There's a dropoff of a ledge in the A-10. There are, in any given year, at least 6-8 teams in A-10 that are a threat to win the auto-bid and win a game or two in the Dance. There's a drop off a cliff in the WCC. There's not a single quality team after the Big 3 and if they won the auto-bid, it'd be a major upset. None of them, except San Diego in a couple of flukes, has even made the NCAA Tournament in 15 years. Take out Pepperdine and I don't think a single team outside the Big 3 has made it to the Dance since 1998.

And saying Few has done better than Xavier is debateable. They don't have the same amount of appearances and I'll have to check the average seed rating, which I think skews toward Gonzaga. Xavier has actually overachieved regularly in the Tournament, something Gonzaga has done once in 15 years not counting first round matchups.