March Madness conference breakdown: Big Ten dominates while SEC struggles

ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - MARCH 22: Jack Benter #14 and Braden Smith #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers react against the Miami Hurricanes during the first half in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Enterprise Center on March 22, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) | Getty Images The Big Ten are the big winners of the first weekend of the 2026 men’s NCAA tournament. Going 6-1 in the second round, the league has a real chance to place multiple teams in the Final Four with a strong showing in the second weekend.

Finally, there’s some hope of breaking the conference’s national championship drought that spans a quarter century. Check out our full Sweet 16 rankings for the men’s tournament , led by a Big Ten team in No. 1 seed Michigan.

While Power 4 football conferences dominated the Sweet 16 last season, the Big East advanced UConn and St. John’s into the second weekend to make it five multi-bid leagues left in the field. Elsewhere, the SEC is scrambling with the loss of top-seed Florida to Iowa in a shocking second-round South Region upset.

The Big 12 is looking strong with top three very good teams in Arizona, Houston and Iowa State still remaining. Since the East Region contains both Big East teams and Duke — as well as Michigan State out of the Big Ten — it limits the two conferences to only one Final Four bid between them for next weekend. Taking the Spartans out of consideration, five Big Ten teams, four SEC teams and three Big 12 teams are essentially battling for three Final Four bids outside of the East Region.