NCAA Basketball: Ranking the top 8 conferences for 2018-19

By Adam Childs | Oct 15, 2018

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 10: Head coach Tony Bennett of the Virginia Cavaliers cuts down the net after defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels 71-63 during the championship game of the 2018 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 10, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 04: Moritz Wagner /

4. Big Ten

2017 Tournament Teams – (4) Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State

It was a tough call putting the Big Ten in front of the SEC with the Big Ten having a very down year last year. But the Big Ten has been consistently better the last few years than the SEC so they get the nod. Michigan making it to the national title game also helped put them over the top.

The Big Ten was very top-heavy last year as the four tournament teams along with Nebraska were very good, while the rest of the conference was, to put it lightly, very bad. Minnesota and Northwestern had big hopes coming into the season, but both fell flat. Indiana did show some improvement but was not ready yet. And the rest of the conference just couldn’t compete. The weakness of the conference actually hurt Nebraska in trying to get a bid to the NCAA tournament.

But this year looks to be different. The top teams are reloading to be good and Indiana looks like they could be a tournament team again. Look for the Big Ten to bounce back this year and show again that they are one of the best conferences. If they don’t the SEC will be breathing down their neck.

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