Katz opinion on P5 and CBB

[4in16]

Andy Katz ESPN Senior Writer

So two of the last three years a team from the American and the Big East will play for the national title. We can stop now with the power five label in college basketball.

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NCAAM 10h

Won't stop the P5 gushing even if Nova wins but at least some people at ESPN are willing to say this.

 

[aceboon]

Like the BCS before it, the P5 term is really more geared for college football. Obviously the P5 teams have their advantages but you can put together a national title caliber team from outside those conferences far easier than you can do in CFB.

 

[noeynox]

Like the BCS before it, the P5 term is really more geared for college football. Obviously the P5 teams have their advantages but you can put together a national title caliber team from outside those conferences far easier than you can do in CFB.

Yeah, but the last non BCS football playing school to win a BB championship? UConn 99.

The last non P5 Team to win a championship? UConn 14.

Proves only UConn can overcome these obstacles.

 

[CL82]

Hmm, good point. It almost makes me want to not root for Nova...almost.

 

[Jimbo]

I agree that the P5 label doesn't mean a lot when it comes to basketball, but I worry that the growing money disparity between P5 and non-P5 schools will make it harder and harder for the latter group to compete at the highest level and win championships. Of course the discrepancy is most pronounced in football, but I can imagine it trickling down and eventually having a more significant effect on basketball as well. So, in time the P5 label may actually mean something in basketball. But I hope I'm wrong about all this.

 

[BUConn10]

I agree that the P5 label doesn't mean a lot when it comes to basketball, but I worry that the growing money disparity between P5 and non-P5 schools will make it harder and harder for the latter group to compete at the highest level and win championships. Of course the discrepancy is most pronounced in football, but I can imagine it trickling down and eventually having a more significant effect on basketball as well. So, in time the P5 label may actually mean something in basketball. But I hope I'm wrong about all this.

As evidenced by the fact that UConn has one of the highest student tuition subsidies for its AD in the nation.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

What a run for Villanova and what a statement for the reconfigured Big East. Just what that conference needed to stick around with the five major football conferences and show that it is probably the 2nd best conference in the nation using any metric (W-L record against the P5, Teams in the F4, RPI). I'm glad that Andy made a note of both the American and Big East which both can compete with the Power 5 any given year

 

[Penfield]

Hmm, good point. It almost makes me want to not root for Nova...almost.

How can you not root for Nova vs UNC?

 

[champs99and04]

It isn't so much that the P5 label isn't important so much as it is that the Big East essentially is a power conference, at least for the time being, and should be thought of as one.

 

[August_West]

How can you not root for Nova vs UNC?

Because unc winning the title will be accompanied with a huge backlash of how dirty they are. They will lose by winning.

 

[storrsroars]

Because unc winning the title will be accompanied with a huge backlash of how dirty they are. They will lose by winning.

Nah. The whitewashing is already well underway. Williams will be found innocent of any wrongdoing.

On one of the sports shows here in Pgh, the hosts suggested that if preseason polls showed the UNC football team had a decent chance at a New Year's 6 bowl game, suddenly their AD would rise up and expose violations from their lax team so Emmert would delay even further into 2017.

I'm actually kind of impressed with how Pittsburgh media has covered UNC/Cuse filth given Pitt is ACC now. In light of the Dixon firing there's concern that Pitt may be opening the door to dirty tactics themselves. Dixon may have coached a style of play that guaranteed never getting to a FF, but he was universally acclaimed for running a clean program.

 

[storrsroars]

As long as ESPN remains the #1 news source for sports, the gap between P5 and G5 will continue to grow, with the lone exception being the UConn women. G5 schools are an afterthought in regular season coverage, both online and in broadcast highlights. The G5 is at a severe disadvantage in developing stars on a national level, which would translate to fan interest outside their region/alumni base - and other media. ESPN creates stars. Stars come from the P5 almost exclusively.

If Alterique becomes the next Buddy Hield, you wouldn't hear about it until tournament time. And even if his stats blew away everyone else, he'd still play second fiddle in coverage to several guards from P5 teams that receive considerably more exposure.

 

[SixRings]

If Alterique becomes the next Buddy Hield, you wouldn't hear about it until tournament time. And even if his stats blew away everyone else, he'd still play second fiddle in coverage to several guards from P5 teams that receive considerably more exposure.

I hear ya but don't see it to that level. While I don't think there is too much disputing that the P5 gets most of the media it's really only the top 25 that receive coverage. I have felt slighted by ESPN in the past years but have to admit the Huskies were getting a lot of attention when the tourney had just started because of Jalens shot. His shot was what the media loves about March but it turned into a story about the Huskies in the tournament. It seemed to me they got a lot of attention, a lot more than any other team not in the top 25 and much more than some in it. Just a thought.

 

[tzznandrew]

Because unc winning the title will be accompanied with a huge backlash of how dirty they are. They will lose by winning.

There are two reasons we want Nova to win:

First, we remain only one title behind UNC.
Second, Jim Calhoun remains one of only 2 coaches in the 64 team era to win 3 titles, and one of 5 coaches ever. I want that to remain the case.

Go Nova! 4 > 2.

 

[rip7774]

I'm conflicted as we recruit head to head with nova quite a bit although less frequently than the Corey stokes /Corey Fischer class timeframe - And we rarely go head to head with UNC. Seems like nova could become higher profile with a NC and go against us more?

But of course the NCAA hypocrisy is tough for me with UNC and as Fishy always points out, Williams is such a hayseed and dirty (my words).

My contempt for the P5 leads me to Nova, is that where most of us are?

 

[mauconnfan]

Andy's a good dude. Not afraid to go against the grain.

 

[Adios]

This P5 stuff sure won't apply to college hockey for a long time. Unless we're talking about women's hockey, being dominated by the Gophers, unsurprisingly.

 

[CL82]

How can you not root for Nova vs UNC?

I said almost. The idea that we'd be the only team outside of the P5 to win NCAA national champion basketball, burnishes our credentials as a P5 worthy team. That said, I'll be rooting against a North Carolina win.

 

[tzznandrew]

I said almost. The idea that we'd be the only team outside of the P5 to win NCAA national champion basketball, burnishes our credentials as a P5 worthy team. That said, I'll be rooting against a North Carolina win.

True, but the more teams outside the P5 show they can win, the easier it is to recruit outside the P5.

 

[noeynox]

Yeah, but the last non BCS football playing school to win a BB championship? UConn 99.

The last non P5 Team to win a championship? UConn 14.

Proves only UConn can overcome these obstacles.

I initially said this as a joke, but I think as uconn fans our perspective is a little cloudy. It is damn hard for schools outside the P5 to compete in basketball, but winning national titles is proving to be damned near impossible.

 

[CL82]

True, but the more teams outside the P5 show they can win, the easier it is to recruit outside the P5.

We're UConn. I'm not worried about being able to recruit, especially with this year's incoming class.

 

[intlzncster]

How can you not root for Nova vs UNC?

At this stage, if you care at all about MCBB, you are on team Nova, like it or not.

 

[intlzncster]

I initially said this as a joke, but I think as uconn fans our perspective is a little cloudy. It is damn hard for schools outside the P5 to compete in basketball, but winning national titles is proving to be damned near impossible.

It's only been a few of years since the OBE was in existence man. If Nova were to win this year, that'd be, 3 of the last what 5 (?) non P5's to win the whole thing. Hardly impossible.

 

[msgordon]

I initially said this as a joke, but I think as uconn fans our perspective is a little cloudy. It is damn hard for schools outside the P5 to compete in basketball, but winning national titles is proving to be damned near impossible.

???

 

[August_West]

Nah. The whitewashing is already well underway. Williams will be found innocent of any wrongdoing.

On one of the sports shows here in Pgh, the hosts suggested that if preseason polls showed the UNC football team had a decent chance at a New Year's 6 bowl game, suddenly their AD would rise up and expose violations from their lax team so Emmert would delay even further into 2017.

I'm actually kind of impressed with how Pittsburgh media has covered UNC/Cuse filth given Pitt is ACC now. In light of the Dixon firing there's concern that Pitt may be opening the door to dirty tactics themselves. Dixon may have coached a style of play that guaranteed never getting to a FF, but he was universally acclaimed for running a clean program.

Don't disagree that they have been whitewashing this for a while now.
However it's easier to whitewash when the team being given the crooked breaks is not your current national champion. If UNC wins the title it will put a lot more scrutiny from the general media on a team that has had help in sweeping some serious allegations under the rug.
So either the NCAA will have to come down hard on them to avoid looking like the ineffectual hypocrites they are. ( which would make me happy) or the NCAA itself will look like the biggest criminals ever ( which might make me happier even).

Either way with the increased scrutiny one of those two total scumbag organizations is going to get their due. I don't care which.