We’ve decided to award automatic bids to the all-time champions from the 10 major conferences in our Value Add Basketball Game. Additionally, we’ll feature the best all-time team from each of the other 21 conferences and provide a bid to the top team among these 21 conference champions.
These automatic qualifiers are seeded from 13 to 20, meaning they’ll first face off against each other, and then aim for a major upset against one of the four undefeated tournament championship teams—the top 4 seeds from the 258 teams in the Value Add Basketball Game.
The other Sweet 16 matchups consist of the four runners-up from our four previous tournaments (seeds 5 to 8) facing off against the four highest-rated teams that didn’t receive an automatic bid by topping their respective conferences.
Below is a breakdown of the automatic qualifiers by conference, followed by a rundown of the best all-time team from each conference. The rating by each team is our version of the kenpom ratings, but compares each team to the "average" great team in our game, which is the rare team that both makes an Elite 8 AND is ranked in the top 8 for the whole season.
10 New All-Time Conference Champs Added to the Game
Northeast Conference (NEC)
- Fairleigh Dickinson 2005 (Ranked 257, rating -23)
- A strong team, this squad pushed 3 Quad A teams to the limit, including an overtime loss at Buffalo and close games against Arizona State and Illinois. Best Player: Gordon Klaiber, All-Conference.
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC)
- Norfolk St. 2012 (Ranked 255, rating -20)
- Famous for their shocking victory over Missouri in the tournament. Best Player: Kyle O'Quinn, who later had an 8-year NBA career. While we received kudos from NBA teams for predicting Jimmy Butler would be an NBA star, we actually received more credit for picking O'Quinn as a long-time NBA player and saw the two face each other.
Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC)
- Texas Southern 2013 (Ranked 254, rating -19)
- Under former Indiana Coach Mike Davis, this team was one of the most improved in history, getting battered by 7 early Quad A games including a overtime challenge at Colorado before settling into a 12-game win streak to close the season. If it were not for probation put on the team before Davis' arrival, this team could have taken this hot streak to the SWACs first wins in the Field of 64. Best Player: Fred Sturdivant, All-Conference and Defensive Player of the Year.
Ohio Valley Conference (OVC)
- Morehead St. 2011 (Ranked 249, rating -17)
- Known for their upset of Louisville in the tournament. Murray State and Belmont dominated most OVC seasons, but we only consider teams still in a conference. Best Player: Kenneth Faried, Conference Player of the Year.
Colonial Athletic Association (CAA)
- UNC Wilmington 2017 (Ranked 226, rating -11)
- Narrowly lost to Virginia in the tournament. Best Player: Devontae Cacok, still active in the NBA.
Big West Conference (BW)
- Utah St. 2003 (Ranked 221, rating -10)
- Played Kansas closely in the tournament, having previously upset Ohio State. Best Player: Desmond Penigar, who played in the NBA.
America East Conference (AE)
- Vermont 2020 (Ranked 197, rating -8)
- Had a strong finish to the season before COVID-19 shut it down, with a 16-1 record. Best Player: Anthony Lamb, who went on to the NBA.
Summit League (Sum)
- South Dakota St. 2012 (Ranked 196, rating -8)
- A strong team that lost closely to Baylor in the tournament. Best Player: Nate Wolters, who went to the NBA after once scoring 38 of his 53 points in the second half of a come-from-behind win.
Big South Conference (BSth)
- Winthrop 2007 (Ranked 156, rating -5)
- Defeated Notre Dame in the tournament before falling to Oregon. Best Player: Craig Bradshaw, All-Conference.
Southern Conference (SC)
- Wofford 2019 (Ranked 114, rating -2)
- Defeated Seton Hall in the tournament before losing to Kentucky. Best Player: Fletcher Magee, Conference Player of the Year.
These 10 champions are new additions to our game and, while not in the all-time tournament, are primed for potential upsets in future matchups.
One Auto Bid for Best Champion from 11 Conferences with Fewer than 6 Great Teams
These conferences have fewer than six all-time great teams in the game, so only one auto bid is awarded to the best team from each:
Big Sky Conference (BSky)
- Weber St. 2010 (Rating -19)
- Known for Damian Lillard.
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC)
- Niagara 1970 (Rating -14.5)
- Led by Calvin Murphy.
Sun Belt Conference (SB)
- James Madison 2024 (Rating -12.5)
- With Terrence Edwards.
Southland Conference (Slnd)
- Stephen F. Austin 2016 (Rating -10.3)
- Led by Thomas Walkup.
Mid-American Conference (MAC)
- Bowling Green 1963 (Rating -4.3)
- Featuring Nate Thurmond,.
Ivy League (Ivy)
- Dartmouth 1944 (Rating -4.3)
- Led by Dick McGuire.
Horizon League (Horz)
- Detroit Mercy 1960 (Rating -1.8)
- Featuring Dave DeBusschere.
Western Athletic Conference (WAC)
- Seattle 1958 (Rating -2.8)
- With Elgin Baylor.
Patriot League (Pat)
- Holy Cross 1950 (Rating -1.4)
- With Bob Cousy, this team has a 1-1 record in the game.
Missouri Valley Conference (MVC)
- Northern Iowa 2015 vs. Indiana State 1979
- Two teams that would likely have met in our all-time tournament conference championship, led by Seth Tuttle and Larry Bird.
Atlantic Sun Conference (ASun - and rated higher than all 20 previous conference champs to claim the one non-Power Conference Auto Bid)
- Jacksonville 1970 (Rating -?)
- Artis Gilmore leads this team into the all-time tournament as the top non-Power Conference Champion. They are the 19-seed on the bracket above.
The 10 All-Time Power Conferences with 6 All-Time Great Teams and Auto-Bid
These conferences have at least six all-time great teams in the game, and each of their champions earned an automatic bid to the tournament:
Atlantic 10 Conference (A10)
- Loyola-Chicago (Seeded 20). A10 has 15 all-time great teams in the game.
Conference USA (CUSA)
- Western Kentucky 1969 (Seeded 18). CUSA has 6 great all-time teams in the game.
Mountain West Conference (MWC)
- UNLV 1991 (Seeded 17). WCC has 9 all-time great teams in the game, San
Francisco 1956 with Bill Russell is WCC
champ, 16-seed. Note that Oregon State
and Washington State are both in the WCC for this year only, then will rejoin the
Pac-12 next year along with current Mountain West teams Utah State, Boise
State, Colorado State, Fresno State and Oregon State.
- UNLV 1991 (Seeded 17). WCC has 9 all-time great teams in the game, San
Francisco 1956 with Bill Russell is WCC
champ, 16-seed. Note that Oregon State
and Washington State are both in the WCC for this year only, then will rejoin the
Pac-12 next year along with current Mountain West teams Utah State, Boise
State, Colorado State, Fresno State and Oregon State.
West Coast Conference (WCC)
- San Francisco 1956 (Seeded 16). WCC has 9 all-time great teams in the game, San Francisco 1956 with Bill Russell is WCC champ.
American Athletic Conference (Amer)
- Cincinnati 1962 (Seeded 11). Amer has 7 all-time great teams in the game.
Big East Conference (BE)
- Connecticut 2023 (Seeded 7).. 1.
BE has 31 all-time great teams in the game, and
two will be in the All-time tournament. Connecticut 2023 goes into the
tournament as one of the four tournament runners-up and (7-seed). Villanova
2018 will go in as the Big East champ because we had an extended conference
schedule and they had the best record at 4-1 in conference play for a 15-seed.
- Connecticut 2023 (Seeded 7).. 1.
BE has 31 all-time great teams in the game, and
two will be in the All-time tournament. Connecticut 2023 goes into the
tournament as one of the four tournament runners-up and (7-seed). Villanova
2018 will go in as the Big East champ because we had an extended conference
schedule and they had the best record at 4-1 in conference play for a 15-seed.
Southeastern Conference (SEC)
- Kentucky 2012 (Seeded 6). SEC has 32 all-time great teams in the game, and two Kentucky teams will make the tournament. Kentucky 2012 gets the higher seed as one of the four tournament runners-up for the six seed (6-seed). The 1996 and 1978 Kentucky champs will face each other to break a tie and go as the SEC champ and a 14-seed.
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
- Duke 2011 (Seeded 5). ACC has 43 all-time great teams in the game, North Carolina 1982 was a tourn runner-up (5-seed).
Big 12 Conference (B12)
- Kansas 1997 (Seeded 3). B12 has 30 all-time great teams in the game, Kansas 1997 goes in as one of the four tourn winners (3-seed), while Kansas 2008 goes in as the B12 champs but also a best of rest for a higher 10-seed.
Big Ten Conference (B10)
- UCLA 1972 (Seeded 1). B10 has 39 all-time great teams in the game now
that it has the all-time great Pac-12 teams as well – and they fill 6 of the 20
spots in the all-time tournament. UCLA 1972 with Bill Walton goes in as the B10
champ – but gets the even higher 1-seed having won our first tournament when
there were just 96 teams. They have two of the other all-time winners as well
so will get three of the top four seeds with UCLA 1975 as the 2-seed, and the
Fab 5 Michigan 1993 as the (4-seed). Michigan St. 2000 was a tournament
runner-up so gets an 8-seed, UCLA 1964 is an at-large best of rest to be the 9-seed,
and Indiana 1976 is also a best of the rest as the 12-seed.
These auto-bids ensure that the best teams from each power conference are well-represented in the all-time tournament.
With a mix of historical powerhouses and potential Cinderella stories, this all-time tournament promises plenty of excitement.
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