As far as I know, the original reason for the 5 & 6 seeds crossover wasn't because of any real or perceived lack of quality in the east, but because of a desire to increase interregional play. Usually, six teams from each region are selected, but four of those twelve teams are sent to the other region. Admittedly, it's probably a little late to start interregional competition during the finals, and we end up with situations where four teams from one region make up the final four, but the intent was not to limit the number of Eastern teams in the NCAA tournament, at least as far as I know. Kristen Robinson MSU '93, UK '95 (I hope)