[OCcardinal]

I know we don't care as much any more but here's the updated conference comparison:  


Some thoughts:
- no teams outside of the Power 6 left
- the Big 12 failed to reach even its low expectations with 0 teams in the Sweet 16
- The SEC continues its blistering tournament. Not only do they have 11 wins already, but the SEC hasn't had any team seeded higher than 10 lose. This reinforces how crazy it was that the 4th place SEC team (Ole Miss) was seeded 8th.
- The ACC, like the SEC, still has 4 teams left, but unlike the SEC, they didn't have to overcome poor seeding to make that happen.  The only real blemish was Duke's loss to Colorado. Seeding would suggest they have the best chance at getting at least 2 teams in the Elite 8.
- Pac 12: well we got 3 in the Sweet 16, but not the 3 most people thought.  Tough battles ahead for the Pac. 1) UCLA had an easy opponent in Oklahoma for round 2 but now get South Carolina. 2) Utah faces an underseeded LSU. 3) Colorado may actually have the best matchup in Iowa as Iowa showed in their matchup with Georgia that they are vulnerable to a good defense and Colorado's offense is much better than Georgia's. All the teams that Stanford lost to at the end of the season (Utah, UCLA and, of course Ole Miss) made the Sweet 16. People also cite Stanford's close road game against Colorado as another sign of weakness toward the end.  But Colorado made the Sweet 16 too. So I'd say Stanford's schedule had more to do with the perceived downturn than anything Stanford did or didn't do.  (Though I also wonder how much the flu bug impacted the team beyond Brink. Tara said the bug had been "going around" and when asked on Saturday whether Cam would play she made a flippant remark that "everyone is day to day".)  In any event, I'm sad that Brink lost the chance to play in the bigger games. She had such an amazing season, which seemed to be lost in the media hype over Caitlin Clark. [As a side note, both Oregon and Washington made the Sweet 16 off the NIT with ease. So there are 5 Pac 12 teams still playing basketball).
- Big 10: The Big 10's performance has been almost identical to the P12's, despite the Big 10's better seeding. Both conferences are 8-4 and both had a 1 seed lose in the second round (though I'd argue Indiana's loss to NET 50 Miami was a much bigger upset than Stanford's loss to NET 25 Ole Miss). On paper Iowa's path to the Final Four is wide open, which would be the first time for them since 1993. But they might have to go through both Colorado and Ole Miss to get there, which are not easy matchups for anyone.  I'd be shocked if either Maryland or Ohio State make the Final Four given that South Carolina and UCONN Stand in their way.
- The Big East has two teams left (UCONN and Villanova), both of which have had easy paths so far. While UConn faces a tough matchup against #3 seed Ohio State in the Sweet Sixteen, Villanova plays 9 seed Miami, which is somehow the highest seed they've played so far. There's a chance we could see Villanova make the Elite 8 and not UCONN, though both will probably win.  From there I think either Utah or LSU would crush Villanova, so two Big East teams in the Final Four seems unlikely.

[OCcardinal]

I know we don't care as much any more but here's the updated conference comparison:  


Some thoughts:
- no teams outside of the Power 6 left
- the Big 12 failed to reach even its low expectations with 0 teams in the Sweet 16
- The SEC continues its blistering tournament. Not only do they have 11 wins already, but the SEC hasn't had any team seeded higher than 10 lose. This reinforces how crazy it was that the 4th place SEC team (Ole Miss) was seeded 8th.
- The ACC, like the SEC, still has 4 teams left, but unlike the SEC, they didn't have to overcome poor seeding to make that happen.  The only real blemish was Duke's loss to Colorado. Seeding would suggest they have the best chance at getting at least 2 teams in the Elite 8.
- Pac 12: well we got 3 in the Sweet 16, but not the 3 most people thought.  Tough battles ahead for the Pac. 1) UCLA had an easy opponent in Oklahoma for round 2 but now get South Carolina. 2) Utah faces an underseeded LSU. 3) Colorado may actually have the best matchup in Iowa as Iowa showed in their matchup with Georgia that they are vulnerable to a good defense and Colorado's offense is much better than Georgia's. All the teams that Stanford lost to at the end of the season (Utah, UCLA and, of course Ole Miss) made the Sweet 16. People also cite Stanford's close road game against Colorado as another sign of weakness toward the end.  But Colorado made the Sweet 16 too. So I'd say Stanford's schedule had more to do with the perceived downturn than anything Stanford did or didn't do.  (Though I also wonder how much the flu bug impacted the team beyond Brink. Tara said the bug had been "going around" and when asked on Saturday whether Cam would play she made a flippant remark that "everyone is day to day".)  In any event, I'm sad that Brink lost the chance to play in the bigger games. She had such an amazing season, which seemed to be lost in the media hype over Caitlin Clark. [As a side note, both Oregon and Washington made the Sweet 16 off the NIT with ease. So there are 5 Pac 12 teams still playing basketball).
- Big 10: The Big 10's performance has been almost identical to the P12's, despite the Big 10's better seeding. Both conferences are 8-4 and both had a 1 seed lose in the second round (though I'd argue Indiana's loss to NET 50 Miami was a much bigger upset than Stanford's loss to NET 25 Ole Miss). On paper Iowa's path to the Final Four is wide open, which would be the first time for them since 1993. But they might have to go through both Colorado and Ole Miss to get there, which are not easy matchups for anyone.  I'd be shocked if either Maryland or Ohio State make the Final Four given that South Carolina and UCONN Stand in their way.
- The Big East has two teams left (UCONN and Villanova), both of which have had easy paths so far. While UConn faces a tough matchup against #3 seed Ohio State in the Sweet Sixteen, Villanova plays 9 seed Miami, which is somehow the highest seed they've played so far. There's a chance we could see Villanova make the Elite 8 and not UCONN, though both will probably win.  From there I think either Utah or LSU would crush Villanova, so two Big East teams in the Final Four seems unlikely.