Looking at the Massey data today it’s pretty evident that their conference rankings do indeed cover the postseason.
As others have pointed out the entire conference comes into play, top to bottom, so while the elite members of the conference get the attention the “ball don’t lie” as they say. It’s not unusual for some conference members to act as boat anchors, counteracting the work done at the top.
So, the total OOC records, including postseason were:
WIAC 67-20 .770
UAA 73-23 .760
CCIW 63-28 .692
ODAC 57-50 .533
though this is just one metric used in the Massey rankings.
The WIAC had just one team (Stevens Point) that was underwater OOC at 3-4. The UAA also had just one in Chicago at 5-6. The CCIW had 2 (N. Central and Carroll).
The WIAC jumps off the page at 67-17 excluding the postseason. Of course not all OOC opponents are created equal, but across the board the Massey metrics for the WIAC are #1 with just one exception (Off). Clearly the WIAC was #1 as a whole.
While the CCIW had a very strong season, including 10 tournament games overall, those 10 games were not enough (to Massey) to “carry” the weight of the other 81 OOC games.
And looking at the Massey metrics across the board it appears (to them) that the CCIW was closer to the ODAC @ #4 (#2 SOS for example) than the UAA @ #2 for the year.
Of course we aren’t privy to the secret sauce behind all the Massey numbers. How much weight does/should a Final Four game carry relative to playing the same team in an earlier round for example? Those are beer debate questions and thankfully can be argued many ways … lest we have fewer excuses for those beers.