When conferences have their best basketball matchups, Big Ten's are dullest

I was watching Saturday's Michigan State-Ohio State men's basketball game Saturday and the following thought occurred to me:

This isn't great ball.

And it wasn't. Michigan State won, 58-48. Very few games with final scores resembling 58-48 have been great works of basketball art, especially since the advent of the 35-second shot clock. Yes, the Spartans played fantastic defense. But if you're Ohio State, you shouldn't score a mere 48 points against anyone, anywhere.

That game was on the heels of a beauty between Duke and North Carolina a few nights earlier (Duke won, 75-84) and the memory of Iowa State's 72-64 home win over Kansas two weeks earlier was still fresh in my mind. Was it just my imagination that the Big Ten has stiffer games when its better teams face each other?

So I went to the statistics. I took a look at conference games between the four best teams in each of the six BCS conferences -- five teams with the Pac-12 and six with the Big East because their standings were too tight to differentiate the best four.

Lo and behold, it wasn't even close. When two of the top four teams in the Big Ten (according to the current standings) have met, an average of 112.7 points have been scored. When two of the four best ACC teams have met, the average is 148.5 points. At 128. 5 points, the Big East is fifth of the six BCS leagues.

ACC 

Duke 8-2, North Carolina 8-2, Florida State 8-2, N.C. State 7-3

Meetings of those four: Duke 85, North Carolina 84; Florida State 76, Duke 73; North Carolina 74, N.C. State 55; Florida State 90, North Carolina 57

Totals: Four games, 594 points, 148.5-point average

Big 12

Leaders: Missouri 10-2, Kansas 10-2, Baylor 8-4, Iowa State 8-4

Meetings of those four: Missouri 76, Iowa State 69; Missouri 72, Baylor 57; Missouri 74, Kansas 71; Missouri 89, Baylor 88; Kansas 68, Baylor 54; Kansas 82, Iowa State 73; Iowa State 72, Kansas 64

Totals:  Seven games, 1,001 points, 143.0-point average

SEC

Leaders: Kentucky 11-0, Florida 7-3, Mississippi State 6-4, Vanderbilt 6-4

Meetings of those four: Kentucky 69, Vanderbilt 63; Kentucky 78, Florida 58; Florida 73, Vanderbilt 65; Florida 69, Mississippi State 57; Mississippi State 78, Vanderbilt 77 (OT)

Totals: Five games 687 points, 137.4-point average

Pac-12

Leaders: California 10-3, Washington 10-3, Arizona 9-4, Colorado 9-4, Oregon 9-4

Meetings of those five: Ten games, 1,337 points, 133.7-point average

Big East

Leaders: Syracuse 12-1, Marquette 10-3, Notre Dame 9-3, Georgetown 9-4, Louisville 8-4, South Florida 8-4

Meetings of those six: Eleven games, 1,418 points, 128.9-point average

Big Ten

Leaders: Michigan State 9-3, Ohio State 9-3, Michigan 9-4, Wisconsin 8-4

Meetings of those four: Ohio State 64, Michigan 49; Ohio State 58, Wisconsin 52; Michigan State 58, Ohio State 48; Michigan State 63, Wisconsin 60 (OT), Michigan 60, Michigan State 59; Michigan State 64, Michigan 54; Michigan 59, Wisconsin 41

Totals: Seven games 789 points, 112.7-point average

Look at that again. There have been seven games between the teams currently in the Big Ten's top four. Not once did a team top 64 points in any of those games. On three occasions, a team was held in the 40s.

In overall Big Ten play, however, the numbers aren't gruesome. Indiana averages 73.1 points, Ohio State 72.7. Iowa is fourth at 69.1. Only Penn State and Nebraska are under 60 points a game, while five ACC and four SEC teams are under 60 in conference games.

But when the best of the ACC or best of the Big 12 meet, the games feature offense. Those leagues are controlled by uptempo teams. The Big Ten's traditional basketball powers include Michigan State and Wisconsin, the basketball equivalent of meat-grinders.

It's clear the league needs Indiana and Iowa to join Ohio State in the upper echelon and change the way league ball is regarded nation-wide. There have been many times in the not-so-distant past when Big Ten ball was looked upon as cool, when it had the Fab Five, and Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson and the Flyin' Illini of Dee Brown and Deron Williams and Michigan State clubs that featured Mateen Cleaves and Mo Peterson.

These 58-48 games, they don't cut it.