A quick look at conference success in the NCAA Tournament so far

Submitted by Erik_in_Dayton on

Conference partcipation (teams per conference) in the NCAA Tournament began as follows:

Seven teams: Big 12

Six teams: Big Ten, ACC, Atlantic 10, Pac 12

Four teams:  American Athletic Conference, Big East

Three teams:  SEC

Two teams: Mountain West, West Coast Conference

One team: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, CAA, Conference USA, Horizon League, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, MVC, NEC, Patriot, Southern, Southland, SWAC, Sun Belt, Summit League, WAC

After one week, we're down to the following:

Three teams: Big Ten, Pac 12, SEC

Two teams: American Athletic Conference, Big 12

One team: Mountain West, Atlantic 10, ACC

Zero teams: Big East, America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, CAA, Conference USA, Horizon League, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, MVC, NEC, Patriot, Southern, Southland, SWAC, Sun Belt, Summit League, WAC

Final thought: What stands out to me is that all three SEC teams made it to the Sweet Sixteen while the ACC, Big 12, and Big East combined only had three total teams survive the weekend.  

Mr. Yost

March 24th, 2014 at 8:44 PM ^

Wichita St. is a LEGIT team...UK was preseason #1 and played their best game of the season. They won by 2 fucking points. People need to quit acting like the Shockers didn't play a great game and they got blown out by a shit team who played horribly.

LSAClassOf2000

March 24th, 2014 at 5:37 PM ^

That's actually rather remarkable to me, that the field can narrow from 30 or 31 conferences to representatives from only eight of them by the time you reach the Sweet Sixteen. That being said, it is nice to see that the Big Ten is well-represented for a second straight year. I think we had four teams last year, and that might have been the biggest group from a single conference in the Sweet Sixteen. 

michiganman01

March 24th, 2014 at 7:10 PM ^

One was a 1 seed, supposed to make it that far. Another was an under seeded 11 seed that played  team that was 1-6 coming in, a way overseeded team as the 6 seed and then a 14 seed. I think Kentuck's win was by far the best. WSU looked like the best 1 seed on Thursday/Friday and Kentucky gave them a hell of a game. However I think what Tennessee is doing right now is a little blown out of proportion.

gwkrlghl

March 24th, 2014 at 6:19 PM ^

(Except Florida who looked sluggish against Albany and iffy against Pitt early) KU with the big W nd Tennessee looking good. However, I will not let this change my perception of their league. This holds to how that league is - good teams at the top and everyone else is 2014 Purdue

julesh

March 24th, 2014 at 6:22 PM ^

I think the ACC, Big 12 and Big East had 4 teams survive. Unless there was a mistake saying both ACC and Big 12 have two left.

Erik_in_Dayton

March 24th, 2014 at 6:38 PM ^

The ACC, Big 12, and Big East have Virginia, Iowa State, and Baylor remaining. 

Louisville remains from the AAC (American Athletic Conference) along with UConn. I changed "AAC" to "American Athletic Conference" above.  "AAC" is not something people are used to seeing, myself included, and I should have avoided it. 

Muttley

March 24th, 2014 at 8:16 PM ^

but the punchline was delivered in such a rambling way that the reader gets lost trying to read it literally.  I did a few double-takes before I deciphered what he was trying to say. (I think.)

I think that it should be read, "Everybody from the ACC, Big East, and B12 advanced.  Why hasn't ESPN corrected the scores yet?"

G. Gulo of the Dale

March 24th, 2014 at 7:47 PM ^

... I'm also a fan of Big East basketball.  At the start of the season, there seemed to be much excitement and good will surrounding the new, sleeker conference.  Down the stretch, however, the league really showed some growing (shrinking?) pains.  The Creighton-Providence final in MSG was a bit deflating, and now there's the poor performance in the NCAA tourney.  While it seems a bit unfair to blame the specific tournament teams for not making it to the Sweet Sixteen--if only because Marquette and Georgetown were considered to be the two most talented teams coming into the season and failed to make the tournament--it's still not a reassuring sign that the league won't be represented this weekend.  It will be interesting to see whether the league can recruit at a top level when they can't sell in-conference games against Syracuse, UConn, and Louisville.