We have a new No. 1! Following a 5-0 week by the ACC and a 3-3 week for the Big Ten, the ACC is now on top as the winningest conference in our NCAA Conference Comparison. This has happened much earlier than it did a year ago. What really helped this effort was the Syracuse win over Rutgers. However, the two wins by North Carolina and Duke are what sealed in. Out of the Big Ten’s games, it was two wins by Johns Hopkins that really kept them afloat while No. 1 Penn State was idle. Before I give away too much, here are the details:
2019 NCAA Conference Comparison
Conference | Record | % | +/- |
ACC | 24-7 | 0.774 | 0.043 |
Big Ten | 30-12 | 0.714 | 0.214 |
CAA | 26-19 | 0.578 | -0.012 |
Patriot | 25-19 | 0.568 | 0.180 |
Big East | 23-18 | 0.561 | 0.018 |
Ivy League | 17-16 | 0.515 | 0.106 |
MAAC | 18-23 | 0.439 | -0.144 |
NEC | 19-29 | 0.396 | -0.025 |
SoCon | 19-30 | 0.388 | 0.013 |
DI Independent | 12-20 | 0.375 | 0.078 |
America East | 11-29 | 0.275 | -0.475 |
Note: The records listed for each NCAA Conference Comparison are based on the Monday through Sunday schedule of the previous week.
The Colonial Athletic Association is still holding tight in third, but it’s not a comfortable lead, especially after the Patriot League’s 2-3 week. The CAA is truly remarkable this year, though. After a weak 2018, they are back in force. Towson is likely going to be a top ten team all season, putting them in the running for hosting an NCAA game. UMass lacked consistency early on, but have just joined the ranks of the top 20. Despite that, Delaware technically has the best record while teams like Drexel is putting up a fight in nearly every game they’re in.
On the slate for the next week are a few interesting ones that will affect this table a bit. Penn State will grab a Big Ten win over Cleveland St., but the rest of the conference has a battle ahead of them for the top spot. Maryland will play UNC, Hopkins will play UVA, and perhaps most interesting is Ohio State’s first real test with Notre Dame. It’s the sort of weekend that could either make the rest of the season between these two conference closer than ever, or drive a spike between the two for good.
In terms of the CAA’s weekend to keep hold of third place, Towson facing Denver and UMass facing Brown may be the most intriguing. They can’t quite do enough to take the second spot during a Big Ten collapse, but they are really trying to keep separation from whoever wins up in fourth.
As always, here are the past two years for reference.
2018:
Conference | Record | % | Bids |
ACC | 36-13 | .735 | 4 |
Big Ten | 38-14 | .731 | 2 |
Big East | 33-20 | .623 | 3 |
Ivy League | 31-22 | .585 | 2 |
Patriot | 28-24 | .538 | 1 |
America East | 29-27 | .518 | 1 |
NEC | 27-28 | .491 | 1 |
CAA | 22-29 | .431 | 1 |
MAAC | 19-36 | .345 | 1 |
SoCon | 13-39 | .250 | 1 |
Independent | 7-31 | .184 | 0 |
2017:
Conference | Record | % | Bids |
Big Ten | 45-8 | 0.849 | 4 |
ACC | 36-14 | 0.720 | 4 |
Colonial | 28-22 | 0.560 | 1 |
America East | 29-26 | 0.527 | 1 |
Ivy | 25-25 | 0.500 | 1 |
Northeast | 28-31 | 0.475 | 1 |
Patriot | 27-30 | 0.474 | 1 |
Big East | 25-28 | 0.472 | 2 |
MAAC | 19-36 | 0.345 | 1 |
Southern | 18-36 | 0.333 | 1 |