The Big 12 is dominating March, and fans aren't mad about the conference's one loss

The Big 12 is doing exactly what the SEC was supposed to be doing this NCAA Tournament and that’s absolutely dominating the field. The conference is 9-1 through the first three days of the tournament. 

The irony is the conference’s only loss is Kansas to Arkansas, which typically dominates this time of the year and entered the year as the preseason No. 1 team in the country. No one is mad about Kansas being the only Big 12 team in the field to lose in the tournament. 

March Madness is all about new teams that can find a way to string together a strong tournament run. Like Arkansas, a team that was a tournament afterthought a couple months ago is now headed to the Sweet 16. 

Or Michigan, who was under-seeded as the Big Ten’s champion, just took down an SEC team that was considered one of the strongest in the field. Those moments are the poster child for what the NCAA Tournament is. 

Now that Kansas won’t have a chance to add to its national championship collection, the Big 12 can feel even better about running through the field. 

Big Ten, Big 12 putting on a clinic in the NCAA Tournament and the SEC should take notes

How did the Big 12 and the Big Ten accomplish so easily what the SEC was supposed to do? The Big 12 wasn’t supposed to be as strong as it was in the NCAA Tournament and certainly not much better than the SEC is playing. 

The SEC had the most teams to ever receive a bid in NCAA Tournament history and they have the most losses of any conference so far. Maybe the Big 12 was always the stronger conference. After all, it did have a No. 1 seed, a No. 3 seed along with No. 6 seed BYU pulling off an upset over Wisconsin on Saturday night. 

I guess that just goes to show how difficult it is to win in the NCAA Tournament. It’s more a mental hurdle than anything. If you’re fortunate enough, two games in three days. You’re most likely traveling across the country to get to the host site. 

Maybe that’s taking a toll on the conference's success. Thanks to conference realignment, teams like Oregon and UCLA are used to traveling the country on short notice. Same for the Big 12, who has to play games on the West Coast as well. 

The SEC, well, geographically, all their teams are in the same region. Not to give the SEC any more excuses, but maybe that’s why they haven’t quite put it together in the NCAA Tournament. Save for Auburn’s win over Creighton and Arkansas’s two wins, including knocking out No. 2 seed St. John’s, it’s been an underwhelming tournament for the SEC.

The Big 12 and the Big Ten are running this year’s tournament. Not only has the Big Ten matched the SEC’s win total and the Big 12 one win shy, but they’ve both had more impressive wins at that. 

Maybe the SEC wasn’t all that it was hyped up to be this year.