When talking about how good a conference is, are we talking about the depth of a conference....or winning a title? Villanova won the title 2 of the past 3 seasons---You think the Big East was/is the best conference those years? You think UK winning a title in 2012 made the SEC that year, the best conference? You think when UCLA won 400 straight titles, it made the AAWU or the Pac-8 the best confrerence?
IMO, when judging how good a conference is, you need to look at how many teams they are putting in year in and year out...How far are these teams advancing? Like this year...SEC was talked about as an improved conference. And well, they have shown exactly that. UK, Auburn, LSU and UT all in the SW 16. Ole Miss and Miss State looked bad. Florida played well. Go to the Big 10....Three teams in the SW 16. But damn....they are this close to having 5 in; MD losing to Lsu by 2, and Iowa losing in OT to UT. Ohio State has a chacne tonight.
Anyways......Titles doesn't really tell the story. Unless of course you have 3 or 4 teams thats winning titles, going to FF's, etc, etc...That isn't happening in any conference. Now look at the next tier, so to speak. How often is your conference putting teams in the Elite 8, FF or the title game? Big 12 has ONE title game appearance---Kansas. Texas, OU and WVU have made a FF since 2000. And that's it. Only repeat offender is Kansas. SEC has UK and Florida...With LSU and South Carolina making surprise runs. Florida and UK have won titles. No one else has reached a title game. Then the ACC..UNC, Duke and UL; Maryland too. Though they are the Big 10's problem now. Then there is GaTech and Syracuse(Not 2003 though---Big East then). Strong resume there.
Then the Big 10....Only one title(MSU in 2000). BUT....they have had 6 DIFFERENT teams play for the title(IU, MSU, UM, Illinois, Wisky and OSU). I mean that is damn near half the conference. Have placed a team in 13 of the past 19 FF's.. Just haven't been able to close the deal.
IMO, when discussing how good a conference is, you have to look further than just hat of a team(s) winning a title. Winning the title doesn't mean you played in the best conference. Just means you were the best team for 6 games.
