[Chris Lang]

Yes, that 06-07 Winthrop team, which got an 11 seed, had a chance, albeit a tiny one. That was the main argument for having the Bracket Buster, was to give high-level mid-majors a chance at a late signature non-conference win against another high-level mid. Thought the Bracket Buster came from a good place but it was a logistical nightmare. That Winthrop team was No. 70 in the RPI after the Big South tournament, so you could argue that with a loss in the title game, they would have been closer to 100.

Monmouth a couple of years ago is the real test case. Won 27 games, was 60th in RPI but only went 1-2 against the Top 50. Someone from a smaller conference would have to be nearly perfect out of conference to get a sniff. Monmouth had some great wins (beat Notre Dame on a neutral floor, won at UCLA) but UCLA ended up at 15-17, so that hurt. Just the reality of not being in a major conference. We're getting to a point where even the A-10 and AAC are going to be marginalized as 1 or 2 bid leagues, at best. Kind of boring.