After 3 Decades of my ACC Fans On Top; My Big East Has a Chance Again

 So these ACC comparisons have gotten me in trouble since as a grade schooler in the heart of ACC country and decided I liked the Marquette coach Al McGuire and was pulling for them against the ACC champ UNC for the 1977 title. That carried over when I went to Marquette and then they joined the Big East.

So I'm quick to point out when the Big East has the edge on the ACC, fully acknowledging that the ACC over history has been the greatest basketball conference. But the Big East has had the edge the last several years, as pointed out in my little graphic of tournament wins per conference team over the past several years. The ACC was back on top by far form 2015-2017, but has slipped behind since then. We will see what happens in the future but I have to grab my moments.

But since 90% of my classmates and friends are ACC fans I fully acknowledge they dominated for three decades and just happy to have a chance for my alma Marquette’s conference the Big East to have a chance again to be the best for the first time since the 1980s 😊. The best by decade:

1970s Pac--8

1980s Big East

1990s ACC

2000s ACC

2010s ACC

2020s Big East has a chance again :-)

Hottest 20 Teams in Last Week of Regular Season

 

See the rest of this article from this CBS 247 site, outlining details on the 20 best teams this past week.

 

Best Week	Team	Star for the Week
1	Duke	Carlos Boozer
2	UCLA	Donovan Dent
3	St. Mary's	Mikey Lewis
4	Arizona	Tobe Awaka
4	Florida	Thomas Haugh
4	Wisconsin	John Blackwell
7	Georgia	Kanon Catchings
8	Marquette	Nigel James Jr
8	Michigan	Yaxel Lendeborg
10	TCU	Xavier Edmonds
11	Arkansas	Darius Acuff
11	Oklahoma	Xzayvier Brown
13	Louisville	Ryan Conwell
13	Tennessee	Amari Evans
15	Houston	Chase McCarty
15	Texas A&M	Rashaun Agee
17	Villanova	Tyler Perkins
17	Boise State	Drew Fielder
19	Illinois	David Mirkovic
20	Alabama	Aden Holloway

4 Youngest Teams: Marquette, Penn State, Colorado, Arkansas

Read this piece on John Dodds' CBS247 Sports blog spelling out the youngest power conference teams in the country.

4 Youngest Power Conference Teams:

Penn State (18.85 years old)

Colorado (18.93)

Arkansas (19.07) 

Marquette (19.29)

As we get prepared to report from Madison Square Garden and the Big East Tournament Wednesday, the headline of this one was Pudner: Marquette's win over Providence was impressive/ analytics say MU could have beaten many teams on Wed.

Only Duke or Michigan Would Have Beaten Marquette on Wednesday. MU's average age in 19.29 yrs old, one of the youngest teams in The Big East.

Only Duke or Michigan Would Have Beaten Marquette on Wednesday.  A calculation of Marquette's Net rating if it were based only on Wednesday's incredible performance comes out to +38. That means their play that night would project to a 38-point win against an average Division I team.

Read the rest of the story at Dodds on sports, and another story on the monster outing in the game by two freshman guards.

Marquette's Fr. Guards James & Stevens combine for 41pts/11Rebs/6STs in 78 to 56 blowout win over Providence

All-Time NIT Final Four - Dartmouth '44 vs Detroit Mercy '60 and UNC Wilmington '03 vs N. Iowa 2015

Having settled our two big tournaments with 1976 Indiana claiming the all-time title and 1950 City College of New York claiming the title of newly created teams - we go the the Mid-Majors or a Final Four of Champions of the Non-Power Conferences.

The All-Time NIT Final Four features, and we did update the Dartmouth starting line-up of all future NBA players and also corrected the UNC Wilmington team to show it was actually the 2017 team rather than 2003 team - both of whom almost pulled off massive NCAA upsets against ACC teams.  All teams are now current in the Value Add Basketball Game.

Dartmouth '44 and friends is the one team that includes a compilation of players including two of the greatest coaches of all-time in Dick and Al McGuire - and Dick actually did play on the team but we added his brother and picked players we could find enough stats on from throughout a few season vs Detroit Mercy '60 and one of the greatest players of all time Dave DeBusschere.

While he is one of the 75 greatest players of all time, but one of the greatest cards in the game is Devontae Cacok - who hit 80% of his field goals that year and makes a shot on a 1-13, if fouled on 14-17, and only misses on 18-20.

UNC Wilmington '03 came one second away from stunning defending national champions Maryland despite only making seven 2-pointers and leading until a last second Maryland heave avoided upset will play, however we had mislabeled and actually choice UNC Wilmington '17 with fugure NBA player Devontae Cacok for the team - which led UVa by 15 points in the game but lost in the closing minutes - they will go up against against N. Iowa 2015 which featured Seth Tuttle - hailed by many analytics including our Value Add Basketball Rankings at the time as one of the top 10 players in the country.

Dartmouth '44	Detroit Mercy 1960	N. Iowa 2015	UNC Wilmington 2017
Dick McGuire nba	Ray Albee 14.4 ppg	Deon Mitchell	Denzel Ingram 14.6 ppg
George Munroe nba,AA,82% FT	Larry Hughes 11.7 ppg, 8.1 Reb	Matt Bohannon	Ambrose Mosley
Al McGuire nba St. Johns	George Heger	Jeremy Morgan	Chris Flemmings 15.8 ppg
Gus Broberg aa, 80% FT	Dave DeBusschere 25.6 ppg, 20.0 reb, nba	Marvin Singleton	C.J. Bryce 17.4 ppg
Audie Brindley nba	Charlie North 19.8 Pts, 14.2 Reb	Seth Tuttle AA,15.3 ppg, 6.9 reb	Devontae Cacok nba
Ed Leede	Tom Villemure	Wes Washpun	Jordon Talley
Lionel Baxter Marine	Frank Chickowski	Wyatt Lohaus	JaQuel Richmond
Thomas Killick Marine	Bob Wright	Paul Jesperson	Jaylen Fornes
Joseph Vancisin	John Parker	Nate Buss	Marcus Bryan
Bob Gale	Dick Dylus	Bennett Koch	Chuck Ogbodo

Here are the cards:

1950 CCNY Only Team to Ever Win NIT, NCAA AND Value Add Basketball Game Tournament

The 1950 team from City College of New York was already the only squad ever to win both the NIT and the NCAA Tournament in the same season. Now they’ve added another unique distinction: they are the only team to complete that historic double and win a Value Add Basketball Game Tournament — one of 32 new teams added to the game this season.

Their grind-it-out, 1950-style formula — suffocating defense and total rebounding control — carried them through a string of tight tournament games. Center Ed Roman led the title effort with 14 points and 15 rebounds, helping CCNY post a dominant 52–41 advantage on the glass in a 62–54 championship win.

With 2:44 remaining, it looked like another one-possession defensive nail-biter, with CCNY clinging to a 56–54 lead and on pace for a fourth straight one-basket victory. But they closed strong, scoring the final three baskets against Jim Valvano’s Cinderella 1983 NC State team to secure the 62–54 title win.

Simply put, this was the best defense of any of the 300 teams featured in the game so far. Their tournament path showed it at every stop:

• In their debut, they held Oral Roberts to just 45 points in an 80–45 rout.

• In Round 2, they held one of the tournament’s elite offenses — 1986 Cleveland State — 25 points below its average to escape with a 78–75 win.

• In the Elite Eight, they held Long Beach State 15 points under its average in another narrow 69–67 victory.

• The semifinal felt like the true title game between the top two pre-1960 teams. CCNY held Long Island University 30 points below its average to survive another defensive struggle, 57–55.

• Finally, in the championship, they held Valvano’s 1983 NC State team 21 points under its average in the 62–54 title game.

Title Roster

Starters
PG — Alvin Roth
SG — Floyd Layne
SG — Ed Warner
PF — Irwin Dambrot
C — Ed Roman

Bench
PG — Meyer Wittlin
SG — Ronnie Nadell
SG — Herb Cohen
PF — Joe Galiber
C — Norman Mager

Dambrot was selected as the No. 7 pick in the NBA draft, but chose dentistry over the NBA, and went to Columbia to complete his academic work. His nephew coached LeBron James in high school.

#28 CCNY 1950 Beats #15 LIU, 57-55, to Face Valvano's NC State For New Team Title

CCNY led for only the last 16 seconds of this Final Four game of our newly created teams this year in the Value Add Basketball Game.

Ed Warner hit a game-winning shot in the closing minutes to lead our all-time #28 great team the 1950 City College of New York past #15 great all-time 1939 Long Island University. The win puts the 1950 CCNY team that was the only in history to win both the NIT and NCAA- back when they were considered equal, into our title game of new teams against the 1983 NC State national champs.

Long Island built a double digit lead of 42-31 in a game of two of our oldest teams in the game, from an era when scores were much lower amid scrappy play that led to very tough defense and much lower shooting and free throw percentages.

But CCNY fought back behind 25 rebounds between their two big men Irwin Dambrot and Ed Roman to git them a strong 49-38 rebounding edge and helping them draw 22 fouls to only 14 drawn by Long Island. The first player to draw huge crowds to Madison Square Garden, Irv Torgoff - who led LIU to back-to-back titles, led the way but was one of three LIU players with four fouls each trying not to foul out.

CCNY finally tied the game 55-55 when Ed roman grabbed an offensive rebound with 1:30 to play and kicked it out to Warner who drained the shot to tie the game. Back in 1950 and before free throw shooting as well as shots were made at a much lower percentage, and despite all the fouls drawn CCNY hit only 13 of 26 free throws for 50% to still be in the tie. 

Warner's game-winner still allowed one last roll by Long Island and got the ball to their star Torgoff who led the game with 17 points, but a 53 was in the STOP range for the game, where LIU automatically misses and the rebound goes straight to his defender, in this case Warner, to end the game with the 57-55 win.
 

Pos	CCNY 1950	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Stats
1-PG	Alvin Roth	10	1	1	5	8	5	3	0	2	6'3, 6.4 Pts
2-SG	Floyd Layne	5	0	2	1	2	3	4	4	2	6'3, 6.9 Pts
3-SG	Ed Warner	12	1	3	3	6	9	2	1	2	6'2, 14.8 Pts
4-PF	Irwin Dambrot	5	0	2	1	2	12	1	0	1	6'4, 10.2 Pts
5-C	Ed Roman	9	0	4	1	2	13	1	1	1	6'6, 16.4 Pts
Pos		Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Stats
1-PG	Meyer Wittlin	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	5'10, 1.7 Pts
2-SG	Ronnie Nadell	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	5'11, 2.5 Pts
3-SG	Herb Cohen	6	0	2	2	6	1	0	0	1	6'1, 5.4 Pts
4-PF	Joe Galiber	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	1	2	6'4, 1.4 Pts
5-C	Norman Mager	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	6'5, 3.6 Pts
	11 Turnovers	57	2	19	13	26	49	11	7	14
Pos	Long Island 1939	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Stats
1-PG	Oscar Shechtman	5	1	1	0	2	2	1	1	4	11.0 ppg
2-SG	Dan Kaplowitz	3	0	1	1	2	3	2	1	2	4.0 ppg
3-SG	Irv Torgoff	17	1	6	2	2	8	2	0	4	6.0 ppg, 6'2
4-PF	John Bromberg	6	0	3	0	0	4	0	2	2	12.0 ppg
5-C	Arthur Hillhouse	4	0	2	0	0	12	3	4	2	6.0 ppg
Pos	Bench	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Stats
1-PG	Si Lobello	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	8.0 ppg
2-SG	Myron Sewitch	8	0	4	0	0	1	0	0	1	2.0 ppg
3-SG	Irving Zeitlin	4	0	2	0	0	4	0	0	4	2.0 ppg
4-PF	Joe Shelly	4	0	1	2	2	1	0	1	1	1.0 ppg
5-C	Butch Schwartz	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	1.0 ppg
	16 Turnovers	55	2	22	5	8	38	8	9	22

Valvano's NC State Champs Advance to Final 69-62 Over 1990 Ball State

In this blurry TV shot (see the actual video here), 12-seed Ball State in 1990 had the ball inside the foul line, about to throw up a lob for an alley-oop that would have sent them to overtime against eventual champion UNLV Runnin' Rebels. If that play had connected, perhaps Ball State would have gone on to become an even bigger Cinderella story—joining the level reached by NC State Wolfpack under Jim Valvano.

It’s been a week since we posted our all-time championship game, in which the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers dethroned the 1972 UCLA Bruins as our greatest team of all time—drawing a record 34,000 views in the seven days between posts.

Now we return to finish the Final Four of our newly created teams, along with the NIT Final Four of All-Time Small Conference teams. In our first Final Four matchup, Jim Valvano’s 1983 NC State squad defeated fellow Cinderella hopeful 1990 Ball State.

While Ball State reached only the Sweet 16—rather than winning a surprise national title like NC State—they were just one basket away from possibly joining that same historic tier, having lost by a single basket to eventual champion UNLV.

In our Value Add Basketball Game semifinal, Ball State battled hard. However, NC State pulled away early in the second half when Dereck Whittenburg hit a pair of three-pointers to break a tie and seize control.

That result sets up a championship game among the new teams we created this season. In a couple of cases, though, we were actually recreating older teams after finally compiling enough statistical data to produce realistic player cards. In fact, NC State will face one of the two oldest great teams in our project—the 1950 CCNY Beavers squad, the only team in history to win both the NIT and NCAA titles in the same season, or the 1939 Long Island University Blackbirds team, college basketball’s first repeat champion and an early dynasty.

NC State had climbed sharply in our rankings entering this matchup, but they will actually drop slightly after this game. Ball State’s card rating was -9, and NC State won by just seven points. In our KenPom-style rating system, that closer-than-expected margin—especially after a couple of dominant wins following the creation of these cards—will cause a slight dip despite the victory.

Pos	Ball State 1990	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Ball State 1990 Stats
1-PG	Scott Nichols	5	0	2	1	2	1	1	0	1	6'1,1.0 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 2.8 Ast
2-SG	Billy Butts	2	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	3	6'3,8.8 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 2.1 Ast
3-SG	Chandler Thompson	12	0	5	2	2	5	0	0	4	6'4,11.7 Pts, 5.6 Reb, 1.8 Ast
4-PF	Paris McCurdy	9	0	3	3	6	9	5	1	1	6'7,11.8 Pts, 8.3 Reb, 0.9 Ast
5-C	Curtis Kidd	14	0	5	4	6	4	2	1	2	6'9,10.7 Pts, 6.9 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Pos	Bench	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Bench
1-PG	Mike Spicer	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	5'11,1.5 Pts, 1.1 Reb, 2.0 Ast
2-SG	Emanuel Cross	7	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	2	6'1,7.8 Pts, 1.6 Reb, 2.2 Ast
3-SG	Shawn Parrish	4	0	1	2	2	4	1	0	1	6'5,5.1 Pts, 4.7 Reb, 1.2 Ast
4-PF	Greg Miller	3	0	1	1	2	2	1	0	1	6'8,7.4 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 0.9 Ast
5-C	Roman Muller	4	0	1	2	2	1	0	0	1	7'1,3.5 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 0.1 Ast
	12 Turnovers	62	1	22	15	22	29	12	2	17
Pos	NC State 1983	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	NC State 1983 Stats
1-PG	Sidney Lowe	9	1	2	2	2	2	2	0	2	nba,6'0,11.3 Pts, 3.7 Reb, 7.5 Ast
2-SG	Dereck Whittenburg	24	2	8	2	2	3	1	0	1	6'1,17.5 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 2.4 Ast
3-SG	Ernie Myers	11	0	4	3	4	4	1	0	3	6'5,11.2 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 1.3 Ast
4-PF	Lorenzo Charles	9	0	4	1	2	7	0	1	4	nba,6'7,8.1 Pts, 6.0 Reb, 0.5 Ast
5-C	Thurl Bailey	4	0	2	0	0	10	1	3	4	nba,6'11,16.7 Pts, 7.7 Reb, 1.3 Ast
Pos	Bench	0	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Bench
1-PG	Terry Gannon	2	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	1	6'1,7.3 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 1.2 Ast
2-SG	George McClain	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	6'0,2.7 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.8 Ast
3-SG	Alvin Battle	4	0	2	0	0	2	0	0	1	6'7,2.7 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 0.3 Ast
4-PF	Walter Dinky Proctor	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	6'8,0.9 Pts, 1.1 Reb, 0.5 Ast
5-C	Cozell McQueen	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	nba,6'11,3.5 Pts, 5.6 Reb, 0.9 Ast
	19 Turnovers	69	3	26	8	10	33	7	4	21