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Originally posted by Trey Ball:
So just like in politics the media really influences viewers opinions when it comes to college basketball. They continually tell us that the Big 10 is strong and the SEC is weak, but the numbers actually don't support that opinion. I said this early in the year. I think the Big 10 has the most average teams in the nation and one better than average to great team, but no elite teams, and TWO TERRIBLE teams that all the average teams beat to inflate their record. So the media tells us they deserve 10 to 12 teams in the NCAA tournament. I don't buy it. I don't think it is any better than the "Weak" SEC. So here are the records of the teams in the Big 10 during their conference play:

1. Maryland 13-4
2. Illinois 11-6
2. Wisconsin 11-6
2. Penn State 11-6
2. Michigan State 11-6
6. Iowa 10-7
7. OSU 9-8
8. Michigan 9-8
9. Rutgers 9-9
10. Indiana 8-9
11. Purdue 8-10
12. Minn 7-10
13. Neb 2-15
14. Northwestern 1-16

By contrast, the media says the SEC is weak and only has 4 tournament worthy teams, but of those two teams are great teams, a bunch of average teams, two bad teams, and ONE TERRIBLE team. So here are the records of the SEC teams during conference play:

1. Kentucky 13-2
2. Auburn 11-4
3. LSU 10-5
4. Florida 10-5
5. Miss State 9-6
5. South Carolina 9-6
7. Texas A&M 8-7
8. Tenn 7-8
9. Alabama 7-8
10. Arkansas 6-9
11. Missouri 6-9
12. UGA 4-11
13. Miss 4-11
14. Vanderbilt 1-14

Those conference records look pretty similar in terms of depth and the overall records bare the same resemblance, but then you look a little deeper at head to head and something pops out.

The conferences are tied 4-4 in head to head matchups. I know, the top teams in the SEC must of played games at home against Nebraska and Northwestern to have gotten their 4 wins or maybe not:

Neutral Court SEC #1 Kentucky over Big 10 #2 Michigan State - 69-62
Neutral Court SEC #13 Ole Miss over Big 10 #2 Penn State - 74-72
Neutral Court SEC #11 Missouri over Big 10 #2 Illinois 63-56
Away at IU. SEC #10 Arkansas over Big 10 #10 IU (currently projected as a #9 Seed) - 71-64

The SEC was actually an underdog according to Vegas in all 4 wins. Now look at the Big 10 wins:

Neutral Court - #8 OSU over #1 UK - 71-65
Home Win - #2 Penn State over #9 Bama - 73-71
Neutral Court - #2 MSU over #12 UGA - 93-85
At UT - #2 Wisconsin over #8 Tenn (UT's first game played after LaMonte Turner's injury) 68-48

Now you tell me how the Big 10 is dominant? Three of the SEC wins are coming from the lower placed teams in the league over the Big 10's best on Neutral Courts.

Add to that, Penn State won only by 2 at HOME against another SEC bottom half of the conference team. All the advanced metrics say playing at home is worth 3 to 4 points a game.

Yeah, I'm not buying what the media is selling.

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