In Wooden the Big Sky (12 D Baseline teams) was ridiculously competitive from Season 95-105. No organized join effort, just a collection of coaches (cubcub113, trail,zemedlin,byeags,fish,bunch,baumsaway,trizzo,mattstarks,lotsabooze).
88 players drafted, 30 sweet 16s, 6 final fours and 3 titles since Season 100.
In season 102 we had:
Weber State A-
Jackson State B
N Arizona C (won title in Season 110)
Prarie View B+
Southern C+
Alcorn State C
Portland State B-
Montana A-
Idaho State C
Sac State B+
So yeah, good coaches can rise a D prestige conference up. But it's just wrong to say it doesn't matter whether you're in the A10/MWC or the Big Sky...