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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Big East appears to be No. 1 again

Conference has excellent reputation

Aaron Beard Associated Press

DURHAM, N.C. – The Big East can lay claim right now to being the best basketball conference in America.

As the conference season tips off around the country, it’s hard to argue against the Big East.

The league has seven teams in the Top 25 poll and ended 2010 with five in the top 10. The Big East has earned eight NCAA tournament bids three times in five seasons and put five different teams in the Final Four in six years.

“This league is just so tough,” said Villanova coach Jay Wright, whose Wildcats are No. 7. “What is going to the Final Four? It’s not always the most talented teams. It’s who can get through four games against different styles. That’s one thing about this league, it does prepare you for that.”

The Big Ten and Big 12 appear stocked with talent and poised to challenge the Big East, while the rest of the power conferences appear to be several steps behind.

The Atlantic Coast Conference has No. 1 Duke and seemingly little else. The Southeastern Conference has two teams in the poll. The Pac-10 didn’t have a ranked team for the final three weeks of 2010.

“Where a team is ranked or thought of by the start of conference play is a pretty good indicator of where they’re going to wind up at the end,” said Jay Bilas, an ESPN college basketball analyst and former Duke player. “If you’ve won against your pre-conference schedule — and you’ve played a good one — chances are that you’re going to play pretty well in your conference schedule.

“Teams that are struggling and have not beaten anybody, there’s not some light switch they’re going to turn on and all of a sudden get real good. It can happen, but it’s not the norm.”

The Big Ten has four ranked teams led by No. 2 Ohio State, and beat the ACC in its head-to-head series for the second straight year. The Big 12 has five ranked teams led by No. 3 Kansas, and won its series with the Pac-10 for the second straight year.

Texas helped the Big 12 with marquee victories against Illinois, North Carolina and Michigan State. Still, senior reserve Matt Hill said it’s too early to know which teams really are the best.

“Teams will get tested coming up here,” Hill said after the Longhorns edged the Tar Heels last month. “And once we get into the Big 12, teams will separate themselves away from the pack. But these big games help, I think, getting on these stages and testing yourself.”

The Big East, Big Ten and Big 12 have to like what they’ve learned in nonconference play. The Big East (153-39) and the Big Ten (105-27) each won nearly 80 percent of those games entering the new year, according to research from STATS Inc., while the Big 12 (122-33) won almost 79 percent.