Ivy League (conference rank: 17th) March 11-12 All games at Penn. kPOY: Steven Cook, Princeton Regular season champ: Princeton (preseason #36 / 1st Ivy, current #61) Overachiever: Penn (preseason #231, current #163) Underachiever: Dartmouth (preseason #216, current #304) The Ivy League debuts a real tournament this season and as it turns out, the league’s braintrust picked the exact worst format […]

Western Athletic Conference (conference rank: 21st) March 9-11 All games at Las Vegas. kPOY: Dewayne Russell, Grand Canyon Regular season champ: Cal State Bakersfield (preseason #129 / 1st WAC, current #110) Overachiever: Utah Valley (preseason #321, current #196) Underachiever: Chicago State (preseason #339, current #339) It was just two seasons ago that the WAC was ranked 31st among conferences. But things […]

Big West Conference (conference rank: 29th) March 9-11 All games at Anaheim, California. kPOY: Chima Moneke, UC Davis. Regular season champ: UC Irvine (preseason #120 / 2nd Big West, current #139) Overachiever: UC Davis (preseason #245, current #224) Underachiever: UC Santa Barbara (preseason #156, current #333) I’m not sure if a conference has ever face-planted as badly as the Big West did this season. […]

Atlantic 10 Conference (conference rank: 8th) March 9-12 All games at Pittsburgh, Pa. kPOY: TJ Cline, Richmond Regular season champ: Dayton (preseason #37 / 2nd American, current #34) Overachiever: George Mason (preseason #171, current #115) Underachiever: Saint Joseph’s (preseason #99, current #173) Here are the national leaders in assist percentage for players listed at 6-8 or taller (minimum 40% of team’s minutes): […]

American Athletic Conference (conference rank: 7th) March 9-12 All games at Connecticut. kPOY: Semi Ojeleye, SMU. Regular season champ: SMU (preseason #49 / 3rd American, current #12) Overachiever: SMU Underachiever: Connecticut (preseason #41, current #88) The American wasn’t a very entertaining conference. It ranked dead last among conferences in both effective field goal percentage and tempo in conference games. Between elite defenses […]

Big 12 Conference (conference rank: 1st) March 8-11 All games at Kansas City, Mo. kPOY: Johnathan Motley, Baylor Regular season champ: Kansas (preseason #3 / 1st Big 12, current #9) Overachiever: Oklahoma State (preseason #60, current #19) Underachiever: Texas (preseason #45, current #76) One of the main arguments about conference superiority is that the ACC is going to get the most tournament […]

Southeastern Conference (conference rank: 5th) March 8-12 All games at Nashville, Tenn. kPOY: Sindarius Thornwell, South Carolina. Regular season champ: Kentucky (preseason #4 / 1st SEC, current #7) Overachiever: Florida (preseason #17, current #6) Underachiever: LSU (preseason #101, current #159) Kentucky is on an eight-game winning yet their AdjEM rating (and ranking) has dropped slightly over that time. A seven-point home win to […]

Big Ten Conference (conference rank: 4th) March 8-12 All games at Washington, D.C. kPOY: Caleb Swanigan, Purdue Regular season champ: Purdue (preseason #15 / 4th Big Ten, current #13) Overachiever: Minnesota (preseason #71, current #32) Underachiever: Ohio State (preseason #13, current #69) The Big Ten tournament moves to the Verizon Center in Washington this season and the conference appears to have seven […]

Pac 12 Conference (conference rank: 6th) March 8-11 All games at Las Vegas kPOY: Lonzo Ball, UCLA. Regular season champ: Oregon (preseason #6 / 1st Pac 12, current #17) and Arizona (preseason #10 / 2nd Pac 12, current #21) Overachiever: UCLA (preseason #21, current #16) Underachiever: Oregon State (preseason #81, current #272) While the Pac 12 had multiple teams in the AP […]

Big East Conference (conference rank: 3rd) March 8-11 All games at Madison Square Garden kPOY: Josh Hart, Villanova. Regular season champ: Villanova (preseason #2 / 1st Big East, current #2) Overachiever: Marquette (preseason #47, current #28) Underachiever: Xavier (preseason #11, current #43) You still hear people use the term “Power 5” to describe the best basketball conferences, but it is dying. It […]