What is College Basketball's Toughest Conference?

It’s that time of the year again. Bets are made, brackets are set, and there are predictions everywhere. ESPN goes on and on and on about it for the whole month. Celebrities throw in their ideas. It’s a whole whirlwind of statistics and predictions that won’t end until April 9. Yes sir (or ma’am), you guessed it right: It’s NCAA tournament time!

This year is especially hard to guess. Unlike last year, there will be no “majority picks”. This year, it’s going to be hard to predict all the way to the end. There have been many teams ranked Number 1 in the nation that have lost to teams ranked below them (I’m looking at you, Indiana). But in the NCAA tournament, all that matters is if a team is ready to play that day and more days to come. If not, well there will be NO chance of passing to any round. Seedings just “help ease your schedule”, or so they say. But, I’m not sure if anybody remembers in the 2010-11 season, Virginia Commonwealth University went in to the Final Four when no one thought they could make it to the final 32. Just last year, the North Carolina State Wolfpack went to the Sweet Sixteen and 15th-seeded Lehigh beat second-seeded Duke in the first round. This just shows you to NEVER TRUST THE ANALYSTS AND SEEDINGS.

There is something that comes before the NCAA tournament, though. There are also conference-wide tournaments. There is the ACC tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Pac-12 and Mountain West tournaments are happening in Las Vegas. The Big East tournament is most likely getting its final run, in Madison Square Garden. The Big Ten is in Chicago. And the list goes on. Obviously, people are going to have an eye everywhere, busy with brackets and favorite teams having a chance to make it. Folks, after this, if you love brackets, your life is going to be taken over by one for the next couple of weeks.

But there’s one question that I have always wanted to be answered: What conference is the most difficult and competitive? Well, I went to some people and asked them what they thought about it.

“I think that the ACC has always been one of the best and most competitive conferences due to rivalry, die hard fans, and just plain skill,” says Sarah Hall, a crazy North Carolina fan herself.

“I would say the ACC because you never know what can happen and it’s a conference that’s filled with upsets,” remarks Parker Szarek.

“I would say the Big Ten because of the teams in that conference like Indiana and Michigan State,” says Jeffery Kimbro.

I had gotten many others but these were, what I thought, the most intriguing. Who would I pick? That, my readers, is a very good question. But a better question is what conference would YOU pick to be most competitive?