Welcome to the Sweet Sixteen edition of The Bilas Index, the most wide-ranging, glorious, absolute, astute and discerning directory of basketball acumen and achievement known to the free world. This catalog of knowledge is compiled by the most elegant, gifted and pretentiously brilliant basketball mind in the universe -- The Bilastrator himself.
The Bilas Index brings order to chaos, clear-minded intelligence among the crazy nut jobs in the crowd and clarity to ambiguity. The Bilas Index will not only win your office pool, it will make you smarter, better looking and more interesting at parties.
The Bilastrator told you not to buy into the hype of "parity," a mythical concept chirped at every upset by the Parity Parrots, who are too simpleminded to know the difference between an upset and equality of ability. There are upsets in every NCAA tournament and, usually, the upset team is dispatched in the next game. The Bilastrator told you that, and that order is restored quickly, and that the Sweet 16 is usually made up of 13 power conference teams and three mid-major teams (usually including teams such as Gonzaga, Wichita State and a select few others). Yet, in the past few years, the trend has gone the other way.
This year, there are 15 major-conference teams -- and Gonzaga -- in the Sweet 16. Last year, there were 14 major-conference teams, along with Gonzaga and Wichita State. In 2014, there were 14 major-conference teams and San Diego State and Dayton. In 2013, there were 14 major-conference teams and Xavier and Ohio. Like Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and unicorns, "parity" in college basketball doesn't exist. It is a simpleton's way of rationalizing upsets, it diminishes the accomplishments of good teams like Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas-Little Rock and their brethren, and it makes it seem like the results are random and that anyone can win. Well, anyone can't win. It is hard to win and even harder to win after pulling an upset.
That noted, The Bilastrator brings you The Bilas Index so that you can make sense of the great matchups of the Sweet 16. As always, you're welcome.