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Conference Breakdown in NCAA Tournament
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Conf.
|
NCAA Bids
|
Advance
Percentage
|
Sweet 16
Pct.
|
Final Fours
|
Final Four
Teams
|
NCAA Titles
|
NCAA Winning Pct.
|
Bracketology Score
|
COMPOSITE RANK
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|
ACC
|
88
|
53.4
|
17.2
|
17
|
4
|
4
|
.674
|
1.007
|
17
|
|
Big East
|
92
|
37.0
|
12.5
|
8
|
7
|
2
|
.627
|
1.037
|
22
|
|
SEC
|
82
|
45.1
|
13.6
|
10
|
5
|
3
|
.617
|
1.015
|
26
|
|
Big Ten
|
99
|
33.3
|
12.1
|
12
|
7
|
3
|
.605
|
.900
|
26
|
|
Pac-10
|
64
|
35.9
|
8.5
|
6
|
3
|
2
|
.563
|
.871
|
43
|
|
Big 12
|
79
|
34.1
|
9.9
|
6
|
3
|
1
|
.551
|
.883
|
44
|
|
A-10
|
49
|
22.4
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
.533
|
1.066
|
51
|
|
WAC
|
43
|
16.3
|
2.6
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
.449
|
1.069
|
64
|
Key
Total Bids: Number of teams from conference in NCAA Tournament (1985-2001).
"Advancement" Percentage: Percentage of teams from each conference to advance
to at least Sweet 16 (1985-2001).
Sweet 16 percentage: Percentage of total regional field comprised by each
conference, 1985-2001 (16 slots, multiplied by 17 years).
Final Four Appearances: Number of teams from conference to reach Final Four,
1985-2001.
Final Four Teams: Number of different teams from each conference
to reach Final Four, 1985-2001.
NCAA Titles: Number of national championships won by conference (1985-2001).
Winning Percentage (of each conference in NCAA play, 1985-2001).
"Bracketology Score": Number of NCAA games each conference played, divided
by those it was "seeded" to play (Average Score: 1.000)
Noteable Facts
Only eight of the 10 so-called major conferences are rated. Conference USA and the Mountain West have not been in existence long
enough to compile sufficient data.
A mixture of absolute and relative data sets have been used to rate conferences during the study period (1985-2001). In other words, there
are "counting categories" (eg., number of bids, number of titles) as well as "ratio categories" (eg., percentage of a league's NCAA entires
to advance) so as to better compare conferences with a different number of members.
The composite rank (far right) is the sum of each conference's numeric rank, one through eight, across the eight study categories. The "low
score" prevails (eg., a conference with the best data in each category would have a score of eight).
The only tie came for "third place" between the SEC and Big Ten. I somewhat arbitrarily broke this tie in favor of the SEC, which led the
Big Ten in four of seven categores (with one tie). In addition, the SEC has sent more teams to the Sweet 16 despite 17 fewer bids than the Big
Ten.
The oft-cited "East Coast bias" of the men's basketball committee is not supported by any evidence. The Pac-10, with the lowest Bracketology
Score among the eight conferences, has been the most consistently "over-seeded" team during the study period. The ACC and Big East,
meanwhile, have been almost perfectly seeded by the committee.
The relatively high Brackletology Scores of the WAC and Atlantic 10 are at least in part a result of a smaller sample size than the other
six conferences. Credit John Chaney and Temple for the rest (at least in the case of the A-10).
Of the 17 national championships won in this era, 16 have been earned among these eight conferences. Only UNLV (1990, Big West) has been able
to break through this multi-big coalition.
Joe Lunardi is the resident "bracketologist" for ESPN.com. He may be reached at jlunardi@home.com.
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