No Respect for Big XII from ESPN

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SouthAfricanHorn

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On the front page of espn.com the poll asks for the best conference for Basketball. I can understand the Big 10 not being included because, well, it sucks. But the Big XII isn't even given as an option. WTF?! I realize it's pretty Aggy to ***** about respect, etc.. but c'mon. To not even include the Big XII makes no sense!
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Rant over.
 
all the ratings that matter have the Big 12 ranked 2nd. ESPN sucks off the big east. It's part of the media love affair. Don't get wrapped up in it. the Big East for BBall is equivalent to the SEC in football when it comes to the media.
 
Let the teams do the talking. The Big 12 is likely going to get 9 teams into the Big Dance and NIT.
 
the big east is obviously always the best conference. they get like 10 teams in the tourny and all of them are usually out after the 2nd round.
 
Getting the most teams in is a ridiculous argument. The Big East has more teams than every other conference, so they should get more in. Although it is hard to argue against them - the batch they brought over from Con USA significantly upgraded the conference.
 
I agree that a poll about the strongest basketball conference should include the Big 12, if you are talking about this year. However, I would note the poll doesn't specify that it wants you to name the best conference for this year only.

The Big 12 has only one school nationally considered to be a long time perennial power--Kansas. Texas is now considered a perennial power, but that is a recent advent. Every other power conference (except the Pac 10) has at least three teams that are considered a perennial power or have appeared in the finals since the 1988 game between Kansas and Oklahoma, which was the last time two teams from the same conference played for the chamionship.

Since the 1988 Danny Manning KU team took out the Billy Tubbs bunch featuring King, Blaylock, and Grant, a Big 12 school (whether after the advent of the Big 12 or in the SWC or Big 8) has made the finals twice (KU losing both times). In that same period of time:

ACC had three different teams win a combined 6 titles, while 4 teams made the finals a combined 10 times.

SEC had three teams win a combined 5 titles and have 8 finals appearances.

Big East had two schools win a combined 3 titles, while 3 schools played in a combined 5 finals.

Big Ten had two schools each win one title, while 5 schools made it to a combined 7 finals.

Pac-10 had two schoools each win one title and each lose one other title game.

Until the Big 12 starts getting teams to the finals, it won't be often included in these discussions. That is a shame, because the conference as a whole turned out to be stronger than a lot of us anticipated this year, and it deserves a lot of respect.

Edit: Did I really spell his name "Danning?" Yeah, I did.
 
Why are we suprised??? There is no respect for the Big 12 in any sport. It doesn't matter how well the conference does we will always be second tier to most analysts.
 
Good post bierce.

I think that the Big 12 is certainly getting a lot of love player-wise, with KD and now Beasley, but they don't think much of our teams (outside of KU.)

It also doesn't help our conference the way KU bows out early each year in the tournament. Honestly, considering the talent on that squad, they shouldn't have more than 1 loss.
 
I think having the Hardwood Challenge will give the Big 12 a boost in reputation nationally, particularly if the Big 12 puts together a string of years of outplaying the Pac 10. We'll see.

The conference has seen a lot of schools position themselves to build dominant programs, but all the coaching changes have really taken a toll. We are, what, 6 years away from really good Larry Eustacy teams at ISU, and 4 years from kick *** OSU teams under Eddie? Now the General is gone, and Sampson, Billy Clyde, and Huggins going bye-bye was already a pretty big loss of coaching talent (say what you will about them). Anybody wonder how much better the conference would have been if those three guys had been around?
 
I find it hard to believe that ESPN, which is all about what happened in the last five minutes, has a long-term view about anything.

I happened to see Scott Van Pelt talk about this when they showed results on SportsCenter last night, and he said, "I thought they should have had the Big 12 on there, but..."
 
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