Thoughts, Revelations or General Misunderstandings...

Been a little busy lately (why can't this just be a full-time job), but I've got all of the conference stats updated through yesterday's games.

Some interesting tidbits that pop out of the pages:

Big East
Georgetown is better than we all think, and is far and away the most efficient offense in the Big East. Yes they sit in the middle of the pack in total points scored per game, but they only run at 57 possessions a game. 1.19 points-per-possession is .08 points better than the next best team. Their incredible shooting (61.8% efg) is overcoming their less-than-great turnover percentage of 23.9%.

ACC
UNC a brutal force on the defensive end??? Whoda thunk?? The Tar Heels boast a .89 ppp allowed on defense, .05 points better than Duke's "vaunted" D. Numbers that great explain the .22 efficiency margin that they are currently posting. Oh, they're also clipping at a 76.3 possession per game pace. What I would pay to see a match up between UNC and Air Force.


Big 12
Kansas St's surprising (or not if you're a Bob Huggins believer) rise this season has been with a strange collection of stats. They are currently last in 2-pt shooting (an awful 41.9%) but they're rebounding a good portion of their misses (1st in the league at 37.1%). Their D is average (allowing 1.01 ppp) but they've had the benefit of a vile display of shooting from their opponents, as they are only "giving up" 27.7% 3-pt shooting.


SEC
It's common knowledge that Florida is steps ahead of the rest of the jumbled SEC. Heck they're shooting 47.6% from beyond the arc. Next best is Vandy at 39.9%. They're also only giving up 46.2% efg on their way to a "best-in-what-stats-I-post" .23 efficiency margin. And the Tigers? Stuck at the bottom of the offensive efficiency rung at only .95 points a possession scored. NIT is a long way to fall.


MVC
Ahh, the nice medium paced MVC, a spokes-conference for parity! All of the teams range from -.1 to .12 in efficiency margin for a .22 ppp range total. Compare that to .4 in ACC, .34 in the Big East and Big 12, .41 in the Pac 10, .43 in the SEC and .43 Big Ten!! Truly an all out bloodbath-winner-takes-all conference with the Salukis somehow on top despite not being terribly efficient on the offensive end. Their Defense butters their bread with their opponents slowed to a 59.9 possession per game average and only .96 points scored on each of those few and far between possessions. If an opponent has a possession, they're turning the ball back over a league-leading 24.1% of the time.


Pac10
Arizona is still a scary team come Pac10 tourney time as their offense (save for the UNC disaster) can score at will in their horse race of a game. Washington St. of course is holding on to the ball like it's their youngest child, only giving up 13.6% of their possessions to turnovers. UCLA as expected is solid on both sides, shooting well and not giving up much either (3rd in the league in both Efg %)


Big Ten
On to the Wonk!!