George Mason Coach Jim Larranaga, the godfather of the midmajor coaches, has a dream Final Four. He wants Butler, St. Mary’s, Northern Iowa and Cornell to advance to Indianapolis, which would take the feel-good vibes of the first four days of this N.C.A.A. tournament and extrapolate them to unprecedented levels.

If there is one major theme that has run through the rollicking first four days of the N.C.A.A. tournament, it is that the committee has yet again undervalued the caliber of the midmajor teams. There are 11 conferences represented in the Round of 16 this year, an astounding show of diversity for a tournament whose selection process seems to fight it.

Last year, the N.C.A.A. tournament committee invited just four at-large teams from outside the power conferences. This year, that number doubled to eight. Is it a coincidence that last year’s tournament lacked the buzz of this year’s?

“How exciting is it when Cal plays Louisville in the first round?” Larranaga said of a first-round game in this tournament. “I could care less. If you had Louisville against Butler and Cal against Northern Iowa, there’s a lot of interest in seeing if the midmajors can compete with high majors on a neutral floor.”