# best conference historically?



## daboy (Jan 24, 2003)

Me and some of the people I work with were talking about this topic, since I work with Big 10, ACC, and PAC 10 fans....so we did some research based on final four appearances, finals appearances, and championships and this is what we came up with. 

Note: This is starting from 1938 (first year there was a tournament) and it is just what schools are currently in what conference, not what conference they were in at the time. (although, except for the Big 12, and CUSA all the teams may have accomplished these feats in their current conference) . Here is how it breaks down....

Championships
1. Pac 10=14 (UCLA 11, Stanford, Cal, Oregon, Arizona 1)
2. Big 10=11 (Indiana 5, Mich. St., Mich. 2, Ohio St., Wisconsin 1)
3. ACC=9 (UNC, Duke 3, NCST. 2, Maryland 1)
4. SEC=8 (Kentucky 7, Arkansas 1)
5. CUSA=5 (Cincy, Louisville 2, Marquette 1)
6. Big 12=4 (Kansas and Oklahoma St. 2)
6. Big East=4 (Georgetown, Villanova, UConn, Syracuse 1)

The Pac 10 has the most with 14, but UCLA has 11 of those. Also Kentucky accounts for 7 of the SEC's 8. The Big 10 is tied for the most schools with a championship with the Pac 10 with 5.

Runner Up's
1. ACC=11 (Duke 6, UNC 4, Florida St. 1)
2. Big 12=10 (Kansas 4, Oklahoma, Baylor, Olahoma St., Kansas St. 1)
3. Big 10=9 (Ohio St., Mich. 3, Iowa, Purdue, Indiana 1)
3. Big East=9 (Georgetown 3, Syracuse 2, St. John, WVU, Villanova, Seton Hall 1)
5. SEC=5 (Kentucky 3, Arkansas, Florida 1)
5. CUSA=5 (Houston 2, Memphis, Cincy, Marquette 1)
7. Pac 10=4 (Wash. St, Cal, UCLA, Arizona 1)

Final Fours (Not in championship game)
1. Big 10=21 (Ohio St. 5, Illinois 4, Mich. St., 3, Indiana, Iowa 2, Penn St., Mich., Purdue, Minnesota, Wisconsin 1)
2. Big 12=18 (Kansas 5, Kansas St. 3, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., Colorado, Texas 2, Iowa St. 1)
3. ACC=17 (UNC 8, Duke 5, Virginia 2, Wake, Georgia Tech, Maryland 1)
4. CUSA=16 (Louisville 5, Houston, Cincy 3, DePaul 2, Charlotte, Memphis, Marquette 1)
5. SEC=13 (Arkansas 4, Kentucky, LSU 3, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi St. 1)
6. Pac 10=12 (UCLA 3, USC, Oregon St., Arizona 2, Stanford, Washington, Cal 1)
7. Big East=8 (Providence 2, Villanova, Pitt., Rutgers, Syracuse, Notre Dame, St. John 1)

When you add the total final fours up here is how it breaks down.
1. Big 10=41
2. ACC=38
3. Big 12=32
4. Pac 10=30
5. SEC=26
5. CUSA=26
7. Big East=21

This clearly shows that the Big 10 has been the most sucessful conference with the critereria we used. The worst they are is third out of the 7 power conferences when it comes to runner ups. They have the second most championships and the most total final fours. Plus 10 of the 11 Big 10 teams have made a final four, only the Big East with 11 teams tops that. The Pac 10 has historically been UCLA and everybody else (they account for nearly 47% of the Pac 10's final fours). The SEC has been dominated by Kentucky (50%) and Arkansas (23.1%), combined they account for 73% of the SEC's final fours. In the Big 12 Kansas accounts for more than 37% of the Big 12's. In the Big 10, Ohio St. with 9 final fours is the most, but only accounts for 22% of the total Big 10 final fours.

Here is how I would rank the conferences...
1. Big 10
2. ACC
3. Pac 10 (Better thank UCLA for that one, plus 4 other teams have won a title)
4. CUSA
5. Big East
6. Big 12 (They've been better the last couple years and Kansas finally has some competition)
7. SEC (what if it wasn't for Kentucky)

This is not the most scientific research, but what do you all think?


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## BrYaNBaIlEy06 (Jul 15, 2003)

SEC is the best.

hands down.


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## UKfan4Life (Mar 5, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>BrYaNBaIlEy06</b>!
> SEC is the best.
> 
> hands down.


Far from it.

There's no question that the ACC is the best historically. Two basketball tradition schools (Duke and North Carolina) in one conference is enough to say the ACC is the best historically and is probably the best right now. The SEC isn't the best historically. In basketball, going by the whole overall history of the conference, it's always been about UK. Arkansas had a stretch of years and won a championship. Florida is building a solid basketball program as we speak. Of course, LSU had it's years with Shaq and was pretty good with Pete Maravich. Every team in the SEC has had it's years, but none have been consistent like UK. Once you take into account that the SEC has 8 championships altogether and UK holds 7 of those 8, then it's hard to argue about the SEC being the best historically.

Bottom line: ACC has been the best throughout history, no question.


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## VincentVega (Oct 12, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>BrYaNBaIlEy06</b>!
> SEC is the best.
> 
> hands down.


The SEC is 5th place AT BEST.


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## Hollis (Jun 4, 2002)

ACC


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

ACC and it really isn't as close as those numbers show it. If you talking talent that has come through it, to great games the ACC through the years has been the best conference. Note the league didn't even form until 50 years ago and some of these teams were not all in their leagues. C-USA is not even 10 years old yet and the Big 12 the same thing. 

Using these kinds of numbers are woefully inaccurate. For example when you talk about the SEC do you include what South Carolina did while a member of the ACC or what Arkansas did while a member of the SWC?


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## UKfan4Life (Mar 5, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>daboy</b>!
> 
> Final Fours (Not in championship game)
> 
> 5. SEC=13 (Arkansas 4, Kentucky, LSU 3, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi St. 1)


If I did my math correctly, UK has been to 6 Final Fours without a championship.


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