Clearly 1 seeds have a much easier road to the Sweet 16 over 3 or 4 seeds, but let's look at this which makes it even more of a poor performance for the Big 10.
Through their seeding the committee is saying they think the best 16 (#1-4 seeds) should be in the Sweet 16. Here's how many teams each conference SHOULD have in the Sweet 16 based on seeding and how many they really have.
Big 6
Big East- Should have 2, have 4
PAC-10- Should have 1, have 2
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Big 12- Should have 2, have 1
ACC- Should have 3, have 2
SEC- Should have 3, have 2
Big 10- Should have 3 teams, have 0
So, among the 6 top leagues at least going by reputation, the Big East and PAC-10 overperformed and the other 4 underperformed. However, it is simplistic to say the Big East should have only had 2 teams since they had a number of #5-7 seeds. One would expect at least 3 from the Big East I think.
I think the Big East will come out the winner from the big leagues simply due to having 25% of the remaining teams, even though we honestly should have at least 3 realistically. No explanation needed as to why the Big 10 looks like a cold fish. I think the killer for them was that the home teams won almost all of the matchups in their conference play, and of course here you don't play at home when it counts.
Others
MVC: Should have 0, have 2
CAA: Should have 0, have 1
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CUSA: Should have 1, have 1
WCC: Should have 1, have 1
Among the smaller leagues, the MVC is clearly the winner and has gained much respect. The CAA is 2nd and has gained much as well.
CUSA & the West Coast are still pretty neutral performance wise I'd say. Neither league will gain a lot long term if either Memphis or Gonzaga bows out in the next round since they are *supposed* to be here and most picked them this far. And too be honest, I'm not sure how much respect their *conferences* will gain from either team even advancing further. I just don't see the respect spreading conference wise, it will stick to the lone school. In that respect, I think either/both teams will gain great respect if they win 2 more to make the Final 4. Gonzaga will lose their stereotype of not performing with a high seed in large part just by beating UCLA I think. For Memphis, I say this trying to be partial, not as a UofL fan. I think just because of the Cinderella they play next, they will now have to make the Final 4 to get a lot of respect. Before I would have said the Elite 8 would have done it (beating Pitt or Kansas) because even as a 1 seed, I think an Elite 8 run would have given them the long-term respect since they were dissed by many.
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