I don’t understand the rationale behind the 11th seed play-in game in the NCAA tourney. Is it better to be seeded 12th or lower to avoid having to play your way in? Are some teams being punished for having a better record than others?
I don’t have an answer, but I do share your confusion. If these teams were good enough to be 11th seeds, then why weren’t they seeded there in the first place? If you have 4 teams who need to play an ‘extra’ game, shouldn’t logic dictate that the winners fill in the final spots in their brackets?
The problem is that the tournament takes all of the conference champions and then fills in the rest of the bracket with at-large bids. In most cases the at-large teams are better then the small conference champions. When they chose to add the play-in games they didn’t want it to disproportionately affect the conference champions by making all the crappy schools play play-in games for the 16 seed. They wanted some of the better at-large teams to also have to play some of the play-in games. It also means better match ups and bigger money on the TV deals.
Many small conference champions get an automatic bid to the tourney. They are seeded 16-12 and are generally overmatched, but every year a couple make a good effort and win a game or two. But if you took what are realistically thought to be the top 64(or 68) teams in the country, they wouldn’t make it.
The lowest of the teams that come in from the at-large pool and are questionable to be there at all, are the ones seeded in the 11 play in game, so instead of bringing in 2 and playing them as normal, they bring in 4 of them and let the winners into the actual bracket.
The fact that both of the “at-large” games in the First Four are for 11 seeds are coincidence more than anything else. The teams are ranked from 1 to 68, and the bottom four that are not conference champions (as well as the bottom four that are) are put into the First Four games. The tournament committee then decides where to put the teams into the bracket based on the strengths of the teams.
This is the seventh year that there have been at-large teams in Dayton. The winners were seeded as follows:
2011 - 11, 12
2012 - 12, 14
2013 - 11, 13
2014 - 11, 12
2015 - both 11
2016 - both 11
2017 - both 11
In fact, when they pair the teams for the First Four, the best two play each other, and the worst two play each other, rather than best vs. worst and second vs. third; I am guessing that it is because it makes it easier to determine where to put them into the main bracket in advance.
The fact remains that you have to play an extra game to earn an 11 seed, while the guys with the 12 seed (presumably lesser team) get the day off.
There are some benefits to winning your conference championship.