March Madness separates the contenders from the pretenders. That's true of individual players, teams and even conferences.
After the opening weekend, the Big Ten... has finally lost. Seriously. Tennessee cruised past UCLA, bringing an end to the best start to a tourney by a conference ever. They had to lose eventually.
The SEC — which got 14 of its 16 teams in the field — is down to seven teams remaining but Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Auburn and Arkansas are all off to the Sweet 16
Auburn snuck by Creighton to avoid complete disaster, and that win brought the Big East's total count down to one. It was up to UConn to keep the conference alive but they ran into the tank of a team that is Florida on Sunday. The Huskies are out and the Big East is dead in the water.
Things have been great for the Big Ten and Big 12, they've been okay for the SEC and not great for the Big East. Here's where things stand after Sunday's slate.
March Madness record by conference
Conference | # of teams | Record (Win Percentage) |
|---|---|---|
Big 12 | 7 | 11-3 (.786) |
Big Ten | 8 | 12-4 (.750) |
SEC | 14 | 15-7 (.682) |
ACC | 4 | 3-3 (.500) |
West Coast | 2 | 2-2 (.500 |
Missouri Valley | 1 | 1-1 (.500) |
Southland | 1 | 1-1 (.500) |
SWAC | 1 | 1-1 (.500) |
MAAC | 1 | 1-1 (.500) |
Big East | 5 | 4-5 (.444) |
Mountain West | 4 | 2-4 (.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 | 0-1 (.000) |
CUSA | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
MAC | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
MEAC | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
Sun Belt | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
WAC | 1 | 0-1 (.000) |
Michigan beats Texas A&M, Big Ten continues to roll
A powerful surge in the final 10 minutes boosted Michigan over Texas A&M, and at this point, we're wondering whether the Big Ten will ever lose a game. I guess if two Big Ten teams play against each other, they have to, but goodness the conference has been dominant.
Meanwhile, the Big 12 got a big win as Texas Tech downed a feisty Drake team, which put the country on notice in March after beating Missouri in the first round. Tech now heads to face Arkansas in the Sweet 16, in what will be a blast of a game.
One-and-done conferences in the tournament this year include American, Amercian East, ASUN, Atlantic 10, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, CAA, CUSA, Horizon, Ivy League, MAC, MEAC, Ohio Valley, Southern, Summit, Sun Belt, WAC, 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.
Meanwhile, we heard all season about the SEC's dominance in college basketball only for the league to deliver a wholly underwhelming First Round performance (and a First Four loss thanks to Texas) with only a 7-5 record. Arkansas got them off to a better start in the Round of 32, however, handing No. 2 seed St. John's an upset loss in Providence and pushing the Razorbacks to the Sweet 16 and with the others still alive looking to better that.
Most impressive, however, has been the Big Ten and their dominance in the race of conferences in March Madness. The league didn't suffer a single loss in the Round of 64 with all eight advancing to the next round, but that was then made even better on Saturday in the Round of 32 with Purdue ousting McNeese State handily to push the Big Ten to a blemish-less 9-0 mark to start.
The West Coast Conference was the other 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.