The reason for the current format was to protect the conference $$$.

The zags were having to play RPI killing dregs of the conference a 3x and it would hurt the teams SOS. This resulted in bad seeding for the tournament and less money for the conference.

The ADs voted and figured it was best for the conference to move the the current format to protect the top 2 seeds from poor competition.

Mark Few has NEVER not made the conference final. I don't think he's afraid of playing SF in the Quarterfinals. No games are gimmes. And losses happen even to the best teams. That's sports.