The NCAA men's basketball committee could not be more clear: Teams, not conferences, are what it considers in selecting and seeding the NCAA tournament field. Put another way, conference affiliation is not a factor in any selection committee deliberations.
As far as we can see, the committee is telling the truth. But, the reality is everyone from a conference's commissioners to its most passionate fans lives in a world of bragging rights. Not only are big dollars at stake in the form of NCAA revenue units, but who doesn't want their league to be considered the nation's best?