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Here is how the Pac-10 has fared since the current NCAA Tournament format was adopted in 1985:
Here is how the WAC has fared since the current NCAA Tournament format was adopted in 1985:
The WAC has received 43 tournament bids in the 17 years of six-round play. This averages between two and three bids (2.53) per year.
Only 16 percent of WAC entrants (seven) have advanced to at least the Sweet 16. Overall, the WAC has comprised just 2.6 percent of the total
regional berths since 1985.
The only WAC team to reach the Final Four in this era is Utah in 1998. Ironically, the Utes now belong to the arch-rival Mountain West
Conference.
he only current WAC member to capture a national championship was the historic UTEP (Texas Western) squad of 1966. Former WAC and current
Mountain West members Wyoming and Utah captured the 1941 and 1944 NCAA titles, respectively.
Since breaking apart from the WAC prior to the 1999-2000 season, the
new Mountain West schools are 1-3 in NCAA Tournament play.
The most "overachieving" WAC team of this era would have to be Utah's
1998 Final Four squad. Those Utes were a No. 3 seed, but blew away top
seed Arizona in the West Region final before bowing to Kentucky in the
national championship game.
Utah was a major WAC "underachiever" a year later. The '99 Utes, as a No. 2 seed, were derailed by No. 10 Miami (Ohio) in a second-round game.
It is merely coincidence that Utah was in the Mountain West the following season.
The WAC's overall NCAA winning percentage from 1985-2001 is .449 (35-43). Its "Bracketology Score" is 1.069. (Translation: NCAA games
played divided by number of games conference members were seeded to play; average score equals 1.000).
Joe Lunardi is the resident "bracketologist" for ESPN.com. He may be reached at jlunardi@home.com.
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