traditionally strong conferences like the Big Ten and ACC (among others) have had down years where their bid total was unusually low (3 or 4).

I’m rambling; anyways, I’ve always said, teams get bids, not conferences. That’s always been true. Everyone is an independent when being considered for one of the 36 at-large bids.