The Big Ten has five teams in each poll. The Big XII has six in the AP poll and five in the Coaches poll, with Texas A&M checking in 26th. The Big East has seven in both. Based on those numbers alone, its pretty easy to see why those three conferences are universally regarded as the three best in the country.
It wasn't supposed to be that way.
Before the season began, all the pundits -- ourselves included -- said that the Big Ten and the Big XII were far and away the two best conferences in the country. Both appeared to be far stronger at the top than the other six power conferences, and neither of them had the amount of extra baggage at the bottom of the league that the Big East does.
What changed?
There are a number of answers to that question. Purdue lost Robbie Hummel for the season with a torn acl. Neither Michigan State or Kansas State has played up to their potential. Teams like Texas, Missouri, and Minnesota have alternated looking great with looking thoroughly mediocre.
But perhaps the single biggest reason that the Big East is in the conversation as the best conference in the country has been the play of two teams no one expected much out of this season -- Louisville and UConn.
It wouldn't be easy to find a team with a more turbulent 12 months than UConn or Louisville.
The Huskies are facing NCAA sanctions after a scandal came to light involving a recruit (presumably Nate Miles), an agent with ties to the UConn program, and UConn's knowledge of this relationship. Jim Calhoun steered clear (or attempted to) of the allegations by throwing his staff and his athletic department under the bus, but he couldn't avoid the speculation that his diminishing health and a program on a downward trend would force his ouster as head Husky.
With Kemba Walker surrounded by, well, Alex Oriakhi and a bunch of freshmen, no one was surprised that the Huskies were picked to finish 10th in the Big East. Not with that kind of cloud looming over their head.
Its also why no one could have predicted the Huskies incredible run in the Maui Invitational. As you are all well aware, UConn knocked off Wichita State, Kentucky, and Michigan State on the shoulders on Kemba Walker, climbing to No. 4 in the polls released today.
Louisville's start has not made as many national headlines, but they have been just as surprising.
Everything that could have gone wrong this offseason did. To start, Louisville lost two star recruits -- Michael Chandler and Marquis Teague. One of those recruits, Teague, ended up committing to rival Kentucky. All this happened while Rick Pitino's name was dragged through the mud during Karen Sypher's trial for attempting to extort Pitino. Then freshman Justin Coleman was declared ineligible, Roburt Sallie did not graduate in time from Memphis to gain eligibility at Louisville, and Russ Smith and Jared Swopshire (who was expected to start) were injured before the season even began. Do I need to mention Preston Knowles' suspension for getting into a fight with his girlfriend's father?
None of it, however, has slowed down the Cardinals. Louisville is now 8-0 on the season with impressive wins over Butler and UNLV. Perhaps more important than those victories was a win Pitino had on the recruiting trail. Over the weekend, he landed a commitment from Rodney Purvis, a top ten player in the class of 2012.
So much for the embarrassment of the Sypher trial affecting Pitino's ability to recruit.
But when it comes to overcoming adversity, no one has done it better than Bruce Pearl and the Tennessee Volunteers.
The past year has been incredibly difficult for Pearl's program. On New Years Day of this year, four of his players were caught in a car with guns, drugs, and an open bottle of liquor. Tyler Smith ended up being kicked off the team, while Brian Williams, Melvin Goins, and Cam Tatum were all suspended for multiple games. Then there was Bruce Pearl's recruiting violations, his lies to the NCAA and to his program trying to cover it up, his upcoming eight game suspension, and the looming NCAA sanctions.
There is not shortage of distraction there, yet Pearl's club has gone 25-7 in 2010 calender year. That includes wins over Kansas and Kentucky last year, a run that took them within one possession of making the 2010 Final Four, and this season's 7-0 start with wins over Villanova and Pitt, which came on Saturday. The win over Pitt was so impressive that it vaulted the Volunteers to No. 7 in the country. Keep in mind, this team was picked to finish 4th in the SEC East.
That's not supposed to happen.
None of it is.
Team's facing this kind of adversity are not supposed to be winning games, but they are.
And while the guys doing the bulk of the work are wearing the uniforms -- Kemba Walker and Scotty Hopson are playing their way up NBA draft boards, while Louisville has had different heroes every night, most recently Knowles and his 20 point second half against UNLV -- the credit has to be given to the coaches.
In this day and age, its near impossible to keep your players insulated from media and fan scrutiny. Not when a simple google search will bring any number of words written on your team. Not when message boards give every moron with a keyboard a voice. And especially not when its possible to mention a player in a tweet and have the message go straight to that player's phone.
For Jim Calhoun, Rick Pitino, and Bruce Pearl, their task at hand has been to keep their players focus on the court, not off of it.
I think its safe to say they have done an impressive job in that department.
Love 'em, hate 'em, completely indifferent towards 'em, the job that these three coaches have done this season in the face of this kind of adversity is impressive, to say the absolute least.
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