I don't think seed advancement is relevant when discussing a tourney format. In 2009, 5 seed Akron won 4 games in 5 days. Back then, there were divisions. The 2 seed was Balls at 7-9 in the conference. The East Division had BG (11-5), Buffalo (11-5), Miami OH (10-6), Akron (10-6), and Kent (10-6). Ultimately, there wasn't much separating the top 5 teams in the conference.
Fast forward to 2012...
Kent had a BYE to the QFs - beat 8 seed WMU by 4, lost to 1 seed Akron by 4
Ohio had a BYE to the QFs - beat 7 seed Toledo by 8, beat 2 seed Buffalo by 3, beat 1 seed Akron by 1 (went on to win 2, nearly 3 games in the NCAA tournament - probably the best team in the conference that underperformed in the regular season)
2013
Hard to argue that Akron/Ohio weren't the 2 best teams in the conference that year by a mile.
2014
WMU had a BYE to the SFs - survived injury-riddled Akron (Robothom injury, correct?), beat 2 seed Toledo by 21
Toledo had a BYE to the SFs - beat 6 seed EMU who upset 3 seed Buffalo despite Buffalo having a QFs BYE
2015
Buffalo had a BYE to the SFs - beat 7 seed Akron by 9 who upset Kent by 2 despite Kent BYE to QFs, then beat 1 seed CMU by 5 (Bobby Hurley's 1st year that started a nice 5-6 year run for Buffalo)
FORMAT CHANGE
2021
5 seed Ohio beats 4 seed Kent by 22, 1 seed Toledo by 7, and 2 seed Buffalo by 15 to win it all; led by NBA player Jason Preston and went on to win a NCAA tourney game (possibly the best team in the conference that year that under achieved in regular season)
2022
4 seed Akron beats 5 seed Buffalo by 2, 1 seed Toledo by 8, and 2 seed Kent by 20; nearly beat UCLA in NCAA tournament
2023
2 seed Kent beat 7 seed NIU by 19, 3 seed Akron by 6, and 1 seed Toledo by 15; Kent sucks
2024
2 seed Akron beat 7 seed Miami OH by 12, 3 seed Ohio by 3, and 8 seed Kent by 1
8 seed Kent beat 1 seed Toledo by 8, 5 seed BG by 13; arguably much more talented than an 8 seed that underachieved in regular season
2025
Top 2 seeds Akron and Miami OH - arguably the 2 best in the conference last year by a lot - battled in a classic in the championship game; 1 seed Akron won
2026
So far, chalk has held in 2026 outside of Miami OH/UMass. UMass had 12 games decided by 7 pts or less. They could've easily been a top 4 seed and were a nightmare matchup for Miami OH. No matter when those 2 played, UMass would've been selected as the favorite by anyone who knows ball. Miami OH had the opposite regular season, leading the country I believe in single possession victories. They could've easily been much lower than the 1 seed.
If all seeding was erased and we simply looked at matchups/talent/coaching, there haven't really been many shocking upsets in Cleveland in a couple decades. It's not like lowly Directional Michigans are shocking top seeds. My point is, no matter the format, the cream rises to the top in Cleveland. Everyone knew Miami OH was overrated and it showed. The format doesn't need changed; there will never be a perfect format, but this year's tournament is pretty darn exciting with its current layout.
Maybe Steele can get some NIL deals going with Puffs or Kleenux with all the crying they've been doing. Go Zips!