In a college sports landscape where resume is so important, loyalties don’t just lie with teams anymore. They lie with conferences as well, even if it’s to push an agenda.
With that in mind, every conference wants to believe it is the creme de la creme. The SEC showed its depth for the second year in a row by sending 10 teams to the Men’s NCAA Tournament, the Big Ten fielded nine, and the Big 12 sent eight. The ACC also sent eight teams, whereas the Big East sent just three.
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Other multi-bid conferences include the West Coast Conference, the MAC, and the Atlantic 10.
Of course, beyond them are the auto-bid conference tournament winners, the single-bid conferences who annually send one team. How did these teams fare, and who is moving on to the second round? Here’s a breakdown of the records across the board for all 31 college basketball conferences.
Power 4 Men’s NCAA Tournament records
The SEC is leading the way among the Power 4, with only Georgia and Missouri suffering losses in the opening round. First Four team Texas was able to defeat former Big 12 conference-mate BYU and AJ Dybantsa, while Tennessee unseated regular season undefeated darlings Miami (Ohio).
In the Big Ten, Wisconsin suffered an upset at the hands of High Point, whereas Ohio State lost to TCU to open the tournament. The rest of the conference was able to advance. The Big 12 lost BYU and UCF, while the rest of the conference advanced despite scares to Kansas and TCU. The ACC struggled, with Duke being forced to play all 40 against Siena and North Carolina suffering a devastating loss at the hands of VCU.
|
Conference |
Record |
|
SEC |
8-2 |
|
Big Ten |
7-2 |
|
Big 12 |
6-2 |
|
ACC |
4-4 |
Other multi-bid conference records in March Madness
One and only one conference stands undefeated after two days of March Madness: The dreaded Atlantic 10.
Indeed, Josh Schertz’s Saint Louis squad completely dismantled Georgia in the first round, while VCU pulled off the aforementioned comeback against North Carolina. The West Coast Conference lost Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara in Round 1, while Gonzaga continues to dance, and the MAC dropped Miami and Akron.
While the Big East saw UConn and St. John’s move on, Villanova lost to Utah State, capping off the Wildcats’ season.
|
Conference |
Record |
|
Atlantic 10 |
2-0 |
|
Big East |
2-1 |
|
West Coast |
1-2 |
|
MAC |
0-2 |
Other conferences March Madness records
Beyond the eight conferences to send multiple teams, there were 23 other conferences represented. Of those, the only single-bid conferences to advance to the second round were the Big South’s High Point, which stunned No. 5 Wisconsin, and the Mountain West’s Utah State, which took down Villanova as a No. 9 seed. That puts them at 2-21 as far as single-bids go.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness records by conference: How Big Ten, SEC, others fared
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