Two-way elite teams (top-20 AdjO + top-20 AdjD) reach E8 at 52.3% — 4.4× the baseline rate.
Defense beats offense: top-20 D with weak O reaches E8 at 7.5% vs top-20 O with weak D at 9.7%.
Top-15 AdjD reaches E8 at 28.2% — the single strongest individual bracket.
Average E8 team ranks #22 in AdjO, #30 in AdjD, and #80 in O-reb among all 365 teams.
Defensive floor matters most: no team ranked 201+ in AdjD has ever reached the E8 (0-for-81).
Rim control edge: teams ranked top-30 in both offensive and defensive rim share reach E8 at 21.7% — structurally harder to eliminate.