Sorry, Big 12. The SEC is the best conference in men’s college basketball | Mussatto

[ad_1]

Steve Lutz had an appropriate response when he scanned OSU’s Big 12 schedule for the first time.

“Holy smokes,” Lutz thought.

Of course, the former Western Kentucky coach knew what he signed up for in taking the Oklahoma State job, but seeing a three-game stretch of at Kansas, vs. Iowa State, at Baylor — which the Cowboys will face in late February/early March — still shocks the senses.

“Hey, I have a top-five team at home, then I go on the road for two, and I come back and there’s a top-10 team coming here,” Lutz said before the season started. “But everybody in the league is saying that. That’s why we do this, right? Play in the best league in the country.”

We’re so conditioned to accept that as gospel. The Big 12 is the best conference in men’s college basketball.

Only it isn’t. Not through the first month and change of the season.

That title belongs to the SEC. Being the best in college football and baseball, and now softball and women’s basketball, apparently isn’t enough. The deep-pocketed SEC is coming for the Big 12’s men’s hoops crown, too.

More: Where is OU basketball freshman Jeremiah Fears ranked for 2025 NBA Draft?

Nov 29, 2024; Paradise Island, Bahamas, BHS; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Porter Moser reacts against the Louisville Cardinals during the first half at Imperial Arena at the Atlantis resort. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Take Bedlam, for example, which will tip-off at 7 p.m. Saturday at Paycom Center in downtown Oklahoma City.

It will be a matchup of the SEC’s 12th-best team against the Big 12’s 15th, according to KenPom.com, the preeminent college basketball ratings website.

But try to figure this math: KenPom has OU as the No. 12 team in the SEC while the Associated Press has the Sooners (9-0) as the No. 13 team in the nation.

The reality is probably somewhere in between. While pollsters prop up the Sooners for having a zero in the loss column, KenPom docks OU for ranking 345th (out of 364 Division I…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/sorry-big-12-sec-best-110838135.html

Author : The Oklahoman

Publish date : 2024-12-12 11:08:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.