College basketball has an annual obsession with conference supremacy. That debate hits a fever pitch in March, when conference records in the NCAA Tournament become the No. 1 search topic on this blog.
Fortunately, there are objective ways to measure such topics.Â
Ken Pomeroy has a conference ranking system that’s weighted around how likely a random team is to go .500 against any given conference schedule. Using that, his computer system can come up with a pretty good year-to-year conference rating.
Take that for what it’s worth. These are the best conferences in college basketball in 2026, according to KenPom.
Best College Basketball Conferences
| Rank | Conference | Projected Tournament Bids |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SEC | 9 |
| 2 | Big Ten | 10 |
| 3 | Big 12 | 7 |
| 4 | ACC | 9 |
| 5 | Big East | 4 |
| 6 | Mountain West | 3 |
| 7 | Atlantic 10 | 1 |
| 8 | West Coast | 2 |
| 9 | Missouri Valley | 1 |
| 10 | American (AAC) | 1 |
Best Mid-Major Basketball Conferences
| Rank | Conference | Last NCAA Tournament Win |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conference USA | 2023 |
| 2 | WAC | 2024 |
| 3 | Big West | 2019 |
| 4 | Ivy | 2024 |
| 5 | MAC | 2021 |
| 6 | CAA | 2012 |
| 7 | Big Sky | 2006 |
| 8 | Southland | 2025 |
| 9 | Horizon | 2024 |
| 10 | Sun Belt | 2024 |
| 11 | Big South | 2007 |
| 12 | SoCon | 2023 |
| 13 | Summit | 2021 |
| 14 | Atlantic Sun | 2019 |
| 15 | MAAC | 2022 |
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