For a few years now this Big Ten graduate has kept a bottle of bubbly on ice to be opened only when the league is no longer the nation’s slowest major conference. At the time I started my tradition, I fancied that I was following the ritual started by veterans of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who drink a toast each year when the last remaining undefeated NFL team loses a game. The only difference here, of course, is that Bob Griese and Larry Csonka get to sip their sparkling wine annually, while I’ve never tasted mine.

At least last year was notably suspenseful: Continue reading →

Sometimes I feel like we make evaluating performance more difficult than it needs to be. Like when I see people touting a point guard who shoots 29 percent on his threes as the preseason national POY. What if he golfed? “We’re pleased to announce our choice as the 2014 PGA Preseason Player of the Year. The one facet of his game that could use improvement is recording fewer strokes over 18 holes.”

Anyway, in the spirit of straightforward evaluation, here are your teams of the century. There’s a good chance Nebraska, Northwestern, Oregon State, Providence, Rutgers and South Carolina will all merit mention here sometime before 2099. Their inspiration should be Minnesota, which just made the list in 2013. Continue reading →

The ACC held its media day this week, and the assembled members of the press caught my eye by picking Syracuse to finish second in the league behind Duke. That struck me as a tad rosy for a team that lost three starters from a group that outscored the Big East by just 0.07 points per trip last year.

If indeed the ACC’s pollsters are viewing the world through Orange-colored glasses, my first ad hoc speculation was that this might be due to recency effect. Maybe the voters are thinking back to the incredible defense this team played on its way to the Final Four — and not of the more normal D this same team played during the Big East regular season.

That in turn led me to wonder whether past Final Four teams have been overrated in ensuing preseason league media polls. It turns out the answer to that question is a somewhat qualified yes….

Continue reading →