Conventional wisdom suggests that powerhouse programs fare better during conference play because they play tough nonconference opponents. Kind of like a young boxer facing a few seasoned veterans before stepping up to a championship bout (sorry, I’m a boxing fan). That’s not true. Actually, teams that have won NCAA titles in recent years haven’t had top nonconference schedules.

This comes from the 2008-09 Sporting News College Basketball preseason magazine: “In the past six years, no team has won the national title after playing a non-league schedule ranking better than 82nd. The average non-league schedule strength for champions since 2003: 150th. The average NCAA Tournament finish for the major-conference teams with the toughest nonleague schedules: second round.”

Last season’s champs, Kansas, faced this slate of nonconference foes in the 2007-08 season: Louisiana Monroe, UMKC, Washburn, Northern Arizona, Arizona, Florida Atlantic, USC, Eastern Washington, DePaul, Ohio, Georgia Tech, Miami (OH), Yale, Boston College and Loyola (MD).

Minnesota has a weak nonconference schedule, but it does include a top five team (Louisville), an NCAA tourney team (Cornell) and a squad from a powerhouse conference (Virginia). The Gophers are simply following a formula that seems to work for top programs.

-For those of you who read my post about Kevin Love earlier this week, the story has taken on a new twist. I sat next to Kevin Love at Williams Arena Friday. One of my college basketball preview magazines turned up missing after Tubby’s Tip Off. And Love was the last person to look at it … so I thought. I never accused him of stealing it, I just wanted to know if he accidentally grabbed it.

Well, Star Tribune pro basketball reporter Jerry Zgoda told me that he talked to Love who told him that he left the magazine at press row. But someone on Facebook posted a note saying that they had Love’s basketball magazine. So, it turns out that a fan grabbed my magazine, thinking it was Love’s. I’m not sure how that affects the magazine’s resale value.

-Former Augsburg three-sport athlete and current Arizona head coach Lute Olson is reportedly stepping down. Arizona’s 1997 NCAA championship squad was the first college basketball team I really admired. He’s accomplished a lot in college basketball, including a 780-280 record in 34 years of coaching and 23 straight NCAA tourney appearances.

-Still no word from Trevor Mbakwe. But I love this quote from new Marquette head coach Buzz Williams about Mbakwe’s departure from the school: “”Trevor called me and said, ‘My people have decided I need to go to a junior college.’ I told him, ‘If that’s what your people are saying then that’s what you need to do,’ ” Williams said. “I don’t want guys that aren’t committed.”

Who are his “people”? And what will Tubby Smith think about them if Mbakwe signs with the Gophers?

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 5:20 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.