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The New Big 12Small, Southern, and Aliveby Asher Fusco Late last week, the Big 12 Conference was dead--a thing of the past. Kansas and its elite basketball program would travel to Colorado State and Wyoming as the newest member of the Mountain West Conference. Texas and its southern cohorts were headed for the beaches of California and a 16-team Pac-10 conference. To think otherwise wouldn't have made much sense. Nebraska was out the door to the Big Ten and Colorado had already evacuated to the Pac-10.But somewhere along the line, someone decided to do something. Namely, the Big 12 talked Texas back from the ledge long enough for the remaining schools to decide a 10-team conference wouldn't be such a bad idea.Whether you blame Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds for pushing the league to the brink of destruction by flirting with the Pac-10, or credit him for agreeing to stay in the Big 12, one thing is clear: The Big 12 is a stronger, more interesting basketball league without Nebraska and Colorado.That being said, the league will certainly look different come fall 2011, and Nebraska and Colorado will have some drastic adjustments to make. Here's what the results could mean for the stakeholders:NebraskaThe decision to leave the Big 12 for the Big Ten was--like everything in Lincoln--all about football. On the basketball side of things not much should change for Nebraska in its new conference.The Huskers teetered on the brink of hoops irrelevance in recent years, finishing 2-14 in the Big 12 last season and 8-8 or worse in each of the past 11 years. Nebraska struggled mightily to score and to prevent scoring last season, recording a -0.15 points-per-possession mark in conference play. The Huskers top-20 defensive efficiency had been an asset for two consecutive seasons, but when it cratered to 91st nationally and 10th in the Big 12, the victories likewise disappeared.Doc Sadler's Nebraska will fit in with its Big Ten brethren much more seamlessly than it did with its Big 12 counterparts. Sadler hasn't helmed a team that used more than 64 possessions per game, the kind of glacial pace that the Big Ten has become known for in recent years. In fact, the 2010 Huskers would have played at the Big Ten's seventh fastest adjusted pace.Assuming they stick around, Nebraska will take the services of forward Brian Diaz and guard Brandon Richardson to the Big Ten. Each showed flashes this past season, as Diaz blocked shots and Richardson posted a 111.5 offensive rating. Then again the members of this year's incoming class could also be major players in Nebraska's first Big Ten season. Kamyron Brown is a 6-2 Oregon transfer who played the role of turnover-prone backup point guard in his two seasons in Eugene. Caleb Walker is a 6-4 former junior college All-American selection at Butler County (KS). In the long-term, however, if Doc Sadler can't recruit with the likes of Missouri and Kansas State, there's little reason to expect he'll keep up with the Ohio States and Michigan States of the world.ColoradoOne has to wonder if Colorado would have been so gung-ho about joining the Pac-10 had it known it would be the only Big 12 team to leave for the league. The school's already-inconvenient location is now even more inconvenient, and, in basketball terms, it's still not an NCAA tournament team any time soon.The Buffs showed flashes of late promise this past season, as wings Alec Burks and Cory Higgins formed one of the Big 12's more effective combinations. At 6-10 in conference play, Colorado was technically the first Big 12 team out of the NCAA tournament (though, with a No. 86 KenPom ranking, the team wasn't close to a berth). Doesn't sound impressive? It was, considering over the previous two seasons the Buffaloes went 7-41 in Big 12 games.Avoiding six almost-automatic losses against Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri won't hurt, but Colorado won't be one of the Pac-10's elite right away. Barring unforeseen circumstances, CU will bring Burks and several role players to the Pac-10. Burks, who delivered both efficiency and prominence as a freshman, should be good enough for a few victories no matter who's surrounding him. But Burks is about the only good news for new coach Tad Boyle, who won't retain Cory Higgins (112.5 ORtg) or Casey Crawford (44.4 3FG%) past this coming season.Everyone ElseThings went from catastrophic to fortuitous very quickly for Kansas, Kansas State and the rest of the new-look Big 12. Kansas should stay one of the nation's best and retain the recruiting cachet that comes with power conference affiliation. Kansas State should continue to import physical east coast bodies and play grind-it-out, winning basketball. Missouri's wonderfully frantic system should keep bedeviling opponents. Texas should stack its ever-growing money pile higher still while Texas A&M continues to produce under Mark Turgeon's watch. Oklahoma, Iowa State and Texas Tech will play hot potato with the league's worst record while Baylor and Oklahoma State build on solid foundations.Victories won't come as easily with two of the conference's also-rans out of the picture, but teams should benefit from better strength-of-schedule numbers and a brutal regular season slate. Also note that the league's current north-south imbalance should be replaced with the more desirable true round-robin 18-game format used by the Missouri Valley and (the old) Pac-10.For now it looks like the beauty that is college basketball in the Great Plains--with the help of some divine intervention--survived a historically hectic week in football's big-money meat grinder. And actually came out stronger for it.Asher Fusco is a writer in New York City.
the 2010 Huskers would have played at the Big Ten's seventh fastest adjusted pace.
Oklahoma, Iowa State and Texas Tech will play hot potato with the league's worst record
BUDREW Ken Pomeroy said the new Big 12 would have had last year the Best RPI in the NCAA since 2004!!! Wow!
Quotethe 2010 Huskers would have played at the Big Ten's seventh fastest adjusted pace. go get em doc
Asher Fusco is a writer in New York City.
Leaner Big 12 brings tougher—but better—schedulingMike DeCourcy The last time an entity rose from extinction in such a terrifying form, the metal framework of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator character was chasing poor Sarah Connor through an abandoned factory and trying to ensure there'd be no sequel to that motion picture.Now we have the 10 remaining members of the Big 12 Conference, their association not quite seven days beyond being pronounced "dead" by some in the media, set to form the leanest, meanest basketball conference in Division I.Frank Martin thinks the Big 12 will only get more difficult with the double round robin.I'll be back, indeed."I thought our league was the best in the country before this happened," Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. "Now we're going to play 18 conference games. It's only getting more difficult, I'll say that."Nebraska and Colorado—which averaged a 5-11 conference record and RPI rank of 147 over the past four years, which have combined for a total of nine NCAA Tournament in 71 years (fewer than Duke and Butler combined for this season)—are leaving.Texas and Kansas and Kansas State and Oklahoma State and Texas A&M and Baylor and Missouri—seven teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last season—have committed to remaining in the Big 12 for the foreseeable future.Already, statistician Ken Pomeroy has declared the 10-team Big 12, had it been in place this past season, would have been the strongest league under his rating system since 2004. Even with Colorado and Nebraska, the Big 12 was the No. 1 conference in the Ratings Percentage Index standings by a decent margin.A league that puts seven of 10 members into the NCAA Tournament isn't just the best currently—but one of the best ever. The 1991 Big East put seven of nine members into the field, and the old Big Eight got six teams in twice. The Big 12 would have to get eight bids to top that. The 1990 Big Ten got seven of its 10 members into the field.It isn't just the elimination of some dead weight that empowers the Big 12, though. With 10 teams remaining, the league will move to an 18-game conference schedule with a true double round-robin format—meaning all members will play annually on a home-and-home basis.When Kevin Durant was a freshman at Texas in 2007, the fans at Missouri, Iowa State and Kansas State did not get to see him in their gyms. And he never became a sophomore. That won't happen in the new Big 12."Everybody gets a chance to see the great basketball teams come to their arena every year," Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe said. "There's a lot of excitement about having a team like Kansas in your arena every year."The Pac-10 always had a wonderful character to its conference because it played the pure schedule and arranged it so that most games were contested on a Thursday-Saturday routine that minimized the academic inconvenience for the athletes involved.But that league has punted this advantage to the Big 12 in exchange for Colorado.It seems like the heartland got the better of the deal.
Coaches excited about new league, skedJune, 16, 2010Jun 1612:49PM ETEmail Print Comments Nebraska and Colorado can't get out of the Big 12 fast enough for the remaining 10 schools to relish the most competitive college basketball league in the country."If you look at who we lost and where they've been basketball-wise, we got stronger,'' Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon said. "It's going to be a great league. How great would it be, if, when we have 10 teams, that we get six to seven teams in the NCAA tournament in good years? As basketball coaches, we knew we wanted to save this league because we knew we had something special.'' The current plan is for the Huskers to leave for the Big Ten by next summer for the fall of 2011. Meanwhile, Colorado exits for the Pac-10 in 2012, giving the league one more season of 12 teams and a 16-game men's basketball schedule, and a possible season of 11 teams and a 16- or 18-game schedule before the league goes to a tidy 10 teams in 2012. The plan for 2012-13 is an 18-game schedule with home-and-home games. It might sound simplistic, but the Big 12 held on to a football divisional schedule even though the league standings were 1 through 12. While Kansas State and Missouri have become major national players the past two seasons, Nebraska and Colorado were still in the North. That meant the Big 12 South traditionally had tougher home-and-home games. Not having Kansas and Texas play twice in recent years, save last season's nosedive from Texas, was a disservice to the league. Kansas coach Bill Self said the ACC, Big East, SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 didn't have true champions. Only the Pac-10 did. But the RPI and the overall scheduling for the teams in the Big 12 North (Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri and Iowa State) will change dramatically."We're trading four games with Nebraska and Colorado for another game against Oklahoma, Texas, Baylor, Texas A&M and Texas Tech,'' Self said of the true home-and-home series and the jump to two more overall league games from 16 to 18. "When we didn't get in four years ago and two years ago, we were criticized for being in the weaker Big 12 North, and therefore our conference record was weaker than teams in the Big 12 South,'' Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. "Well, the only thing that will matter is that we play everybody twice -- no ifs, ands or buts. That argument is no longer valid. '' That's when the Big 12 becomes unquestionably the best college basketball conference in the country. No dogs. None. Not even Iowa State, which has slid toward the bottom but still has potentially one of the better home court in the country. The Pac-10 had the envy of other power conferences because of its schedule. The true round-robin schedule produces a real regular-season champion. There is no way to hide behind the premise that the regular-season champion doesn't matter as much because the teams don't play the same schedule. What the Pac-10 had over its fellow power conferences, it will lose once it adds Colorado and possibly Utah, which will mean 12 teams. Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said the familiarity and consistency of home-and-home games was a huge plus. He said he remembered how tough it was being in an unbalanced schedule in Conference USA with St. Louis, Cincinnati, Marquette, Louisville and Charlotte. Losing the home-and-home aspect within the Pac-10 is something Romar said he'll have to sit down, digest and figure out the best course of action for the league, assuming it will drop from 18 to 16 games. Turgeon said he wasn't thrilled to jump from 16 to 18 league games just in number alone, but the format is the best. No one is questioning that. No one seems to question the direction of every program in the remaining Big 12, with Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor and Missouri -- four schools that were being left out of possible expansion -- likely in the top 20 this fall. Texas won't be far behind. Oklahoma State has been a consistent winner. Oklahoma had one disastrous season but is two seasons removed from being a national title contender with then-player of the year Blake Griffin. Assuming OU coach Jeff Capel won't let the Sooners slide again, they should be in the thick of the chase soon. The coaches all agree Texas Tech's Pat Knight is ready to turn the corner this season as a factor in the Big 12 mix. The question is whether Iowa State can regroup and recruit under new coach Fred Hoiberg? If he can, there is no weak link in the bunch and there are no wins that can be counted on to get into the NCAA tournament in a given season. If the football side agrees that other programs (Memphis, Louisville or Mountain West schools) wouldn't add serious value to the league, the compacted Big 12 could easily exist for years and become one of the most competitive leagues in the country. The Big 12 has produced national players of the year in Griffin (Oklahoma) and Kevin Durant (Texas), and one who was close to earning it in Michael Beasley (Kansas State). Duke and North Carolina won the past two national championships. However, outside of Memphis and Kentucky these past two seasons, Big 12 schools have had some of the top storylines in the country. That should only continue as the league matures into a 10-team conference that will become the envy of the other power-six schools because of how easily it will be managed. Navigating wins will be tough, but there will be no letdowns. Every game will be important. As rivalries are enhanced, interest in conference games will increase, and to the benefit of the Big 12, the ratings might rise, too.
Kansas coach Bill Self said the ACC, Big East, SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 didn't have true champions. Only the Pac-10 did.
self admits all of ku's big 12 championships are tarnished QuoteKansas coach Bill Self said the ACC, Big East, SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 didn't have true champions. Only the Pac-10 did.
