Brownlow: This year's postseason proves that you should look at teams, not conferences

By Lauren Brownlow, WRALSportsFan columnist/reporter

The types of people that will look upon their own conference with pride simply because of postseason results are the same types of people that probably loved group projects in school. Ride someone else's coattails to a wonderful grade or go down with the ship, but either way, YOUR name isn't the only one attached to it.

But there's a reason group projects almost always elicit groans and eye rolls — you don't want to have to depend on someone else for your grade, good or bad. And there is seemingly always at least one Boston College or Nebraska in your group that's pure dead weight. (To be fair to both the Eagles and the Cornhuskers, Louisville and Minnesota were the worst teams in their respective leagues in NET rankings.)

Duke and UNC, usually the first ones picked in a group project scenario, couldn't carry the ACC's dead weight in the postseason this year. And make no mistake about it — there was plenty of dead weight.

But to look at a team like Miami and say they're not worthy just because they PLAYED in the ACC? How are we not past this?

Does it help a team to play in a strong league? Yes, and that's indisputable at this point. Sure, you could lose a lot. But you can lose a lot and also make the NCAA Tournament. How many teams were members of the group project that committed to do a lot more work than they actually did? At least they showed up to the meeting, I guess.

Don't take this as a defense of the ACC's season. It was absolutely putrid by any standard. But was a team like Miami worthy of less regard than a team like, say, Memphis, which had one fewer Quad-1 win and one more loss? NET says it was, but we know at least part of the reason for that. The rest of the ACC. And if NET is just a sorting tool, then why was Virginia "sorted" onto a higher seed line than Miami in the first place with the same number of losses and Q1 wins?

Virginia and Memphis did a better job of gaming their schedules, yes, and both deserve credit. As does North Carolina, which arguably boosted several teams' resumes with its own superb out-of-conference schedule. It didn't win many of them, but Oklahoma is a below .500 team that ranks 68th in NET mostly because of its schedule, particularly in league play. When your league is good in the eyes of NET, your NET will benefit.

Would it have been better for the ACC if Duke and North Carolina were who both normally are? Obviously, but that's mostly because Miami was the only great team in the league anyway. And it certainly wouldn't have hurt national perception.

But if anyone looks at the ACC and says it's down simply because UNC and Duke aren't who both typically are, then they shouldn't be taken seriously. And anyone who's watched Miami this postseason should know that. Or Florida Atlantic, whose league certainly did not help it. Or San Diego State, which is constantly having to overcome the perception of the Mountain West as weak and, like Miami, had to overcome being underseeded.

The NCAA Tournament does include a TON of luck. Obviously, the best team does not always win. But for all of the hand-wringing about how this season proves that, I'm not sure that it does. UConn, No. 1 in Ken Pomeroy's efficiency rankings, is in. Miami is the lowest-ranking team at No. 22. And while there were some really good teams in college basketball this year, which one is the clear best team in America that won't be playing for a title this year? Purdue? Texas? Houston? Alabama? All vanquished by teams that are well-coached and plenty good in their own right.

To be fair, the ACC as a whole needs to do better.

Neither me nor ACC commissioner Jim Phillips can control the national discourse. But the national discourse did not inject themselves into the NET rankings. Those are all math, baby.

In seasons with 20-game conference slates, though, group projects have become important. ACC commissioner Jim Philips is trying to get everyone on board with his vision: better out-of-conference scheduling, maybe even fewer conference games, and getting the entire league's NET rating up. Because it was ... not up.

Miami's non-conference slate was 17th nationally, a spot ahead of UNC at 18 and Duke came in at 15. Virginia came in at 23 and Pitt at 38. Regardless of record, those teams did their jobs for the rest of the ACC. Literally JUST PLAYING those games will improve a team's NET. And all but one Big 12 team's non-conference strength of schedule was in the top 100. The ACC had six teams ranked 120 or worse.

March is mad in large part because of how random it can be. And yes, a team can have a bad night and get upset early or a good night and beat a team it shouldn't.

But teams don't just stumble into a Final Four, either. Ever. It's what makes Tom Izzo so appreciated nationally in spite of not having won a title since 2000 but reaching a ton of Final Fours. It can look easy at times, but you still have to WIN THE GAMES. As we've seen this year in college basketball, that's far from a given.

The ACC needs to learn how to game the NET better. It's not hard. There just needs to be a willingness to do it. Sure, coaches are worried about their jobs. But a lot of the repeat offenders in terms of bad non-conference slates have a lot more job security than most (like Mike Brey before this season and Brad Brownell at Clemson, or even Steve Forbes at Wake who might have snuck the Deacs into the Big Dance with a better schedule).

But as the college basketball-watching public? What we can do is appreciate what we have now. Which has been and hopefully will continue to be a very exciting Tournament with coaches who deserve their flowers finally getting some, and we should all be here for it.

Don't get caught up in brand names or your bracket predictions. A lot of the brand names weren't that great this year anyway, and it happens. Just enjoy the ride. And remember that neither San Diego State nor Florida Atlantic will look at each other and worry about what conference they came from, so neither should we.