CHART: Conference Realignment Means Fewer Mid-Majors In The NCAA Tournament

In 2012 and 2013 it looked like the NCAA Tournament selection committee had finally turned the corner and accepted the so-called mid-major conferences with 11 of the 37 at-large bids going to teams outside the big-6 conferences each year.

This year, if the Big East is still a major conference in terms of basketball and the new American conference is also considered a major conference, only seven of the 19.4% of the at-large bids (7 of 36) went to schools from mid-major conferences, down from 29.7% in 2012 and 2013.

To make matters worse, five of the seven at-large bids given to mid-major conferences went to the Atlantic 10. That means the 24 other mid-major conferences combined to receive two at-large bids.