Conference tournaments and Final Four

[BUSongwriter]

Does anyone else find it interesting that neither of the teams playing for the national title Monday could win their own conference tournament last month? In fact, not one of the Final Four teams won more than one game in their conference tournaments this year.

If one was skeptical, one might say they weren't giving it 100 percent at the conference tournaments to rest up for the NCAAs. If one was skeptical, one might look at the tournaments of the "power conferences" as something of a joke, since not all teams are giving it their all and since a team can lose in the first round (UConn) or second round (UNC) and still get a Number One seed in the Big Dance.

In my mind, fans who plunk out money for the Arch Madness conference tournament get a better bang for their buck. At least they know they're watching a game that means something.

[jasonpeoria911]

It's kind of the same mentality as pro sports teams when they rest their players the last 5-10 games of the season for the playoffs. These perennial power BCS teams don't need a stinkin conference trophy, they can get those any year they want. For a conference like the Valley or anything less, it's practically our only shot at making the big dance or any trophy for that matter.

Jason

[it's boogie time]

I doubt anybody that watched the UConn/Syracuse game at MSG would say that UConn didn't put 100% into the game.

There is a different feeling at the Big Ten tournament compared to the Valley tournament.

[TheAsianSensation]

Alternatively, you can just assume college basketball has parity and the fact that many teams can beat any team on a given night, we're inevitably bound to find teams win one tournament and flame out in the other.


No correlation between conference tournament and NCAA tournament performance. It's really that simple.

[ser_solace]

I don't know about this. None of the teams are guaranteed a seed in the NCAA tournament when the conference tournament starts. So, a bad performance could knock you down a few notches, and conversely, winning the conf. tournament could net you a higher than expected seed.

So, why not go at it 100%?

[MacabreMob]

So, why not go at it 100%?

And why play more games giving potential opponents more scouting tapes?