The problem with most of these different criteria is that they are each flawed in some sense. Take, for example, the conference RPI. The ACC has the best overall conference RPI, but that is mostly due to the top two teams. Also, the difference between the top conference and the forth conference in terms of conference RPI is less than .01, hardly a distinguishing number.

It seems as if there is no good way to stay definitively that one conference is better than another other than just watching the teams play, which is too subjective to be used. For this reason, I am not going to partake in this particular debate today. What I will try to do is find the toughest conference.

What do I mean by toughest? Not the most physical or the one with the best defenders, I essentially mean the conference with the most teams you do not want to face in March. Now, granted, the Big East has the most teams, so they have an edge. Based on the way I took the numbers, though, I have tried to eliminate that advantage. Since I am not trying to find the best conference, I will only be looking at the top nine teams, but in some cases fewer. I chose nine since it would encompass all the bubble teams from the various conferences.

First, let’s compare the RPIs of the nine teams from each of the power conferences:

However, when you look at it that way, the top teams are being weighed down by the bottom ones. So, now, we will look at how the top four in each conference compare:

And how the 5-9 teams compare:

Finally, we want to look at just the top half of each conference, in an effort to account for the size difference of the conferences. In the case of an odd number, I rounded up.

The results are fairly conclusive. The Big East has the most competitive teams. Especially when you look at the teams in the middle of the conference, it becomes clear how deep the Big East is. People will say that it doesn’t mean the Big East is the best conference, but that is not my argument. My point is that when it comes to being battle-tested, the Big East teams will have an advantage over other conferences. And at a time when every game could be your last, you need every edge you can get.

Below, we’ve complied a list of the BCS conferences and broken down their total number of NCAA tournament teams along with their seedings. Then, we’ve included the three Big East vs. BCS games in the first round and the six potential second round games between the Big East and other BCS Teams. Those are the ones for the real bragging rights.

Keep in mind that there is a slight chance that all of the teams that make it to the Elite Eight are from the Big East- that would mean that Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, and Villanova all upset the #1 seeds.

As predicted, Luke Harangody of Notre Dame won Player of the Year, averaging a double-double and leading the league in points. He is the first player to average 20+ points a game and 10+ rebounds a game since Georgetown’s Mike Sweetney and Syracuse’s Carmelo Anthony did it in 2003. Troy Bell won Player of the Year in 2003, but looking at their numbers it’s hard to see how the award didn’t go to Big Mike or Carmelo. Head to head, this is how the two rivals went at it.

But the real news yesterday for Hoyas fans came as a surprise. A new Big East award was presented last night, and it went to Georgetown’s own Patrick Ewing, Jr. The award? 6th Man of the Year. Tony had talked about the lack of such an award in the NCAA and that if it existed, Pat would be a shoo-in. Well, the Big East obliged, and Pat has some hardware to add to his personal trophy kit.

Individual Awards

Player of the Year:
Luke Harangody

Coach of the Year:
Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh

Back when the Hoyas were 5-1 in the conference, I wrote about how 1/3 of the conference season was over. At that point Georgetown was in first place in the Big East, and I said that if they went 5-1 in each of the following thirds of the season they would win the regular season title at 15-3. This just goes to prove my point that if you make enough predictions, eventually you will be correct.

Now then, about the first season. As the game against Louisville was winding down, and Georgetown trailed by one, I thought to myself, “There is no way the Hoyas are going to lose this game, not after all the close finishes, not on senior day. Jon, Roy and company have done too much this season and throughout their careers to let this final opportunity slip away.”

You can often find trends throughout a season. It’s no coincidence that teams that fail to execute in the final moments lose a lot of games in the same fashion, and it’s the same with winning close games. Congratulations to the Hoyas for their remarkable concentration and execution in the final five minutes all season. Unfortunately, that season is over, and everything starts from scratch in New York City. Well, almost everything.

The Hoyas will probably eventually lose a close game this season, but there is nothing more valuable than winning games to give confidence for winning more games. Louisville is a very good team. The fact that they were only ranked #12 re-emphasizes the point that the voters in the polls mostly just adjust their picks from the previous week and not really analyze which are the best 25 teams in the country. If the Hoyas don’t face Louisville in the Big East Tournament, they will either be lucky or eliminated before the finals. The Cardinals will be fine after the loss at Verizon Center. They’ll be hard to beat at Madison Square Garden, and they will make a strong run for the Final Four. But they’ve already missed out on one chance to lift a trophy.

As for Georgetown, they are 1 for 1 in trophy-lifting this season. That is something that nobody else in the conference can say. They now have more momentum and more confidence than anybody else in the league. That’s one additional advantage as they try to win three more Big East games. A college basketball season is like a house of cards. If you’re trying to build a good one, you need concentration, and a steady hand. You need to be a little lucky at times, and you need to be patient. Each time you complete one portion in the best way, it’s a little easier to build the next section. Everything can come crashing down at a moment’s notice, but the stronger the foundation, the more likely that the final product will be a thing of beauty. Georgetown has finished the first level of their card house. It is as sturdy as it can be, and it cannot crumble. That foundation makes it a little bit easier to complete the next story, but it doesn’t guarantee anything. Now they just want to make sure that it isn’t only a one-level house.

Individual Awards

Defensive Player of the Year:
Hasheem Thabeet

6th Man of the Year:
Patrick Ewing, Jr.

Rookie of the Year:
Jonny Flynn