ACC or Big East? Krzyzewski says the ACC is clearly tougher

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ACC or Big East? Krzyzewski says the ACC is clearly tougher

By Tim Hall, Adam Harris

Jan 16, 2009

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The Big Ten is no challenge for the ACC in men's basketball. But the Big East? That's a different story. Duke plays Georgetown Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium in a showdown of the two powerhouse leagues.

With that game looming, 99.9 FM The Fan and WRAL are asking coaches and commentators for their views of how the two leagues compare.

Mike Krzyzewski, Duke basketball coach

The Duke coach is quick to say the Big East is tough in men’s basketball.

But better than the ACC? No chance.

In a news conference Friday, Mike Krzyzewski said anyone arguing that the Big East was better was only taking a “surface” look at the issue.

“It just seems that people are always talking about the Big East,” Krzyzewski said. “I don’t know if it’s because they [ESPN] want an audience for Big Monday. I don’t know.

“I look at the Big East and they are a terrific conference, but I think they have six or seven teams in their league that haven’t won in conference. That won’t be the case in the ACC.”

He noted that Duke will play Carolina twice and Wake twice, while Georgetown will play many of the top Big East teams just once.

The argument that the Big East is better, he said, is “more of a superficial – no, that’s too harsh – it’s more of a surface look at things,” he said. “When you take an in-depth look, our league is the toughest league. I don’t think there’s any question about it.

“And I think their league is great. But to me that seems easy to see. We have four teams in the top 10. And the bottom teams thus far are giving the top teams really good battles – and in fact winning some.

“To me that’s what you call a great league.”

Sidney Lowe, N.C. State coach

Coach Sidney Lowe has spent a great deal of time involved with the ACC, first as a player and now as the coach of the Pack, the very team he led to the 1983 National Championship.

Though he was careful not to upset anyone from other teams or other conferences, Lowe made it clear that he holds the Atlantic Coast Conference in very high regards.

“Somebody is going to call me from the Big East,” Lowe joked. “All I’m saying is that we have a great conference – we have multiple teams that are ranked high. You have no nights off. We have no nights off in the ACC – none.”

Though it may not decide who wins or loses on the hardwood, the national perception of a conference can have some effect on whether or not programs on the so-called "bubble" are selected for the NCAA Tournament. For that reason, some coaches go out of their way to make their feelings known on the subject.

Lowe refrained from going into too much depth on the subject, but did allow that he thinks the best in the ACC can stack up with anyone.

"Obviously I’m a little biased towards the ACC because I’m in it and we’re competing in it,” Lowe admitted. “It’s not to take away anything from the other conferences, but we have teams that probably should have made the tournament [last season]. I’m not going to get involved with the committee and who should have been what, but we have some very tough teams in our conference – teams in our conference that can play against, and beat, any team in the country.”

Jay Bilas, ESPN commentator

It has been a hot debate for a few years now. Which conference is better when it comes to college basketball; the ACC or the Big East?

The Big East has eight teams in the AP Top 25 this week. In that same poll, the ACC has four of the top ten teams. So which is the superior hoops conference this season?

"One through 12, the Big East is better," said Jay Bilas of ESPN. "And I think if you put a lie detector on every ACC coach and said, 'If you think the Big East is not as good as the ACC, we'll let you move into the Big East right now and play the rest of the season in the Big East,' none of them would agree to it."

Bilas, a former player and assistant coach at Duke, is a weekly guest of The Insiders on 99.9 FM The Fan. He sees a lot of college basketball as a color analyst and studio announcer for ESPN broadcasts.

Bilas says despite his belief that the Big East is deeper, the ACC has better teams at the top.

"One through four, I think the ACC is better," Bilas told The Fan. "The top four teams in the ACC I think are better - generally and overall - than the top four teams in the Big East."

Bilas also shared his thoughts on Duke's game against Georgetown on Saturday, among other things. He joins The Insiders each Thursday on 99.9 FM The Fan to weigh in on a number of different college basketball topics.

Thursday's interview can be heard in it's entirety by following the link on this page.

Rich Chvotkin, radio voice of the Georgetown Hoyas

The play-by-play voice of the Georgetown Hoyas might be best known for his exciting on-air rants after Hoya victories. When they beat Vanderbilt in the tournament a couple years ago, Rich Chvotkin chanted "Hoyas win!" 17 times. That's something he surely would love to do on Saturday when his team meets Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

This game will feature a couple of representatives from two of the strongest conferences in college basketball this season. Some have speculated the Big East could take nine teams to the NCAA Tournament, and the ACC currently has four teams nationally ranked in the Top 10.

Chvotkin quoted John Thompson III on how difficult the gauntlet of the Big East is night in and night out.

"Not only do you have great teams but you have different styles of play, so you can't just prepare for one kind of match up," Chvotkin said. "You have to look at all the different styles in preparing for these teams and they come at you in waves."

Chvotkin used the example of playing a team like Villanova, which uses a four-guard set, as compared to Pittsburgh, which will pound the basketball inside. But what about the ACC? The Hoyas voice feels the talk about which conference is better really doesn't matter until the end of the season.

"I think both conferences have their right to claim the authority in the best conference because they both play great basketball," Chvotkin said. "When you say 'who's the best' it's really hard. You have weed it out as it gets toward NCAA time."

Doug Doughty, sports writer, Roanoke (Va.) Times

The columnist for the Roanoke Times took a harder stance against the ACC as a powerful conference. In fact he stated the conference was overrated in football and in basketball

"Georgia Tech is not very good, BC last night (against Wake Forest) was not very good, Maryland has lost to Morgan State," Doughty said. "I think the ACC is deluding itself if people are sure that it's the best conference, because I think it's up for grabs."

Doughty ended his thoughts on the ACC by saying there are plenty of programs that need to pick it up, including the school he writes about, Virginia.

Virginia lost at home to Liberty, although the Flames do have Stephen Curry's little brother Seth on their team.

Most Recent Comments

RE: ACC or Big East? Krzyzewski says the ACC is clearly tougher

The Dookies represented the ACC well today.

RE: ACC or Big East? Krzyzewski says the ACC is clearly tougher

"K can back up his word today with a win against Georgetown."

well we can put this one in the books as a win for the ACC.

RE: ACC or Big East? Krzyzewski says the ACC is clearly tougher

It really does not matter to me who they say is tougher. Get on the court, play the game and win. That will settle the argument once and for all. The talking heads love to try to get things started between the schools.

RE: ACC or Big East? Krzyzewski says the ACC is clearly tougher

Georgetown vs dook..thats all i see in this.

RE: ACC or Big East? Krzyzewski says the ACC is clearly tougher

"Big East rank: 3. Guess which is #2? That's right, the Pac-10. The ACC is #1. However, what that REALLY means is that the ACC is top-heavy and strong throughout. The Big East is top-heavy but very weak at the bottom."

at least some people have sense in here. i mean for u hole fans who are complaining about what K said...do u really think Roy would stand up and say the big east is better or do u think he'd do what K did and defend the ACC and talk about how tough our conference is?

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