Expanda Draft Part One - the Big Six

Expanda-Draft Watch - Part One

Believe it or not, we actually drafted most of the best teams out there, with a few exceptions. The Expanda-Draft begins Monday, so in the interest of helping my fellow players pick the best teams, I shall begin my babbanalysis of available teams.

The Big Six (Conferences that is).

Akaoni buttered his bread with teams from the Big Six Conferences, and frankly there isn't much left out there to pick through. But if you must... There are 22 teams in the Big Six that haven't been selected yet, 15 of them with a winning record.

The ACC: There's some potential in these teams.

• Virginia 12-4 (3-0 ACC) - how did this happen? Surely it must be a fluke. The Cavs have beat #19 Georgia Tech and Miami at home, and NC State on the road. The only other significant win might be UAB at home. Losses? Before this 8 game winning streak Virginia lost to Auburn, Stanford, Penn St., and South Florida. This Week: See how they do at Wake Forest on Saturday if you want to know if these punks are worth it.
• Miami (FL) 15-4 (1-4 ACC) - these guys were on my short list until they dropped two games last week on the road at Virginia Tech and Virginia. Their only other loss was on the road at Boston College. Can they win on the road? Does Pepperdine count? Stetson? On the other hand, they've beaten Wake, Minnesota, South Carolina and Tulane. This Week: Miami lost to Boston College in their only game this week. At home.
  
• North Carolina State 12-6 (1-3 ACC) - I don't know, are they worth considering or not? Losses: Clemson, Virginia, Florida, @Arizona, @Wake, Northwestern. No "bad" losses, just a lot of them. Quality wins? @Marquette, @Florida State. This Week: Looking good by beating Duke on Wednesday, they play Saturday at Maryland.

Big 12

• Iowa State 12-6 (1-2 Big 12) - They really don't have a "bad" loss - Northwestern, UNI, California, Duke and Texas. But they really don't have a "great" win either, Houston is about the best they've beat. This Week: they lost to Texas Tech and play Kansas this weekend. I say if they beat Kansas, they might be worth taking (in the second round of expandadraft...)
• Texas Tech 13-5 (1-3 Big 12) - three game losing streak and a loooong conference schedule ahead of them. I don't think they can handle it. Best win: Washington in overtime. This Week: they beat Iowa State and play Oklahoma this weekend.
  
• Nebraska 12-6 (0-3 Big 12) - three game losing streak and a loooong conference schedule ahead of them. I don't think they can handle it. This Week: Saturday at Missouri
• Colorado 10-8 (1-3 Big 12) - Are they any good? They lost to Oregon State. Nuff said. (They did beat Baylor though...)

Big East - this conference is too damn big. Ten of 16 teams are already player owned - are any of the remaining 6 worth it? None are likely to win this beast, but all would likely get a lot of opportunity for points.

• Providence 11-7 (3-3 Big East) - nothing impressive here. They beat bad teams and lose to good ones. They play South Florida Saturday.
  
• St. Johns 12-6 (2-4 Big East) - They beat Cincy and Temple, and no bad losses really. They play Villanova on Saturday.
  
• Marquette 11-7 (2-4 Big East) - They looked good early on, beat Georgetown, Michigan, Xavier, and their worst loss is Depaul. Hmmm. They play Syracuse on Saturday.
  
• South Florida 11-7 (1-5 Big East) - Put it this way, they've lost every game they've played against another player's team. Saturday is at Providence.
  
• Rutgers 9-9 (0-6 Big East) - The 7 game losing streak doesn't inspire confidence.
  
• Depaul 8-10 (1-5 Big East) - Losing record, come on. They are one of the only teams that have beat Northern Iowa though, beat Marquette Wednesday, and take on Notre Dame Saturday.
  

Big 10 - Not only were two many teams taken here (i.e. Penn St) but what's left is hardly worth mentioning.

• Indiana 9-9 (3-3 Big Ten) - Could they actually be worth it? They are coming off wins over Penn St and Minnesota and have wins over Michigan and Pittsburgh. They play Iowa Sunday.
  
• Iowa 7-12 (1-5 Big Ten) - Don't do it.
  

Pac 10 - The Pac 10 is just one messed up conference. The four teams un-picked are playing better than several teams that were picked. The Pac 10 is completely up for grabs, and since they all suck, there are points a poppin' there.

• Washington St 14-5 (4-3 Pac 10) - I think their record is deceiving. The best win they have is over Arizona, but their five losses are against Cal, Arizona St, Oregon, Kansas St, and Gonzaga. They face UCLA Saturday.
  
• USC 11-7 (3-3 Pac 10) - Good wins: Arizona St, Arizona, Tennessee, UNLV, St. Mary's. Bad losses: Loyola Marymount back in November. These guys are worth a look. See how they do against Washington on Saturday.
  
• Stanford 9-9 (3-3 Pac 10) - They've lost every road game they've played, and a few home games as well. They beat Oregon St. Wednesday and play Oregon Saturday.
  
• Oregon 10-8 (2-4 Pac 10) - Their four game losing streak follows a win at Washington and a bunch of other patsy games. But really, a losing record in the Pac-10?
  

SEC - The teams left are completely unbearable. Georgia (8-8, 0-3), Auburn (10-9, 1-3) and LSU (9-9, 0-4) would all be horrible picks at this point. I won't even waste bullets on them.

So there's the Big Six. See anyone you like? Next post - "The Rest", in which the teams that might actually be worth drafting will be listed.