This question is always out there, particularly for determining if Nova is deserving of their rankings, polls/statistical/etc. Is Nova just beating up on a bunch of mediocre teams? How would BE teams do in other leagues? Well, I decided to do a comparison with the B1G, who we had our little conference match-up with and logged a total of 17 games against (going 10-7). The teams that played were:
Nova (1)
X (1)
SH (1)
Prov (2)
GTown (2)
Butler (1)
Creighton (3)
Marq, DePaul, StJ (2 each)
MSU (1)
Iowa (1)
Maryland (1)
Purdue (1)
Indiana (2)
Mich (1)
Wiscy (2)
Nebraska (2)
Rutgers (3)
PSU, NW, IL (1 each)
(Seems balanced to me)
The average "raw" points per possession tracked by kenpom for the BE teams weighted for the 17 games against the B1G was 102.65. The average "raw" points per tracked by kenpom for the same 17 team weighting against BE competition is 100.48. What this means is the same BE teams performed slightly better offensively against the B1G than they do on average against BE teams.
The average "raw" PPP for B1G teams in the 17 games against the BE was 100.59. The same weighting against B1G teams was 104.95. So this means the B1G teams performed worse against the BE competition offensively than they do against their own conference.
Nebraska, who averages a raw 111.4 PPP against B1G teams averaged 87.5 against the BE. Wiscy, who is 8-4 in conference play but 0-2 against BE, averages 107.9 in B1G but 91.5 against BE teams.
The BE in conference play ranks near the bottom of the 32 ranked conferences in eFG% and efficiency, but near the top in tempo, turnover %, steal %, block %, Assist %, and FT %. So the conclusion I keep coming to is the BE plays a tougher, more physical defensive-minded brand of basketball than a conference like the B1G. If a team like Nebraska can average 111 points per possession in that league, what would Nova or Xavier or SH or Butler do? Does it also prove that Nova's defensive stats are legit and would hold up against any other conference? I think so.
Just some food for thought.
Nova (1)
X (1)
SH (1)
Prov (2)
GTown (2)
Butler (1)
Creighton (3)
Marq, DePaul, StJ (2 each)
MSU (1)
Iowa (1)
Maryland (1)
Purdue (1)
Indiana (2)
Mich (1)
Wiscy (2)
Nebraska (2)
Rutgers (3)
PSU, NW, IL (1 each)
(Seems balanced to me)
The average "raw" points per possession tracked by kenpom for the BE teams weighted for the 17 games against the B1G was 102.65. The average "raw" points per tracked by kenpom for the same 17 team weighting against BE competition is 100.48. What this means is the same BE teams performed slightly better offensively against the B1G than they do on average against BE teams.
The average "raw" PPP for B1G teams in the 17 games against the BE was 100.59. The same weighting against B1G teams was 104.95. So this means the B1G teams performed worse against the BE competition offensively than they do against their own conference.
Nebraska, who averages a raw 111.4 PPP against B1G teams averaged 87.5 against the BE. Wiscy, who is 8-4 in conference play but 0-2 against BE, averages 107.9 in B1G but 91.5 against BE teams.
The BE in conference play ranks near the bottom of the 32 ranked conferences in eFG% and efficiency, but near the top in tempo, turnover %, steal %, block %, Assist %, and FT %. So the conclusion I keep coming to is the BE plays a tougher, more physical defensive-minded brand of basketball than a conference like the B1G. If a team like Nebraska can average 111 points per possession in that league, what would Nova or Xavier or SH or Butler do? Does it also prove that Nova's defensive stats are legit and would hold up against any other conference? I think so.
Just some food for thought.
