This conference is in free fall this year. Currently ranked 20th.


Conference Rating
1 Big 12 Conference +17.80
2 Southeastern Conference +14.58
3 Big Ten Conference +13.62
4 Big East Conference +12.47
5 Pac 12 Conference +9.68
6 Atlantic Coast Confe +9.36
7 Mountain West +9.21
8 American Athletic C +6.85
9 West Coast Conference +6.06
10 Missouri Valley +4.37
11 Atlantic 10 Conference +4.28
12 Southern Conference +0.41
13 Conference USA +0.02
14 Western Athletic -1.20
15 Colonial Athletic Assoc -1.69
16 Sun Belt Conference -1.87
17 Ivy League -2.67
18 Big West Conference -2.93
19 Metro Atlantic Athletic -3.15
20 Mid American Conferenc -5.09
21 Summit League -5.67
22 ASUN Conference -5.82
23 Ohio Valley Conference -6.14
24 Big Sky Conference -7.10
25 Big South Conference -7.15
26 Horizon League -8.74
27 America East Conference -9.25
28 Patriot League -10.55
29 MEAC -10.79
30 Northeast Conference -10.81
31 Southland Conference -11.55
32 SWAC -12.07


After 2 decades of lurking around 9-15 this is a huge drop. The only other time this has happened since 2002 was in 2009 and 2011 when the MAC was 19th and then made it back to 9th by 2019 after spending the decade in their normal 13 14 range.

Akron will be playing UCLA in the first round. Not sure if they will break the drought this year.

Of course that Bassett/Cooper/DeVo upset is still considered one of the top upsets in NCAA history. Last ranking I saw had it in top 10 all-time.

That's the way it's supposed to be -- the higher seeds play closer to home. I was surprised that #4 Arkansas is playing #13 Vermont in Buffalo.

What I would kill to have this problem. I have a feeling Ohio would be playing UCLA as well if it made it.

So what happened to the MAC this year?

There are only 16 pods. The last couple of 4s just get whatever is left after the 1s, 2s, and 3s are put in the site of what works for them starting with the 1s getting 1st pick. Unless the top 16 geographically matches the pods some 4s will travel across the country. It happens every year.