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Big year for non-power conference schools

The big boys of college athletics have to be a little embarrassed for what has transpired over the past ten months in the three major men’s sports.

Football began as one would expect as Alabama defeated Clemson for the national championship. The Crimson Tide and the Tigers finished the season with identical 14-1 records – the best among power conference teams.

Coastal Carolina celebrates after beating Arizona for the baseball national championship in Omaha
Coastal Carolina celebrates after beating Arizona for the baseball national championship in Omaha
AP Photo/Nati Harnik

But, the five power leagues could not come away with the national championship in basketball. Three power conference teams won 30 games – Kansas (33), North Carolina (33) and Oregon (31). Of those three, just the Tar Heels reached the Final Four.

North Carolina advanced to the national title game by knocking off fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member Syracuse. However, the Tar Heels lost to Villanova in the championship game. Give the national title in basketball to the Wildcats of the Big East Conference.

Now, let’s move to baseball.

There were three power conference teams who won 50 games – Florida (52), Louisville (50) and Miami (50). The Cardinals didn’t even reach the College World Series. The Gators and Hurricanes got to Omaha, but won no games.

Like basketball, there was a non-power conference team in the championship game – Coastal Carolina from the Big South Conference. On Friday, the Chanticleers officially moved to the Sun Belt Conference.

It was up to Arizona, which tied for third place in the Pac-12 Conference, to represent the big boys in the baseball finals. The Wildcats let down the major schools as they were beaten by Coastal Carolina 4-3.

So, Villanova is the national champion of basketball in 2016 and Coastal Carolina is the national champion of baseball in 2016.

The success of the non-power league schools was certainly the story of the 2015-16 athletic year. It had been eight years since a non-power conference team won a national title in one of the three major men’s sports – Fresno State’s baseball team in 2008.

Just two seasons ago, Connecticut was the basketball national champion – the last year the American Athletic Conference was considered a power five league. That means two of the past three national champions in basketball are not presently in one of the five power conferences.

Among the power conferences this academic year, parity was the by-word. No school had all three of its major men’s teams win at least two-thirds of their games. In the three previous athletic years, Louisville had its football, basketball and baseball teams post a .667 winning percentage each season.

There were 18 power conference teams who had two of their top three men’s teams win at least two thirds of their games – five from the Southeastern Conference. LSU was one of those five schools – along with Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Texas A&M.

Here are the other 13 power conference schools on this list: Clemson, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Iowa, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, TCU, Arizona, Oregon and Utah.

In each of the last five academic years, LSU has had two of its big-three men sports teams finish with a .667 winning percentage. Only one other power conference school has matched this performance – Oregon.

The Ducks even surpassed the Tigers’ on-field results. Oregon had two of its big-three sports win two-thirds of its games the last two athletic years. All three of the Ducks major men’s teams had a .667 winning percentage in each of the three previous athletic years.

Thanks to baseball and football, LSU has enjoyed the most success among SEC school in the last five years. The Tigers’ baseball team has won at least two-thirds of its game each season, while the football team did it four times – missing out in 2014-15 (8-5). The basketball team bailed out LSU that year.

The Tigers may not have been winning many SEC titles in the major sports, but they have been more consistently successful than other teams in the conference.

Here is the number of times SEC football, basketball and baseball teams have won at least two-thirds of their games during the past five academic years.

LSU: 10 (football, 4; basketball, 1; baseball, 5)

FLORIDA: 8 (football, 2; basketball, 3; baseball, 3)

SOUTH CAROLINA: 7 (football, 3; baseball, 4)

VANDERBILT: 7 (football, 2; basketball, 1; baseball, 4)

TEXAS A&M: 6 (football, 2, basketball, 1; baseball, 3) Note: One of the baseball seasons came when the Aggies were in the Big 12 Conference.

ALABAMA: 5 (football, 5)

KENTUCKY: 5 (basketball, 4; baseball, 1)

OLE MISS: 5 (football, 2; basketball, 1; baseball, 2)

GEORGIA: 4 (football, 4)

MISSISSIPPI STATE: 4 (football, 2; baseball, 2)

MISSOURI: 4 (football, 2; basketball, 2) Note: One of the basketball seasons came when the Tigers were in the Big 12 Conference.

ARKANSAS: 3 (football, 1; basketball, 1; baseball, 1)

AUBURN: 1 (football, 1)

TENNESSEE: 1 (football, 1)

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