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How Do You Like Your Basketball?

One of the great things about the NCAA Tournament is watching all sorts of teams we don't get to see throughout the year.  ESPN has helped to change this but it is still true for the vast majority of college basketball fans.  If you're a Kansas fan, you've probably seen a lot more Big East than you would like (thanks to ESPN for that, too).  But as far as watching multiple teams from the Big 10 or Pac 10, it just doesn't happen for most fans that don't follow teams from those conferences.  Teams from those conferences still play basketball, its just played differently sometimes. If you've read enough about the tournament, you've read that Wisconsin plays at a snail's pace.  That pace would definitely be a factor if they can get a matchup with Kentucky.  You might have also read about Missouri and Clemson being a great first round matchup because of the way their styles matches.  Both teams press full court and average about 70 possessions a game.  Some fans prefer to watch a deliberate, disciplined team pass the ball around and wait for the defense to make a mistake.  Other fans prefer to watch teams run up and down the court, taking shots all over the floor. 

Hopefully, I can help both fans find the games for them heading into the tournament.  Below you'll find a graph showing the average pace for the six BCS conferences and for the Missouri Valley and Mountain West (included because of a possible 2nd round match-up with Kansas).  Below the graph you'll find a table for each regional.  The table includes the match-ups and each team's pace.  If you're a fan of up and down hoops, try to avoid games that have two teams below 66.

Star-divide

*these numbers are from here and only include conference games.

The Big 12 teams played their conference games at the fastest pace, almost 69 possessions a game.  Texas, Kansas State, and Missouri are the top 3 teams with Colorado a surprising 4th.  Texas A&M and Nebraska tried to turn the Big 12 into the Big 10, averaging a little over 65 possessions each.  Speaking of the Big 10, they play really slow.  Wisconsin wins the Senior Citizen award for averaging 57.6 possessions per game in conference play.  For the last two conferences, the MVC's slowest team was Northern Iowa.  UNLV averaged 66 possessions a game in the Mountain West.

Tournament Games

MidwestPossessionsWestPossessionsEastPossessionsSouthPossessions
Kansas 70 Syracuse 71 Kentucky 71 Duke 68
Lehigh 70 Vermont 68 East Tenn State 69 Play in Avg 68
UNLV 70 Gonzaga 70 Texas 74 California 69
Northern Iowa 60 Florida State 68 Wake Forest 72 Louisville 69
Michigan St 67 Butler 65 Temple 63 Texas A&M 67
New Mexico St 72 UTEP 71 Cornell 66 Utah State 63
Maryland 71 Vanderbilt 70 Wisconsin 60 Purdue 66
Houston 72 Murray State 69 Wofford 66 Siena 70
Tennessee 71 Xavier 72 Marquette 65 Notre Dame 65
San Diego State 65 Minnesota 67 Washington 73 Old Dominion 63
Georgetown 66 Pittsburgh 64 New Mexico 68 Baylor 68
Ohio 71 Oakland 73 Montana 64 Sam Houston 71
Oklahoma St 69 BYU 71 Clemson 70 Richmond 68
Georgia Tech 71 Florida 67 Missouri 72 St. Mary's 67
Ohio St 65 Kansas State 72 West Virginia 65 Villanova 73
UC Santa Barbara 68 North Texas 70 Morgan State 71 Robert Morris 68
Range 12 Range 9 Range 14 Range 10
Average 68.25 Average 69.25 Average 68.06 Average 67.69

 

Midwest

Maryland and Houston should be an up and down game.  Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech should also be fairly fast paced, not to mention two teams that are pretty evenly matched.  This bracket shouldn't have many real snoozers unless Northern Iowa can control the tempo against UNLV.

West

If you're looking for a fast paced game, Kansas State and North Texas is a good bet.  The 2nd round could offer a great game between BYU and K-State, two teams that are both good and play an up-tempo game.  If Minnesota gets through the first round, them and Pittsburgh have the potential to play a low 60's possession game.

East

This is the bracket where different styles could really come into play.  Texas and Wake Forest in the first round looks like it should be a fast paced game, though it is also likely to be fairly sloppy.  Clemson and Missouri should be fun, both average 70+ possessions.  Washington will try to push the ball against Marquette.  Of course, Wisconsin will play in a way that makes it feel like you're watching basketball from the 1950's.  The 2nd round could feature Texas and Kentucky, both above 70 possessions per game.  Missouri or Clemson would try to speed up West Virginia.  Temple and Wisconsin could probably be played half-court and not change anything about the game. 

South

The South bracket doesn't offer a whole lot of variation, outside of Notre Dame and Purdue.  Notre Dame's pace has slowed to a crawl, their last two games were 49 and 50 possessions.  I'm not sure how much slower it can get with the shot clock. 

Possessions from Statsheet

1 recs  |  Comment 36 comments |

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Comments

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Cool post

can’t wait for this to start!

by I need more Esteban on Mar 16, 2010 1:21 PM CDT reply actions  

Whats with all the Sconnie hating on RCT lately?

Yeah they play slow but it sure is damn effective. My parents aren’t pleased

Shit happens when you win championships

by KU Grad 08 on Mar 16, 2010 1:30 PM CDT reply actions  

would you like me to cancel your membership?

: )

53 Conference Championships!! and now 6 IN A ROW!!! Holy Hell...Good Luck with That!!

by Owen Kemp on Mar 16, 2010 1:44 PM CDT up reply actions  

Are they double spaced too

53 Conference Championships!! and now 6 IN A ROW!!! Holy Hell...Good Luck with That!!

by Owen Kemp on Mar 16, 2010 3:32 PM CDT up reply actions  

Snark is appreciated more when you use proper punctuation.

by DCJayhawk0208 on Mar 16, 2010 4:06 PM CDT up reply actions  

Awesome.

Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.

People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.

by Warden11 on Mar 16, 2010 3:50 PM CDT up reply actions  

where did I hate on Wisconsin?

Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.

People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.

by Warden11 on Mar 16, 2010 3:50 PM CDT up reply actions  

Wow....

that’s all I can say about the Big 10…WOW

53 Conference Championships!! and now 6 IN A ROW!!! Holy Hell...Good Luck with That!!

by Owen Kemp on Mar 16, 2010 3:17 PM CDT reply actions  

Just try living in Big10 country

All that’s ever on CBS. Scary thing is I’ve come to like the toughness of the league quite a bit. I still like Big12 ball better, but you watch what you can.

by MichiganJayHawk on Mar 16, 2010 3:34 PM CDT up reply actions  

3 on 1 fastbreak opportunity...?

I don’t think so, lets setup the halfcourt offense.

53 Conference Championships!! and now 6 IN A ROW!!! Holy Hell...Good Luck with That!!

by Owen Kemp on Mar 16, 2010 3:50 PM CDT up reply actions  

With every Click of that Kodak Pic, you steal a little bit of soul.

Yeah, the grind it out aspect isn’t fun, the physical defense is.

by MichiganJayHawk on Mar 16, 2010 4:03 PM CDT up reply actions  

I've always thought the defensive philosophy...

that Self brought to Kansas from the Big 10 has helped KU in conference. I’m sure the Big 10 overall is still more physical, but Bill Self has always had depth at KU and isn’t afraid to let his guys go after things(steals, blocks, etc)

53 Conference Championships!! and now 6 IN A ROW!!! Holy Hell...Good Luck with That!!

by Owen Kemp on Mar 16, 2010 4:07 PM CDT up reply actions  

Agreed.

I think there is a good mix of tough defense and ‘free flowing’ offense that NCHCBS has brought to KU. Whereas Roy Williams tended more toward we’re gonna outscore you first, if that doesn’t work, we’ll try to create steals and then score, rather than play buckle-down defense every possession. Don’t get my wrong our guys have plenty of defensive lapses, but when they play the D Self wants them to play, they are nigh unbeatable.

I actually just re-watched the ‘08 NC the other morning – still have it on the DVR – wife has been warned NEVAR EVAR to delete it :) – that team had some grace and smoothness that this team doesn’t have. I think they were more athletic than this current KU incarnation. This team is a more gutty and gritty team. Overall team defense is better now vs ‘08 which relied much more on Chalmers and Robinson creating steals & TO. This one is more willing to grind the half-court. Oh and as I re-watched it, it stops right before Mario’s shot…. didn’t get the full game DOH!

by MichiganJayHawk on Mar 16, 2010 4:28 PM CDT up reply actions  

Further comment on Selfs defense...

I remember when Roy was here and Bill Self and Illinois beat us in the tourney back in ‘01. I remember the Illinois bigs absolutely hammering us because they went 6 deep at the time and Self just let them loose. At the same time we had Eric Chenowith and a young Nick Collison and Drew Gooden. All three were more likely to stick there arms straight up and stand there waiting for something to happen because that’s what Roy used to teach.

The result is insane. Collison and Gooden were special players so they were able to respond combining for 36 points and 16 boards. Still they went a combined 9-20 from the free throw line, while Chenowith was…well, Chenoworthless with 0 points and 2 boards.

In the meantime Illinois outrebounded Kansas 41-29 and 17 offensive boards. The Illinois bigs combined for 25 FOULS!!! That’s an average of over 4 per big. Three fouled out. The team was led by Frank Williams, Lucas Johnson and Sergio McClain. The other players were basically decoys and bodies. They beat us up on the interior…we responded fairly well but just weren’t prepared for the onslaught of physical play and multitude of bodies that Self would throw at us.

Now obviously as I recall Illinois was favored but our team was physically beaten.

53 Conference Championships!! and now 6 IN A ROW!!! Holy Hell...Good Luck with That!!

by Owen Kemp on Mar 16, 2010 4:46 PM CDT up reply actions  

I remember that game and complaining to my brother that Illinois

completely out-toughed us. So when we landed coach Self after the Roy debacle, I was quite happy with our catch, hoping our teams would learn some of that toughness. Now I don’t see how things really could have turned out any better.

by MichiganJayHawk on Mar 16, 2010 5:00 PM CDT up reply actions  

Wow, anyone watching the Tex Tech game?

Seton Hall player (Herb Pope) just punched a Tech player in the nuts. Coming down the court taking up defensive position it was a purposeful punch to the nuts… wow. Pope was ejected right away. Haven’t seen something that classless in a while.

by MichiganJayHawk on Mar 16, 2010 8:18 PM CDT reply actions  

I think it was Darko Cohadarevic

He got a bit fouly in the B12 tournament. He’s probably been cruising for that for awhile.

by sax solo on Mar 16, 2010 9:21 PM CDT up reply actions  

KU Basketball WINS...

The Academic Performance Tournament

It's not that I'm lazy; it's that I just don't care.

by KRichards on Mar 16, 2010 9:49 PM CDT reply actions  

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/03/15/ncaa

It's not that I'm lazy; it's that I just don't care.

by KRichards on Mar 16, 2010 9:49 PM CDT up reply actions  

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/03/15/ncaa

"Not to be cliché or anything, but I’m Jayhawk born and Jayhawk bred and when I die I’ll be Jayhawk dead." - Ovechwin

by Andy Edwards on Mar 16, 2010 9:50 PM CDT up reply actions  

Just gotta remember

no hyperlinks or sarc font in the subject box.

Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.

People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.

by Warden11 on Mar 16, 2010 9:51 PM CDT up reply actions  

Just put it in the big box, not the little one.

TWSS?

"Not to be cliché or anything, but I’m Jayhawk born and Jayhawk bred and when I die I’ll be Jayhawk dead." - Ovechwin

by Andy Edwards on Mar 16, 2010 9:55 PM CDT up reply actions  

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/03/15/ncaa

It's not that I'm lazy; it's that I just don't care.

by KRichards on Mar 16, 2010 9:58 PM CDT up reply actions  

Wow that was easy

What does that little link button that is right above this big box accomplish?

It's not that I'm lazy; it's that I just don't care.

by KRichards on Mar 16, 2010 9:59 PM CDT up reply actions  

That's the subject line.

If you click the subject line, it makes the body of the comment go bye-bye. Like, try it with this comment right here from me. It’s handy for when people post pictures or .gifs that slow down your thread, especially in Open Game Threads where it’s fast and high paced.

"Not to be cliché or anything, but I’m Jayhawk born and Jayhawk bred and when I die I’ll be Jayhawk dead." - Ovechwin

by Andy Edwards on Mar 16, 2010 10:05 PM CDT up reply actions  

D'oh.

I misread what you wrote. That’s for doing a link like this:

Story.

You type whatever you want to become the link, then select it, then hit the link button, then past the URL in there. It changes it to a texted hyperlink once you post. Also, always click the Open in New Window box when doing that.

"Not to be cliché or anything, but I’m Jayhawk born and Jayhawk bred and when I die I’ll be Jayhawk dead." - Ovechwin

by Andy Edwards on Mar 16, 2010 10:07 PM CDT up reply actions  

Alright now it's all coming together

It's not that I'm lazy; it's that I just don't care.

by KRichards on Mar 16, 2010 10:25 PM CDT up reply actions  

The SB Nation comment template

is that absolute best there is. Once you figure it out, you’ll never stop commenting.

/looks at self

"Not to be cliché or anything, but I’m Jayhawk born and Jayhawk bred and when I die I’ll be Jayhawk dead." - Ovechwin

by Andy Edwards on Mar 16, 2010 10:28 PM CDT up reply actions  

W&M up one 10 to play

It's not that I'm lazy; it's that I just don't care.

by KRichards on Mar 16, 2010 10:00 PM CDT up reply actions  

tied now

just below 6 left. Entertaining game.

Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.

People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.

by Warden11 on Mar 16, 2010 10:11 PM CDT up reply actions  

Comments For This Post Are Closed


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