From: vincent@lagrange (Mark Vincent)
Subject: Re: Best Conference
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 18:20:47 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins

In article <8089@news.duke.edu> whg@acpub.duke.edu (WILLIAM GAY) writes:
>I only have been watching college hoops since about 1980, so I can only
>vote on years since.  I would have to say that the best year for a
>conference since 1980 was either the 1982 ACC or the 1985 Big East.
>1985 Big East gets my nod because the Hoyas were totally awesome.  Who
>else did the ACC have in '82.  Was Maryland good?  They usually were
>back then, except for a dry spell where all they had was Branch.  I
>think that this dry spell was happening in 1982.  Yeah, I guess the Big
>Yeast gets the vote.  Syracuse was probably solid.  Was Pitt any good
>then?
>
>There was a year when the Big Ten was awesome.  In 1988 weren't Purdue
>and Illinois awesome, and Michigan and Indiana strong?  That was a tough
>Big Ten!

In 1988, Purdue (led by seniors Todd Mitchell, Everette Stephens, and Troy
Lewis) won the Big Ten and were ranked in the Top Five all season long.  (I
think they peaked at #2 in February, behind Temple.)  The Boilermakers were
the #1 seed in the Midwest Regional, but lost in the round of 16 to Kansas
State.  I think they finished with a record of 31-4, or something like it.

Indiana had some problems that year.  Although several members of the 1987
championship team remained (e.g. Keith Smart, Rick Calloway, and Keith
Garrett), they struggled early.  [BTW, it's funny how Bob Knight's most
troubled teams always followed national championship seasons--1977, 1982,
and 1987.  Does winning the title burn him and his surviving players out in
some way?]  The Hoosiers regrouped that year behind freshman Jay Edwards,
were a fourth seed in the East Regional, then dive-bombed out of the tourney
with a first-round loss to Richmond.

Michigan and Illinois both had talented teams:  both were third seeds in their
regionals, and both lost before the final eight (Michigan to North Carolina in
the West regional semis, Illinois to Villanova in the second round).  Illinois's
problems, in particular, were led by poor foul shooting (they led Villanova
by 14 or so with five minutes left, then collapsed).

If I remember right, Ohio State (then coached by Gary Williams, who seems to 
be worshipped in some regions of the net :-) ) won 17 or 18 games, didn't get
an NCAA berth, then finished second in the NIT.  

And Iowa!  I'd like to forget them, but I can't.  They were highly ranked 
early in the season, then lost in Iowa City to Arizona (in Lute Olsen's
return to Iowa), propelling Arizona into the national spotlight (they 
stayed in the top five in the polls for the rest of the season).  To be
honest, I don't remember what happened to the Hawkeyes after that--seems 
like they finished in the top three or four in the conference, were a top
four or five seed in the NCAA's.  I'm sure someone out there will remind us.

Wisconsin and Minnesota were pretty tough that year, too--at home, anyway.
All in all, a strong year for the Big Ten.


>
>-Will


-- 
Mark Vincent                        |
Dept. of Mathematics                | "Gee, I never saw an invisible
Colorado State University           |    wall before."
vincent@lagrange.math.ColoState.edu |            -- from "Time Bandits"
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college