From the committee's stand point the (major) conf. tournaments are just additional games that are no more or/less important than a game in Nov/Dec.

Obviously winning the conf. tournament guarantees you a spot in the NCAAT. The reg season championship technically doesn't (though for all practical purposes it does). But the big benefit is one final opportunity to add more quality wins to your overall resume, particularly with those being neutral site games.

quote:
What would improve this year's NCAA tournament seeding more:

Winning the 3 remaining games and a SEC tournament semi-final exit OR Losing one of these next 3 games (presuming UK or Tennessee win out) and the SEC reg. season crown BUT winning the SEC tournament?

It would depend on who you beat in the conf. tournament. Beating say Auburn, Miss. St. and UK to win the SECT would probably be more impactful than winning the last 3 reg season games and exiting the SECT early. That would add 3 neutral site victories over NCAAT teams to LSU's resume vs. 2 quality road wins over bubble teams (Bama/UF). If you could predetermine the outcome of the rest of the season, I would take winning 3 SECT games against 3 NCAAT teams and finishing second in the reg season over winning the reg season but dropping the first game of the SECT.

The committee doesn't take into account the regular season conf. standings. It literally does not even appear of the "team sheet" (aka resume) of presented to the committee. You can win the reg. season conf. title and be seeded LOWER than the #2 team in the NCAAT. That's exactly what happen to Mich. St. and Purdue last year.

The goal is simply to stack big wins. It doesn't matter if those big wins came in November or in the tournament semi finals. They both count the same.