The more things change in college basketball the more they stay the same, and that's the case again with the power conferences in this year's NCAA Tournament.
Since 1990, 16 of the 19 teams to win the national title were members of the Big East, Big 12, ACC or SEC and that streak could continue with each of the No. 1 seeds hailing from those four leagues - Kansas, Kentucky, Duke and Syracuse.
The Big East led all leagues in tournament representation by sending eight teams to the Big Dance, including the No. 1 seeded Orange in the West Regional, No. 2s Villanova and West Virginia, and No. 3s Pittsburgh and Georgetown. Marquette and Notre Dame claimed No. 6 seeds and Louisville was the lowest seeded at No. 9.
The Big 12 was close behind with seven teams in the Big Dance as Kansas captured the overall No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional. Kansas State took a No. 2 seed, Baylor is a No. 3, Texas A&M is a No. 5. Oklahoma State claimed a No. 7 seed, Texas took a No. 8 and Missouri slipped into the field as a No. 10 seed.
The ACC scored six teams in the tournament and Duke captured the top seed in the East Regional after winning the league's regular-season and tournament titles, but the rest are seeded lower than the ACC is used to scoring. Maryland is a No. 4 seed, Clemson rated a No. 7, Florida State and Wake Forest is a No. 9 and Georgia Tech got in as a No. 10.
The Big Ten landed five teams in the Big Dance with conference tournament and regular-season champion Ohio State settling for a No. 2 seed. Wisconsin and Purdue grabbed No. 4 seeds, Michigan State claimed a No. 5 and Minnesota got in as a No. 11 despite being blown out by the Buckeyes on Sunday.
The SEC had a down year with only four teams making the field of 65, all four hailing from the East Division, including Kentucky's top-seeding in the South Regional. Vanderbilt surprised many by earning a No. 4 seed, Tennessee took a No. 6 and Florida got in as a No. 10 seed despite losing four of its last five. Absent from the list is Mississippi State, which lost a heartbreaker to the Wildcats in overtime Sunday for a chance to get an automatic bid.
The Pac-10 was the biggest loser among the power conferences with only two teams in the tournament and neither earned much respect in the seedings. California is a No. 8 seed and Washington slipped in as a No. 11.
Two mid-major conferences - the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West - did better than the Pac-10 with three teams apiece.