Reviewing Sporting News Conference Picks

Last week I reviewed the Sporting News Top 25 picks. Here are some surprises from the major conference predictions.

Mountain West Conference - UNLV was predicted to win and they ended up 5th.
Pac-10 Conference - Washington was picked 4th and won outright. USC was picked 2nd and finished tied for 5th.
Big 12 Conference - Texas was picked to win and finished in a four-way tie for 4th. Kansas was picked 4th and won outright. Baylor was picked 3rd and finished 9th.
Big Ten Conference - Illinois was picked 7th and finished tied for 2nd.
Atlantic 10 Conference - Charlotte was picked 3rd and finished 12th.
SEC East - South Carolina was picked last (6th) and tied for first.
West Coast Conference - it went almost as predicted. Predicted finish: Gonzaga, St Mary's, San Diego, Portland, Santa Clara, Pepperdine, San Fran, Loyola Marymount. Actual finish: Gonzaga, St Mary's, Portland, Santa Clara, San Diego, Pepperdine, San Fran, Loyola.
Western Athletic Conference - Idaho was picked last (9th) and tied for 3rd.
Missouri Valley - Northern Iowa was picked 5th and finished tied for first. Southern Illinois was picked 2nd and finished tied for 5th. Drake was picked 4th and finished tied for 8th.

Out of the bigger conferences (Atlantic 10, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Missouri Valley, Mountain West, Pac-10, SEC, West Coast, and Western Athletic) the teams picked last generally ended up last or second to last -- they were good at picking the bad teams. In general, they did pretty well with the predictions. The entries listed above are minor compared to all the possible permutations.

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