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I was multi tasking while watching games last night and did a little analysis. For all of the games played thus far, schools from a power 5 conference shot on average 21.3 free throws a game when playing non-power 5 teams. The non-power 5 teams shot 14.5 free throws in those games. So nearly a 7 attempt differential in favor of P5s. That probably amounts to a 5 point a game advantage at the line for the P5s. Now, one can argue that this was driven by the smaller schools shooting more jump shots or end of game situations being down, but I did find it interesting. The one exception was Gonzaga vs Northwestern where the Zags 24 more free throws than NW. Take that one out and the differential is even greater. If I had time would be interesting to see how higher seeds do regardless of conference affiliation. My hunch is that higher seeds when you get beyond the 8/9 and 10/7 matchups get the benefit of the doubt.
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