March Madness separates the contenders from the pretenders. That's true of individual players, teams and even conferences.
Each year, some conferences get a load of teams into the field while others have more snubs than entrants. This year, the SEC undoubtedly captured the attention of the selection committee. They got 14 teams in. There are only 16 teams in the conference, for the record.
The more teams you have playing, the more chances you have to win. Unfortunately for SEC fans, it works the other way as well. And it turns out the SEC had a whole lot of opportunities to lose.
While things have been rough for the Southeastern Conference, others have thrived. Let's look at the up-to-date record for each conference in the NCAA Tournament.
March Madness record by conference
Conference | # of teams | Record (Win Percentage) |
|---|---|---|
Big Ten | 8 | 4-0 (1.000) |
Big East | 5 | 3-0 (1.000) |
West Coast | 2 | 2-0 (1.000) |
Missouri Valley | 1 | 1-0 (1.000) |
Southland | 1 | 1-0 (1.000 |
Big 12 | 7 | 5-1 (.833) |
SEC | 14 | 6-5 (.545) |
SWAC | 1 | 1-1 (.500) |
MAAC | 1 | 1-1 (.500) |
ACC | 4 | 2-3 (.400) |
Mountain West | 4 | 1-2 (.333) |
American | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
ASUN | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
Atlantic 10 | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
Big Sky | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
Big South | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
Big West | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
CAA | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
Horizon | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
Ivy League | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
Ohio Valley | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
Southern | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
Summit | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
Northeast | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
Patriot | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
America East | 1 | 0-0 (.000) |
CUSA | 1 | 0-0 (.000) |
MAC | 1 | 0-0 (.000) |
MEAC | 1 | 0-0 (.000) |
Sun Belt | 1 | 0-0 (.000) |
WAC | 1 | 0-0 (.000) |
One-and-done conferences in the tournament this year include American, ASUN, Atlantic 10, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, CAA, Horizon, Ivy League, Ohio Valley, Southern, Summit, Northeast and Patriot.
The ACC brought along their fewest teams ever and promptly lost three of the four. Duke trounced Mount St. Mary's in their first round matchup and UNC won their First Four game. However, the Tar Heels fell to Ole Miss, Clemson suffered an upset to No. 12 seed McNeese and Louisville was humbled by Creighton. The Blue Devils are the only one standing going into the second round. The last time they had less than two teams after the opening round was in 1975.
The West Coast Conference was the big winner of the first round. Both Gonzaga and Saint Mary's won their opening games. They are currently the only conference with multiple bids to have all reached the second round, though the Big Ten and Big East are still alive to join them.
The Big Ten and Big East enjoyed the first round as much as any other conference.