((((( Time To Dance )))))<<<<< Selection Sunday >>>>>.....(((((((((( In Game ))))))))))

[Greenbacks]

In the first four years of the new Big East, NCAA tourney success has been hard to come by. The conference has had just four Sweet 16 teams in as many years, and although Villanova won the title in 2016, the Wildcats also lost in the second round as a top-two seed the other three years. This year, the Big East has six teams in the field, including a pair of No. 1 seeds in Villanova and Xavier, so the draw can't get any more favorable.

 

[Greenbacks]

The Big Sky is just 3-33 in the NCAA tournament since 1985 and has just one win in the 2000s, when Montana defeated Nevada in 2006 as a 12-seed. Montana earned the conference's automatic bid and will try to make it two wins this century when they face Michigan on Thursday.

 

[Greenbacks]

The Big South has just one win ever in the round of 64 and that was 11 years ago, when Gregg Marshall (now at Wichita State) led 11th-seeded Winthrop past Notre Dame. This year's representative, Radford, has its work cut out as a 16-seed, beginning in the First Four against LIU Brooklyn for the right to face Villanova.

 

[Greenbacks]

Can you believe it has been 18 years since a Big Ten team last won a national championship? And for the first time since 1995-96, the conference has failed to have at least one team reach the Elite Eight the past two years. The Big Ten has a trio of top-three seeds in this year's field (Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State), so we'll see if they are up to the task.

 

[Greenbacks]

Big West Conference teams have just one win in the round of 64 in the past 12 years. That came in 2016 when 13th-seeded Hawaii upset Maryland. This year, though, CS Fullerton is a 15-seed. The past four Big West teams seeded 15th or 16th lost by 38, 27, 29 and 28 points.

 

[Greenbacks]

The Colonial Athletic Association is winless in the first round each of the past five years, its longest such streak in the modern era. But that doesn't mean CAA teams have stopped being a nuisance, even in defeat. UNC Wilmington pushed Virginia and Duke to the limit each of the past two years and Northeastern took Notre Dame down to the wire in 2015 as a 14-seed. Charleston is making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1999 and is the latest dangerous squad from the Colonial, so Auburn should be on upset alert.

 

[Greenbacks]

Conference USA has won a game in each of the past three tourneys, despite receiving just one bid and getting no better than a 12-seed each time. The past two years, Middle Tennessee has knocked off a Big Ten foe as a 12- and 15-seed, and in 2015 it was 14th-seeded UAB that busted brackets everywhere by upsetting Iowa State. It's on Marshall to keep the streak alive this year. The Thundering Herd is in the field for the first time since 1987 and faces No. 4 seed Wichita State in San Diego.

 

[Greenbacks]

Ever since Butler moved on to greener pastures, the Horizon League hasn't been the same. The league's six-year stretch without an NCAA tournament win is the longest in its history. Dating back to 2007, Butler has 13 of the Horizon's past 14 tourney wins (Cleveland State has the other) and the league is still looking for its new March darling. This is the seventh straight year the Horizon League has gotten a 13-seed or lower -- Wright State is the 14-seed in the South Region -- which has obviously increased the degree of difficulty. The lowest-seeded league team to win an NCAA tournament game was 14th-seeded Xavier in 1991, when it was called the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.

 

[Greenbacks]

The Ivy League champion has been throwing a scare into first-round opponents for years, but instead of coming up short it has become a 50/50 proposition the past eight years. In the first 25 years of the modern era (1985-2009), Ivy teams won just three NCAA tourney games, two of which came from teams seeded better than 12th. In the eight years since, the league has won five games total, despite being seeded 12th or worse each time. During the aforementioned eight-year span, not only have Ivy teams have won four of their eight first-round games, but three of the four losses have come by exactly two points each, most recently Princeton coming up short against Notre Dame last year. This year, Penn hopes to make the most of its first tourney trip in 11 years, but received the dreaded 16-seed and will face Kansas. The Quakers are the first Ivy League team to get a 16-seed since 1989, when Pete Carril and Princeton took Georgetown to the buzzer, losing by one point. Penn's head coach, Steve Donahue, is equipped for this opportunity. He was the coach at Cornell back in 2010 when the Big Red reached the Sweet 16 as a 12-seed.

 

[Greenbacks]

[h=2]Ivy League Teams In First Round
Since 2010[/h]

	SEED	OPPONENT	RESULT
2017 Princeton	12	Notre Dame	Lost by 2
2016 Yale	12	Baylor	Won by 4
2015 Harvard	13	North Carolina	Lost by 2
2014 Harvard	12	Cincinnati	Won by 4
2013 Harvard	14	New Mexico	Won by 6
2012 Harvard	12	Vanderbilt	Lost by 9
2011 Princeton	13	Kentucky	Lost by 2
2010 Cornell	12	Temple	Won by 13

<thead style="box-sizing: border-box;">
</thead><tbody style="box-sizing: border-box;">
</tbody>

 

[Greenbacks]

Two of the MAAC's five first-round wins came in back-to-back years in 2008-09, but it has been oh-fer since then. Iona won the conference's automatic bid for the third straight year. The Gaels lost their first-round games by double figures the past two years, as a 14- and 13-seed. This year, they are the 15-seed in the Midwest and will face Duke in the first round.

 

[Greenbacks]

The Mid-American Conference is hoping to avoid tying its longest NCAA tournament win drought ever. MAC teams have gone five years without a victory, one shy of the six straight winless years from 2004 to 2009. During the past 14 years, the MAC has just three wins total, all by Ohio. Prior to the conference's recent struggles, there was plenty of #MACtion, as the league won at least one game in five of six years between 1998 and 2003. Nate Oats' Buffalo Bulls were the best team in the MAC all season and Thursday's first-round matchup with Arizona could be a good one. The Bulls lost by six and seven points as a 12- and 14-seed in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

 

[Greenbacks]

Since Norfolk State's stunning upset of Missouri in 2012, the MEAC has lost its four first-round games by 27 points per game. The conference does have three wins in the first round, all as No. 15 seeds, but otherwise has been generally noncompetitive. All 25 of their losses have come by double digits (an average of 23.8 points). The MEAC has never received anything better than a 14-seed, and has had its representative -- North Carolina Central this year -- sent to the First Four three of the past four years now.

 

[Greenbacks]

Missouri Valley Conference teams have proved to be a tough out early in the tournament. The Valley is the only conference to win a first-round game each of the past five years without a loss (8-0) and has done so despite being seeded fifth or worse in seven of those eight games, including three double-digit seeds the past two years. In addition, the conference has at least one NCAA tourney win in six straight years despite supplying no more than two teams in any of those years. Loyola-Chicago is the only Valley team in the Dance this year, marking the first time the conference has had just one team make the field in consecutive years since 2008-11.

 

[Greenbacks]

The Mountain West received multiple bids for the first time in three years. The league has failed to win a tournament game in consecutive years for the first time ever. At least this year's regular-season champion, the Nevada Wolf Pack, is not a double-digit seed, because it has been flat-out ugly for MW teams seeded 10th or worse. Mountain West double-digit seeds are an abysmal 1-17 all-time in the first round (and even 0-2 in First Four games), while single-digit-seeded teams from the conference are 14-11.

 

[Greenbacks]

This marks the sixth straight year the Northeast Conferencerepresentative has been sent to the First Four in Dayton to start its journey. The NEC is the only conference yet to win a game in the round of 64, and only once in the past 19 years has an NEC team come within single digits of its opponent in that round. This marks the 16th straight year the conference has gotten a 15- or 16-seed, so the odds are once again stacked against its representative. Even more so since LIU Brooklyn will have to beat Radford on Tuesday just to get to the first round. NEC teams have won two of their past three games in the First Four.

 

[Greenbacks]

Since 1985, the Ohio Valley Conference has won six first-round games, all coming in separate three-year stretches (one win each from 1987-89 and 2010-12). In all other years, the conference is 0-27 in the first round, with each loss the past five years coming by double figures. One sign of hope is that Murray State earned a 12-seed this year, which is the first time the OVC has received better than a 15-seed since 2013.

 

[Greenbacks]

Oregon's trip to the Final Four last year was the Pac-12's furthest advancement since 2008, but the "Conference of Champions" hasn't actually had a champion in 21 years. The three bids the Pac-12 received -- two of which must play in the First Four -- are the fewest since 2012. This is also the first time the Pac-12 didn't have a top-three seed since 2013. Arizona is the highest seed, as the No. 4 in the South Region.

 

[Greenbacks]

The Patriot League has just three first-round wins in its history and just one in the past 11 years. Last year, though, 13th-seeded Bucknell played West Virginia very tough, losing by just six in the first round. The Bison are back again as a 14-seed this year and they won't sneak up on their first-round opponent, Michigan State.

 

[Greenbacks]

At least one SEC team has reached the Elite Eight in 21 of the past 26 years. Last year, three teams made it that far, including Final Four surprise South Carolina. The Gamecocks' run was the first time an SEC team other than Kentucky or Florida reached the Elite Eight since 2010. And this year, the conference received a record eight bids, beating the previous high of six (last done in 2008). Are more big things in store?