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The old Big East had 3 teams in the final Eight. One in the final four so far. The new Big East had a couple of upsets but still got Marquette to the Elite 8.

The Big 10, on the other hand, had teams seeded one, two, three who couldn't get into the Final Four. Michigan is a 4 seed and they have a chance, but what a pitiful job by the Big Ten.

Why does the Big Ten get all the attention and acclaim every year - basketball and football- when they are clearly overrated?

I wouldn't say so. They got 4 teams to the Sweet 16.

I disagree as well. I think the best judge of strength of a league is how many teams make the Sweet 16, not the FF. The Big 10 put 4 in the Sweet 16, and I think each of those 4 were no flukes. The SEC can blow some years but Florida or Kentucky can make the FF and that does little to change the fact that the league usually sucks. I think the ACC has lived off the reputation and successes of UNC and Duke for so long and top to bottom is probably the most overrated. In two years (when L'vill joins Syr.) the ACC will be scary good near the top.

Trying to compare conferences based on performance in a single elimination tournament is absurd. These things are brutal, unfair judges. They're just an exciting and simple way to crown a champion. It would be unbelievable to have a year in which all the conferences succeeded to each round proportionately to the relative strengths. Was the A-10 the strongest conference during the round of 64 then all of a sudden a lousy one in the round of 32? It's just the way these things go, sports fans put way too much stock in the ability of these things to finely judge teams and conferences. Anyone that follows sports should know one game doesn't mean much on its own, but single elimination amplifies the affects of any one game. Vander Blue misses that layup and Marquette is a disgrace, but he makes it and now we're a top eight team? Please. It's sad, that's exactly the emotion you can have as a fan, but it's downright silly. Good programs succeed more often, I'm decidedly not saying teams shouldn't count their successes in the tournaments, but nitpicking results in these things is crazy talk.