Houston’s loss to Duke proves ‘they’ were right: The Big 12 was always overrated
Houston leaving the American Athletic Conference to win the Big 12 in its first season is one of those accomplishments that should not happen.
No Group of 5 that goes to a “Power” league should ever win it in Year 1.
This is on Kansas, Iowa State, Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas State and the rest that could not prevent Houston from winning the league. Houston won the Big 12 because ... wait for it ... the league wasn’t that good. Certainly not as good as its flock of coaches advertised.
The only truth serum in college basketball is the one-and-done NCAA Tournament, an unfair data point but it’s fair for everyone who makes it.
On Friday night at the American Airlines Center, the Big 12’s final representative in the NCAA Tournament went down. Top seed Houston lost to the scrappy underdog Duke Blue Devils, 54-51.
What kind of sick world are we living in when Duke is an underdog in anything other than football?
Duke advances to the regional final to play North Carolina State on Sunday for a glorified ACC game just a few miles south of the campus of future conference friend, SMU. (These future conference alignments are so geographically dumb it stings the nostrils, but that’s for another day.)
The Big 12 sent a record-tying eight teams to the NCAA Tournament. Two reached the Sweet 16, Iowa State and Houston. Both lost.
To every Coog’ and Big 12 apologist: The loss of Houston guard Jamal Shead to an ankle injury in the first half against Duke is one of those that stinks for everyone involved. His absence changed the game; hard to say it changed the outcome.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said Shead suffered a grade four sprain.
“There is not another Jamal. He was the best player on the floor tonight,” Sampson said. “He’s been the best player on every floor this year but a few. We got a 1 seed because of him.
“Just sometimes that’s God’s work. It wasn’t our time. ... With Jamal, it’s a totally different story. That’s here nor there. ... It’s not a fair fight.”
OK, so I asked him if Jamal Shead plays, does Houston win?
“I’m not going to answer that,” Sampson said.
(Translation: Yes.)
Shead was a first team All-American, the Big 12’s defensive player of the year, and player of the year.
“There is no replacement for him,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said after the game.
Said Duke guard Jeremy Roach of Shead: “He’s a great player; heart and soul of their team. It changed (the game) a little bit. He’s a big part of their team. They won their last game without four of their starters.”
He’s referring to Houston’s OT win over Texas A&M in the round of 32 where four UH starters fouled out, and the Cougars blew a 12-point lead with two minutes remaining. Houston was fortunate to reach the Sweet 16.
Against Duke, Houston was stuck in one of those games where finding the middle of the basket required a team of deep sea divers. Even with Shead healthy, this felt like a one-possession game.
After the final buzzer blared, Duke players made their way to the end of Houston’s bench to congratulate/console Shead, who played the final game of his college career.
Houston was the best team from a good league that wasn’t better than the ACC. Probably the Big East, too.
As the regular season evolved and projected NCAA Tournament brackets were kicked around, it was only a matter whether the Big 12 would have eight, nine or 10 teams in the field. Other coaches from around the country noticed, and were not exactly thrilled.
“Do I believe some Big 12 coaches and administrators have concluded that saturating their schedule with power conference opponents isn’t worth the risk? Yep,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said during a press conference late in the season, before his team was curiously not invited to the tournament.
But .... the Big 12 had the nation’s best NET average, and strength of schedule. As this NCAA Tournament performance illustrated, they were false numbers and achievements.
The knock was that most of the Big 12 teams deliberately played pillow-strength non-conference schedules to bloat their numbers. The plan worked.
The teams beat up each other in conference play, all of the statistics and analytics worked in their favor, and the league sent a bunch of teams to the NCAA Tournament. They gamed the system brilliantly.
March Madness revealed the Big 12 for what it really was.
Good. Hardly the best.
This story was originally published March 30, 2024 at 1:13 AM.
