Conference standings can be misleading...

With unbalanced scheduling in effect in all the major conferences (with the exception of the Pac-10 and the Valley of Darkness), simply looking at the conference standings at any point during the season does not necessarily tell the whole story.

For example Notre Dame is 6-5 and Nova is 5-5. But who did they play?

Notre Dame wins: Villanova, Louisville, Seton Hall, @Syracuse, West Virginia, South Florida

Villanova wins: Notre Dame, Louisville, @Seton Hall, @Georgetown, @Providence

Notre Dame losses: @Villanova, @DePaul, @Georgetown, @StJohns, @South Florida

Villanova losses: @Notre Dame, DePaul, @Syracuse, Pitt, @West Virginia

Just comparing the above shows that Villanova played a more difficult schedule, got two good road wins @Georgetown and @Providence with just one bad loss (DePaul), while Notre Dame split games with bottom-feeder South Florida, with just one road win (@Syracuse), but no home losses. So Nova's 5-5 is actually better than Notre Dame's 6-5.

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Statistics courtesy of http://www.kenpom.com/rpi.php