Which Conference Is Best Represented in This Year's NCAA Tournament?

Big 10

The Big 10 comes into the tourney tied for the most teams representing its conference. And thanks to the volume of teams, the conference has the third-highest cumulative nERD (89.48). But they also have only the fifth-highest average nERD (12.78), tied with the SEC.

Representing the Big 10 well is Wisconsin. They have the third-best nERD score (20.21) and the second-best offense in the league. Their defense isn't anything to scoff at either, as it ranks in the top 16 among teams in the tournament.

Don't let the seedings of the rest of the Big 10 entrants confuse you -- our nERD rankings show that they'll be teams to contend with.

Michigan State had to beat Ohio State to get to the Big 10 championship game, and both were top-20 teams according to our rankings. However, Michigan State was placed as a 7 seed, while Ohio State was dropped down to a 10 seed. Ohio State has a 7.69% chance to make it to the Elite 8, and could very well do so with their low seed.

Despite being a low seed, don't be surprised if Indiana does work, too. According to our rankings, they were seeded well and they are a below-average tournament team in terms of nERD (9.25), but they have an offense that is in the 97th percentile that may get them past the first weekend of the tournament.