Sagarin conference rankings

[shizzle787]

So I did an analysis between the Big 6 leagues from the 13/14 season until the 21/22 season. I started in 13/14 because that was the year the Catholic 7 formed the NBE.

Here is the average order of finish among conferences:
1. Big 12 (1.22)
2. ACC (2.89)
3. B1G (3)
4. Big East (3.78)
5. SEC (4.67)
6. Pac-12 (5.56)

One thing that does concern me is that the Big East finished 3rd or higher for five straight years between the 14/15 and 18/19 season and has dipped since. The only season the league finished 6th was 20/21, and I put a huge asterisk on that one because the BE schools played very few OOC games. The Pac-12 is only Big 6 league to not finish in the top 6 every year (they finished 7th behind the AAC in 19/20).

Speaking of non top-6 finishes: only four times has a Big 6 league not finished in the top-6 since 99/00 (the first year Sagarin ranked the leagues). The other three are SEC in 12/13 (7th), Big 12 in 05/06 (7th), and Pac-10 in 03/04 (9th). The Pac-10 finished behind C-USA, the WAC, and the MW that year. Scary.

One other thing that caught my eye: the Big East was not as dominant as I thought. The league rarely finished first, sixth-place finishes were common in the early 2000s.

The last nugget: the Mountain West is the only non-Big 6 league to finish inside the top-5 in a given year (4th in 12/13). The other three (MVC, C-USA, and AAC) non-Big 6 leagues to finish top-6 finished 6th.

 

[shizzle787]

Caveat: I screwed up somewhere and his data for 19/20 wasn't included so my numbers are probably slightly off but I assume it is probably similar to the others. Also, the Pac-12 finished 7th in 18/19 not 19/20 (no data for that year). He might not have counted it as the season was cut short by the pandemic.

There is a clear second tier (no data for 19/20):
7. AAC (7.13)
8. A-10 (8.75)
9. MW (9.37)
10. WCC (9.5)
11. MVC (10.75)

Only twice in eight years did a team from outside the top-11 finish in the top-11: the CAA (10th in 15/16) and the MAC (9th in 18/19).

 

[shizzle787]

22/23 rankings: College Basketball Ratings Page
1. B1G
2. Big 12
3. SEC
4. Big East
5. ACC
6. Pac-12
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7. AAC
8. WCC
9. A-10
10. MW
11. MVC

Big East rankings
1. Villanova (14)
2. Creighton (21)
3. Xavier (29)
4. UConn (33)
5. Providence (42)
6. Seton Hall (47)
7. St. John's (52)
8. Marquette (62)
9. Butler (69)
10. Georgetown (85)
11. DePaul (100)

If NCAA tournament selection was based solely on Sagarin, number of bids per league:
B1G: 10
Big 12: 7
SEC: 7
ACC: 6
Big East: 5
Pac-12: 4
WCC: 3
AAC: 2
All others: 1