AUTiger789

Win % is a garbage stat.

Gonzaga has an automatic path to 25 wins minimum thanks to a conference schedule loaded with the likes of Santa Clara and Pepperdine.

How does that count when the SEC and Big 10 are having to play all Quad 1 and 2 games in conference play?

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Why wouldn’t that count?

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I literally said they count.

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Smaller number of entries means it was harder to get into the tournament.

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1939 Oklahoma got in with an 11-8 record
1948 Wyoming got in with an 18-9 record and a 6-4 conference record
1949 Arkansas was 15-11 and they got in.
1950 Baylor was 14-13 and they got in.

Every one of these teams can automatically count an “Elite 8 appearance” before even winning a single NCAA Tournament game.

Tell me how that is equal to a team in the modern era making a run to the Elite 8.

First off, let’s define the Bluebloods as (alphabetical order): Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, and UCLA.

National Titles:
11- UCLA
8- Kentucky
6- North Carolina
5- Duke
4- Kansas

Championship Game Appearances:
12- Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA
11- Duke
10- Kansas

Final Four Appearances:
21- North Carolina
18- Duke, UCLA
17- Kentucky
15- Kansas

Elite 8 Appearances:
38- Kentucky
29- North Carolina
25- Duke
23- Kansas
22- UCLA

Tournament Appearances:
62- Kentucky
54- North Carolina
51- Kansas, UCLA
47- Duke

So here are my 2 cents…

I think that Tournament success since 1985, which is when the field expanded to 64 teams and seeding began, is more impressive than what happened back in the 1940s when the Tournament was just 8 teams and often teams with very poor records were included just because they were in certain geographical regions.

Two of Kentucky’s titles and 3 Final Four’s came between 1939-1950 when the Tournament had just 8 teams. Two other titles occurred in 1951 and 1958 when the Tournament had just 16 and 24 teams respectively.

Almost the entirety of UCLA’s major success occurred between 1964-1975, when the tournament had either 23 or 24 teams except for ‘75 when it expanded to 32 teams.

While I do think these accomplishments count, they shouldn’t be weighted with the same value as a Tournament won in the Modern Era (1985-present).

Here are how those same stats look in just the modern era:

National Titles:
5- Duke
4- North Carolina
3- Kentucky, Kansas
1- UCLA

*UConn has 6 and Villanova has 3

Championship Game Appearances:
9- Duke
6- Kansas, North Carolina
5- Kentucky
2- UCLA

*UConn has 6

Final Four Appearances:
14- Duke
12- North Carolina
9- Kansas
8- Kentucky
5- UCLA

Elite 8 Appearances:
19- Duke
18- North Carolina
17- Kentucky
15- Kansas
7- UCLA

Tournament Appearances:
38- Duke
36- Kansas, North Carolina
33- Kentucky
29- UCLA

Weighing everything together, I rate them like this…

1. North Carolina
2. Kentucky*
3. Duke*
4. Kansas
5. UCLA

*If Duke wins the title this year, I think they pass Kentucky.

I had the same thought earlier today. Listened to hear talk of the Final Four… didn’t last 5 minutes. The callers are all just a complete embarrassment to humanity. It’s not remotely funny or entertaining.

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Pearl average (6 yrs) : +11.7

Oats average (5 yrs) : +9.8

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So Pearl rates higher. Auburn also has an opportunity to rack up either 16 or 32 more points in this exercise with the downward possibility of losing most -1 at the most.

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Alabama went 26-4 (@ Mizzou, Ole Miss, Oregon (N), @ Purdue) vs teams outside the KenPom Top 5 and 2-5 vs the KenPom Top 5. All 4 non-top 5 losses were to tournament teams.

Tennessee went 29-4 (Kentucky, @ Kentucky, @ Ole Miss, @ Vanderbilt) vs teams outside the KenPom Top 5 and 1-4 vs the KenPom Top 5. All 4 non-top 5 losses were to tournament teams.

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I mean that doesn’t look a whole lot different than Auburn or Florida.

Auburn was 2-3 against the KenPom Top 5 (granted we can’t play ourselves; we were 3-4 against the next 5 best teams).

Auburn is 29-1 against opponents outside the KenPom top 6.

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Arky fans remain butthurt.

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By far the Butthurt Champs.

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Because of the changes in the game I'm not entirely sure you can compare across different years with KenPom the way you might could have 4-5 years ago.

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Some seasons have just a lot of great teams. Others don’t.

2025 has 6 teams with a rating of 30 or higher… that’s insanely strong.

2023 had zero such teams, and 2020 and 2022 each had one each.

But 2019 was similar to this year…. 5 teams with a 30 rating or higher (apparently Auburn only decides to be great in insanely stout years for the sport).

2015 was also a great year… Six teams with a 30 rating or higher.

Bump.

Turns out KenPom knows what they are doing.

Going back to 2002, only 9 teams have managed a KenPom rating of 34.2 or higher, and all 9 have now made the Final Four.

Unfortunately for the four who did it this season, they’re sharing a Final Four with 3 other teams who are among the best individual teams in NCAA Basketball’s modern era.

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I still don’t know why Auburn fans can’t enjoy the final four without continuing to obsess over Alabama’s draw in the tournament. Wait….yes I do. The little brother is strong.

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Your team treats wins over Auburn like it’s the Super Bowl. And your jerk of a coach literally waved his hands in the air and taunted the Auburn crowd, and then you wonder why Auburn fans rub it back in your face.

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