Delany's Folly

Listen, Jim Delany has made his member schools filthy rich. The Big 14 is awash in cash from the Big 14 TV Network. Nonetheless, his reign of terror in college athletics has done nothing for fans and alumni of the original 10 teams.

Teams go years without playing one another in football. The Big 14 hockey conference has been a bust. I don't follow other than seeing what Michigan fans say and they hate it. They miss their old rivalries and are upset the conference is so mediocre.

But this is a basketball blog and let's talk Big 14 Hoops. Today, Rutgers went to Northwestern and lost by 39. They gave up 98 points to a team that is 334th in tempo. In the first half, Rutgers made 7 baskets total. Northwestern made 9 3-pointers.

Rutgers is currently 305th in KenPom. Only Utah, in its first Pac-12 season, was nearly as bad for any Power 5 league. Rutgers is 315th in offense, averaging less than a point per possession and 246th in defense. They are below average in every one of the four factors except fouling on defense. Huzzah. Every Bog 14 loss has been by double digits except their opening tilt at home against Indiana. They did manage triple overtime against Illinois.

The tired argument for adding Rutgers was the addition of the New York market. Diamond Jim Delany is so desperate to make an impact in NYC, he schedules the Big 14 tournament a week early to get into MSG in a few years. For that, he gets a running joke. It's a shame for the other schools and their fans. Sometimes, the dollars aren't worth it.