Based on this year’s tournament the Power conferences should get fewer bids and the non power conferences should get more bids. Seems the ACC bids were about right.
Well, if it worked that way, the Big East is leading the argument. However, their next candidate was likely Villanova, so... Sometimes there is a very clear delineation point and the relative strength of the conference doesn't matter.
The last four out, according to the committee were OK State, Rutgers, UNC and Clemson. Big 12 held their own; OK State has an argument. Big Ten was the worst performing conference overall and had the most teams in... Rutgers is a non-starter. UNC and Clemson missing the tournament seems like a legit gripe in retrospect. The committee liked UNC more, but Clemson felt like a better representative to me.
The only problem with saying that BIG should've had fewer is that Penn State is probably the last BIG team in, and they were playing better basketball than several other teams in the conference. Maybe we can all agree that MS State should've stayed home in favor of OK St or Clemson?
Adding the Big 12 and Big East to my earlier summary (and updating for Miami), and I may as well put them in order:
Big East = the runaway winner of major / multi bid conferences. 10-4 overall, and 8-1 as a favorite (that's really impressive in a tournament format). 2-3 as underdog. Everything UConn does from here is as a favorite...
ACC = Now 7-4 overall (Miami still playing).
ACC is 2-1 as a favorite, 4-3 as a dog and 1-0 neutral.
Initially I said Miami would be the lower seed the rest of the way. Saturday they will be, but if they advance they play an equal or lower seed (hard to imagine)
Big 12 = 9-7 overall. 9-5 as upper seed, and 0-2 as a dog. I feel like I need to check this again... they played 16 games and only TWO as the lower seed? Wow... that's some favorable seeding! But they lived up to it.... better showing than both BIG and SEC
Mtn West = 4-3 overall, and SDSU can improve (or drop them to .500). they are 3-0 as favorite, 1-2 as dogs and 0-1 in neutral. SDSU is the only conference team to win a game, so while their percentage is slightly above Big 12, right now I feel like the Big 12 had a better showing. Hard to continue this argument the longer SDSU plays.
SEC = 9-8 overall. They were 7-4 as the favored seed and 2-3 as the lower seed. They are 0-1 in “neutral” games; MSU lost the 11 seed play in to Pitt.
PAC = 3-4 overall. They were 2-2 as a favorite, 0-2 as a dog and 1-0 in "neutral" (AZST won play in). If not for UCLA, this is ugly.
BIG = 6-8 overall. They were 4-3 as a favorite and 2-5 as underdog. Michigan St is the only team to claim multiple wins. If not for Sparty, this is even uglier.