The Big Ten had an NCAA men’s basketball tournament performance that only Bode Miller could love.

Six entries. Six exits. If only the conference had carpooled.

Times like these make you wonder what Hofstra or Creighton could have done with one of the Big Ten berths. Two years ago, the thought of either mid-major program getting an NCAA at-large bid was nuttier than Dick Vitale on the night before Midnight Madness.

Not anymore. Hopefully, never again. After years of failing to recognize the changing landscape of college basketball, the NCAA men’s selection committee got it right in awarding a few more at-large entries to mid-majors.

Wichita State, of the Missouri Valley Conference, and George Mason, of the Colonial Athletic Assn., rewarded the committee’s trust by advancing to the Sweet 16. Bradley, one of four MVC teams tapped, also is still alive.

At press time, Jaws of Life crew members were working frantically to remove the foot Billy Packer put in his mouth last weekend while criticizing the committee’s perceived slight of the power conferences. The MVC received as many at-large nominations as the Atlantic Coast Conference, Pac-10 and Big 12.

“Part of the charm of the tournament is the debate it sparks about who should have gotten in and who didn’t get in,” Kent State athletic director Laing Kennedy said. He began his five-year term on the prestigious 10-member NCAA selection committee this season.

Kennedy declined to say if he felt vindicated from the criticism levied at the committee a week ago. He didn’t have to – George Mason fans expressed the sentiment for him Sunday at the University of Dayton Arena.

With Kennedy seated at courtside, Patriots supporters began chanting, “Bill-y Pack-er . . . Bill-y Pack-er,” as they cheered their team’s 65-60 upset of defending champion North Carolina. George Mason had opened the tournament by ousting Michigan State, 75-65.

All four top seeds remain in the tournament, and the Final Four usually is reserved for representatives from the six power conferences. The exodus of underclassmen from elite programs to the NBA, coupled with the reduction of scholarships from 15 to 13 in 1992, have helped mid-majors narrow the gap. Look at the sustained success of Gonzaga, a former Cinderella-turned-No. 3 seed.

Better athletes, particularly post players, have been finding their way to mid-majors for some time. The Elite Eight run of senior-laden Kent State in 2002 should have altered selection-committee thinking.

Unfortunately, its members had been about as resistant to change as Hootie (Johnson) and the Blowhards at Augusta National. The MAC probably deserved three bids during the 1999-2000 season but received its mandatory one.

Kennedy suggests his conference needs to improve its strength of schedule by enticing the likes of the ACC, Big Ten and Big East. (Neither Kent State nor the University of Akron played a Big Ten foe in 2005-06).

The MVC success has implemented such a strategy, and its member schools scored RPI-raising victories over Iowa, LSU and Indiana this season.

How do you think this plays in Peoria? Given that it’s home to Bradley University, probably pretty well.

“I can remember a time when you were a No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 (seed), the first couple of games you could win without playing well,” Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said. “I don’t think you can do that anymore.”