Don't post often but thought I would do a quick analysis of the Ken-Pom ranking this morning because it is considered the "gold standard" by our friends to the east (especially because they are ranked #1 today). We continually hear that the Big10 is tough and the Big12 is overrated so this might be a small amount of ammunition in case it is ever needed. These rankings can change a bit daily but these data are through the games last night.
Here are the team rankings for the Big12:
6 Oklahoma
7 West Virginia
10 Kansas
17 Iowa St.
25 Texas
30 Baylor
39 Kansas St.
59 Texas Tech
73 Oklahoma St.
133 TCU
Average rank is 39.9
Team rankings for the Big10:
1 Iowa
4 Michigan St.
8 Maryland
16 Purdue
24 Indiana
46 Michigan
51 Wisconsin
80 Ohio St.
87 Northwestern
91 Nebraska
131 Illinois
137 Penn St.
199 Minnesota
282 Rutgers
Average rank is 82.6
Now let's eliminate the bottom 4 teams in the B10 and only count their top 10 teams so we have an equal number of teams. The average rank is 40.8 or just slightly below the average rank for the entire B12 conference! All we hear is that the bottom teams in the B12 are weak -- look at the Ken-Pom rank of the bottom 4 teams in the B10 and then realize that our friends to the east play 5 games of their conference games against those teams. They always talk about their tough schedule but they will figure out some justification for all of this. I also doubt they realize that their strength of schedule will continue to go down during the rest of the conference season (ours may also go down slightly).
Anyway, food for thought on a Tuesday and I think it underscores the meat grinder that the Big12 conference has become.
Here are the team rankings for the Big12:
6 Oklahoma
7 West Virginia
10 Kansas
17 Iowa St.
25 Texas
30 Baylor
39 Kansas St.
59 Texas Tech
73 Oklahoma St.
133 TCU
Average rank is 39.9
Team rankings for the Big10:
1 Iowa
4 Michigan St.
8 Maryland
16 Purdue
24 Indiana
46 Michigan
51 Wisconsin
80 Ohio St.
87 Northwestern
91 Nebraska
131 Illinois
137 Penn St.
199 Minnesota
282 Rutgers
Average rank is 82.6
Now let's eliminate the bottom 4 teams in the B10 and only count their top 10 teams so we have an equal number of teams. The average rank is 40.8 or just slightly below the average rank for the entire B12 conference! All we hear is that the bottom teams in the B12 are weak -- look at the Ken-Pom rank of the bottom 4 teams in the B10 and then realize that our friends to the east play 5 games of their conference games against those teams. They always talk about their tough schedule but they will figure out some justification for all of this. I also doubt they realize that their strength of schedule will continue to go down during the rest of the conference season (ours may also go down slightly).
Anyway, food for thought on a Tuesday and I think it underscores the meat grinder that the Big12 conference has become.
