Below are the top 10 FG% leaders from 4 major conferences. I was struck by the disparity between the leaders in the Big East and the ACC. I was also struck by the disparity in the number of shots taken by the players on these lists.

Does this mean anything? Does it mean that the ACC teams are more inclined to take a quick shot? Do the ACC players take worse shots than the players from the other conferences? Are the Big East players just better shooters?

Why does the Big 12 and the ACC each have 6 players listed who have taken in excess of 200 shots while the Big East(18 games versus 16 games) and the Big 10 each have i player who has taken over 200 shots??

Yes, I am bored. I thought this was interesting.


Big East

FIELD GOAL PCT Cl GP FG FGA Pct
1. ONUAKU, Arinze-SYR SR 18 92 136 .676
2. NDIAYE, Hamady-RU SR 18 69 118 .585
3. JACKSON, Rick-SYR JR 18 78 136 .574
4. GATES, Yancy-CIN SO 18 85 149 .570
5. FREEMAN, Austin-GU JR 17 121 213 .568
6. VAUGHN, Julian-GU JR 18 54 97 .557
7. KOSHWAL, Mac-DPU JR 14 96 175 .549
8. PENA, Antonio-VU JR 18 63 115 .548
9. MONROE, Greg-GU SO 18 106 195 .544
10. ROBINSON, Jeff-SHU JR 18 88 163 .540

Big 10

FIELD GOAL PCT Cl GP FG FGA Pct
1. Morgan, Rayma-MSU SR 18 83 148 .561
2. Tisdale, Mike-ILL JR 18 83 150 .553
3. Sampson III, R-MINN SO 16 49 91 .538
4. Turner, Evan-OSU JR 16 121 232 .522
5. Johnson, Dami-MINN SR 18 68 132 .515
6. Jackson, Da (DJ)-PSU JR 18 67 131 .511
7. Nankivil, Keaton-WIS JR 18 68 133 .511
8. Green, Draym-MSU SO 18 67 132 .508
9. Bohannon, Jaso-WIS SR 18 83 164 .506
10. Hoffarber, Bla-MINN JR 18 62 123 .504


Big 12

Field Goal Percentage (Min. 5.0 made per game)
## Player-Team Cl G FG FGA Pct
----------------------------------------------------
1.Morris, Marcus-KU........ SO 16 87 155 .561
2.Burks, Alec-CU............. FR 15 89 170 .524
3.Higgins, Cory-CU......... JR 16 105 201 .522
4.James, Damion-UT.......SR 16 105 205 .512
5.Anderson, James-OSU...JR 16 117 245 .478
6.Dunn, LaceDarius-BU.....JR 16 108 231 .468
7.Bradley, Avery-UT........ FR 16 81 178 .455
8.Carter, Tweety-BU........ SR 16 82 191 .429
9.Gilstrap, Marquis-ISU.... SR 16 86 207 .415
10.Sloan, Donald-TAMU.....SR 16 95 231 .411

ACC

FIELD GOAL PCT (MIN 5 PG) Cl GP FG FGA Pct
1. Derrick Favors-GT FR 16 80 128 .625
2. Trevor Booker-CU SR 16 94 186 .505
3. Tracy Smith-ST JR 16 93 188 .495
4. Dorenzo Hudson-VT JR 15 90 202 .446
5. Greivis Vasquez-MD SR 16 121 274 .442
6. Sylve Landesberg-VA SO 14 90 204 .441
7. Al-Farouq Aminu-WF SO 16 80 184 .435
8. Nolan Smith-DU JR 16 95 221 .430
9. Kyle Singler-DU JR 16 95 231 .411
10. Ishmael Smith-WF SR 16 92 231 .398

At first glance, I would say that this has more to do with the difference of styles in which the ACC and Big East play. The ACC is traditionally the basketball version of the the SEC, meaning a quicker, more up-and-down the court style of play. The Big East is typically more a drawn out, bruising style of basketball. Then again, the Big East has two teams in the top ten in the nation in scoring, and three in the top 20 (Nova, Syracuse and Seton Hall). The ACC only has two (Maryland and Duke) in the top 20. So the PPG theory doesn't really hold much weight.

Nova and Syracuse are exceptional offensive outfits this season, however. Seton Hall can really score, too, especially with Jeremy Hazell. This explains why those teams are scoring so many PPG. For the most part, however, I would argue that the ACC is the faster-paced conference and therefore produces more offensive activity.

Another important thing to note as to why the Big East has a better shooting percentage than the ACC based on the numbers above stems from the positions of the players being evaluated here. Of the 10 Big East players listed above, eight are centers or power forwards. Of the the 10 ACC players listed above, 7 are traditional guards. I see this as fundamental textbook basketball. Centers are taking more high percentage shots than guards. And because the ACC lacks a prominent class of big men this year, there aren't as many great big men with great shooting percentages on the ACC FG% lists.

These are just a couple of reasons I came up with in about four minutes so take it for what it's worth.

SEC numbers? Pac-10?

SEC
RK PLAYER TEAM GP PPG FGM FGA FGM FGA FG%
1 Brendon Knox, C AUB 31 106 161 .658
2 Vernon Macklin, F-C FLA 31 144 237 .608
3 Patrick Patterson, F UK 31 184 315 .584
4 Jarvis Varnado, F MSU 31 155 269 .576
5 Jeremy Price, F UGA 28 84 148 .568
6 Murphy Holloway, F MISS 29 126 223 .565
7 DeMarcus Cousins, F UK 31 172 320 .538
8 Storm Warren, F LSU 30 132 250 .528
9 A.J. Ogilvy, C VAN 30 134 260 .515
10 Jeffery Taylor, G-FVAN 30 141 276 .511

1 Eric Boateng, C ASU 31 109 167 .653
2 Reeves Nelson, F UCLA 26 107 169 .633
3 Jamal Boykin, F CAL 30 148 250 .592
4 Derrick Williams, F ARIZ 30 157 267 .588
5 Quincy Pondexter, F WASH30 214 394 .543
6 Matthew Bryan-Amaning, F WASH 30 108 202 .535
7 Jack Trotter, F STAN 30 88 174 .506
8 Nikola Vucevic, F USC 30 126 250 .504
9 DeAngelo Casto, F WSU 30 120 241 .498
10 Theo Robertson, F CAL 24 107 216 .495