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Round 6 of the SBN Conference Re-Draft seemed to shift focus to acquiring major basketball programs, with Kentucky, Kansas, and Maryland coming off the board. Inexplicably, the biggest name basketball program in the country was overlooked by the other 5 conferences. Fortunately, our esteemed Commissioner knew exactly what to do with the #36 overall pick in the draft.
Welcome the Cameron Crazies and Duke University to the 12-Pack. Head on over to Duke Basketball Report and welcome our newest conference mates.
Here's how round 6 looked (table and quote courtesy of BCInterruption)
| BCI | BHGP | TSK | BECB | HoS | RCR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1. Texas | 2. Florida | 3. Alabama | 4. Ohio State | 5. USC | 6. LSU |
| 2 | 12. Georgia | 11. Penn State | 10. Oklahoma | 9. Florida State | 8. Notre Dame | 7. Michigan |
| 3 | 13. U.C.L.A. | 14. Virginia Tech | 15. Nebraska | 16. Louisville | 17. Oregon | 18. North Carolina |
| 4 | 24. Wisconsin | 23. Miami (Fla.) | 22. Texas A&M | 21. Michigan State | 20. Tennessee | 19. Stanford |
| 5 | 25. Washington | 26. Auburn | 27. Arizona | 28. West Virginia | 29. Syracuse | 30. Arkansas |
| 6 | 36. Duke | 35. Kansas | 34. California | 33. Maryland | 32. Kentucky | 31. Iowa |
Comissioners and Conference names: BCI: Twelve Pack; BHGP: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants; TSK: (still nameless); BECB: Conference TMZ; HoS: House of a Thousand Sanctions; RCR: The Cult Of Les Miles
Round six was all about hoops, Hawkeyes and hippies. Basketball-first schools dominated the round with the House of A Thousand Sanctions (House of Sparky) selecting Kentucky at 32, Conference TMZ (Big East Coast Bias) selecting Maryland at 33 and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Panties (Black Heart Gold Pants) selecting Kansas at 35.
But the other five commissioners let a few terrible decades of football scare them off from the real hoops prize, Duke basketball.
RCR began round 6 with a solid and safe all-around pick of Iowa at 31. House of A Thousand Sanctions continued to outpace its name by taking Coach Cal and futures on his next vacated final four (really guys, there are no bonus points for NCAA COI inquires). Maryland at #33 is a very respectable basketball school who must now rebuild in the wake of Coach Gary William's Cunningham's departure, but who is still inferior to Kansas who went 2 picks later at #35. BHGP finally discovered an entire continent to the left of the Atlantic, and ironically skipped the monster sitting right in its backyard. Berkeley, as usual, looked awkward as it joins the all-red conference. That left the grand prize available to the Twelve Pack, and our Commissioner did not miss.
Any questions why Duke was a fantastic pick? Read after the jump...
While many may not share Dick Vitale's degree of man-love for Coach Krzyzewski and Duke University from a fan's standpoint, there are more than enough reasons to love the Blue Devils as a conference mate. Duke's consistent excellence in basketball is essentially unmatched in the last 2 decades, making them a fixture on TV and in college BB conversation. In short, there is no denying the enormous success and name value of the Duke Basketball program. Coach K's program, all by itself, rounded up over $26 million in revenue in 2009-10 (more than football and basketball combined at Florida State, even with all the free shoes). Adding in football, Duke was #25 overall in revenue in the land.
Duke also has excellent non-revenue sports, particularly lacrosse, golf, and track & field. While we commiserate over our own decline in standings like the Director's Cup, Duke can boast of their current 3rd place position this year.
Duke academics ranked #14 in the World University Rankings for 2010-11. That works just fine in what is already the top academic conference by far (sorry RCR, but you did start off with LSU).
The name recognition that Duke Basketball adds to our conference cannot be matched by any of the other basketball schools in round 6. Joining U.C.L.A., Texas, Wisconsin, and Washington, the 12-Pack easily outdistances BECB as the best basketball conference in the Re-Draft. Add that to an already outstanding football conference led by Texas, Georgia, and Wisconsin, with the west coast schools coming on. Top it off with the continued geographic noose around the country and the dominating TV market share.
The rich get richer. Literally.
Our conference is half full at this point, and with the snake pattern of the Re-Draft, we are up again right away for pick #37. Who should the 12-Pack add next? Missouri? Clemson? Virginia? Chico State? Someone else? Give us your thoughts here, or take them straight to our Commissioner at BC Interruption.