| Year | Diff. | Cut line | In NCAA | In Z-Bracket | At-large bids to non-"power" teams | |
| Z-Bracket | NCAA | |||||
| 2018 Bracket & Process Ratings |
5 | 44 | UCLA (46) Rhode Island (49) Arizona State (50) Syracuse (51) St. Bonaventure (58) |
Oklahoma State (33) Baylor (36) Marquette (37) Louisville (40) Mississippi State (42) |
3 | 5 |
| 2017 Bracket & Process Ratings |
2 | 45 | Virginia Commonwealth (47) Vanderbilt (49) |
Clemson (43) Indiana (45) |
3 | 4 |
| 2016 Bracket & Process Ratings |
5 | 47** | Temple (52) Virginia Commonwealth (54) Vanderbilt (56) Wichita State (61) Tulsa (67) |
South Carolina (40) Virginia Tech (41) Georgia Tech (42) Kansas State (46) Marquette (47) |
2 | 6 |
| 2015 Bracket & Process Ratings |
3 | 47 | Mississippi (52) Cincinnati (53) Boise State (54) |
Colorado State (40) Miami (FL) (43) Temple (47) |
7 | 7 |
| 2014 Bracket & Process Ratings |
3 | 47 | North Carolina State (52) Dayton (53) Brigham Young (59) |
Utah (44) St. John's (46) Minnesota(47) |
8 | 10 |
| 2013 Bracket & Process Ratings |
1 | 49* | Middle Tennessee State (52) | Iowa (42) | 10 | 11 |
| 2012 Bracket & Process Ratings |
4 | 48 | South Florida (51) Colorado State (52) Xavier (57) Iona (82) |
Northwestern (37) Minnesota (42) Illinois (46) Seton Hall (48) |
8 | 11 |
| 2011 Bracket & Process Ratings |
4 | 49 | Tennessee (50) UAB (52) Va. Commonwealth (67) Southern California (70) |
Virginia Tech(40) Colorado (47) Northwestern (48) Boston College(49) |
5 | 7 |
| 2010 Bracket Process Ratings |
2 | 45 | Minnesota (54) Utah State (59) |
Virginia Tech (31) Seton Hall (38) |
7 | 8 |
| 2009 Bracket Process Ratings |
3 | 41 | Arizona (44) Tennessee (48) Dayton (53) |
Penn State (28) Miami (FL) (40) Northwestern (41) |
3 | 4 |
| 2008 Bracket Process Ratings |
3 | 44 | Kentucky (51) South Alabama (57) St. Joseph's (63) |
Arizona State (34) Illinois State (40) Ohio State (44) |
5 | 6 |
| 2007 Bracket Process Ratings |
4 | 43 | Arkansas (44) Texas Tech (53) Xavier (57) Old Dominion (69) |
Clemson (28) Florida State (32) West Virginia (42) Air Force (43) |
5 | 6 |
| 2006 Bracket Process Ratings |
6 | 44 | Alabama (46) California (48) Bradley (51) Air Force (55) George Mason (57) Utah State (71) |
Michigan (29) Cincinnati (33) Florida State (37) Maryland (40) Louisville (42) Missouri State (43) |
5 | 8 |
| 2005 Bracket Process Ratings |
3 | 44* | St. Mary's (46) UAB (57) Northern Iowa (58) |
Texas A&M (37) Notre Dame (41) Indiana (44) |
6 | 9 |
| 2004 Bracket Process Ratings |
8 | 43 | Michigan State (44) BYU (45) UAB (46) Dayton (48) UTEP (51) Air Force (52) Washington (55) Richmond (59) |
Virginia (26) Florida State (27) LSU (31) Georgia (32) Oklahoma (39) Utah State (41) Tennessee (42) Notre Dame (43) |
7 | 12 |
| 2003 Bracket Process Ratings |
2 | 44* | Gonzaga (45) Cincinnati (46) |
Tennessee (39) Texas Tech (43) |
8 | 10 |
The ratings linked to in each year are those through Selection Sunday - i.e., those used to construct the Z-Bracket.
Diff. : number of at-large selections that differed between the Z-Bracket and the NCAA bracket.
Cut line: the ranking of the last at-large team to make the field.
The asterisks in the "cut line" column indicate that a team that was ineligible for postseason play was ranked high enough to receive an at-large bid. The specific teams were Georgia in 2003, Ohio State in 2005, Connecticut in 2013, and both Louisville and Southern Methodist in 2016.
"In NCAA", and "In Z-Bracket" : the names and rankings of the teams left out of one bracket or the other.
The last two columns are shown to demonstrate that in every year (except 2015), selection of the at-large teams purely by the Z-Ratings would have resulted in a net transfer of berths to the six BCS/"power" conferences (the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-12, and Southeastern). In 2014, the "new" Big East remains defined as a "power" conference, based on its No. 4 overall strength.