Porter Moser responds to coaches questioning Big 12 strength

Porter Moser and the Oklahoma Sooners have put together an impressive 2023-24 season, keeping pace in the hyper-competitive Big 12 conference. This season, the conference ratcheted up their level of competition on the hardwood with the addition of a national championship contender in the Houston Cougars along with BYU, UCF, and Cincinnati.

Many college basketball experts view the Big 12 as the best conference in men’s college basketball to date. However, other head coaches and representatives from other conferences have scoffed at the notion that the Big 12 is head and shoulders above the rest.

However, this doesn’t bother Moser as he understands exactly why those individuals are taking shots at Oklahoma’s current conference home.

“It’s just posturing; people trying to posture their league. And why wouldn’t you? I don’t blame anybody for posturing. But just watch it on TV, live through it. I mean, you just see it; the numbers don’t lie. Look at all the nonconference numbers,” said Moser.

“So I don’t blame any league for posturing trying to do it. Hey, we’re all trying to posture to get into this tournament. But your eyes don’t lie; the numbers don’t lie. It’s not even close. This league is unbelievable. Night in and night out, venues, everything — what happens is we go through it [and] you start beating each other up. And that’s when the posturing comes in.”

Moser’s statement comes on the heels of the comments made by Clemson Tigers head coach Brad Brownell, who accused the Big 12 of being able to manipulate NET rankings, leading to the conference having the most teams projected for this year’s NCAA men’s championship tournament.

ESPN’s bracketology expert Joe Lunardi’s recent projections show the Big 12 leads all conferences with a projected nine teams in the field of 68 this year, and another two are up for consideration. Oklahoma is being projected as an 8-Seed as the 30th-ranked tournament team.

Brownell frustrated Big 12 was able to ‘manipulate’ NET rankings

Clemson coach Brad Brownell is frustrated that the Big 12 has been able to “manipulate” the NET rankings, he said during a recent radio appearance.

According to Brownell, several schools in the Big 12 put together an easy nonconference schedule in order to boost their efficiency numbers, thus helping their NET ranking.

Brownell argued that there’s really not much difference between any of the major conferences, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at NCAA Tournament bracket projections and the NET. Joe Lunardi has nine Big 12 teams in his latest Bracketology, compared to only five for the ACC.

“A couple of things that folks don’t understand, you can manipulate the NET. … And there’s a strength of schedule dynamic where the Big 12 has managed it with their scheduling. Their nonconference scheduling, they’re playing 300 level teams and winning by 40 and 50 points to increase their offensive and defensive efficiency numbers, which is a big part of the NET tool,” Brad Brownell said Monday on WCCP. “So that’s why you see teams trying to win at the end of games by 30 or 40 points instead of putting in your walk-ons.

“So the Big 12, they’re playing eight nonconference games, seven nonconference games against low level teams and increasing their NET. Then when they all get into the league, their totals are higher, their NET rankings are higher. And so their teams are perceived to be a little better than they are.”

The Big 12 currently has 10 teams in the top 50 of the NET, led by No. 1 Houston.