It's Selection Sunday, and you know what that means… yes, March Madness is now officially ahead of us, but the 68 teams dancing aren't the only ones who are mad. A handful of teams, the ones who are all too comfortable with their placement on the bubble, and their respective fanbases, are certainly not too happy right about now. Who are these mad teams, you ask?
St. John's
NET Ranking: 32
Best Wins: vs. Creighton, vs. Villanova (x2), vs. Seton Hall
Worst Losses: vs. Michigan, vs. Boston College
-The Johnnie's, who were the only team I incorrectly placed in the field in my final Bracketology projections, weren't even in the First Four Out according to the Selection Committee. Maybe it's my own bias as a UConn fan that's impacting me here, but I'm pretty surprised Rick Pitino's team missed out on the tourney. Their early season losses to Michigan and Boston College did them no favors, nor did a rough midseason stretch where they went from 12-5 to 14-12 faster than you could say “The Big East got absolutely hosed by the Selection Committee.”
Providence
NET Ranking: 57
Best Wins: vs. Wisconsin, vs. Marquette, vs. Creighton (x2)
Worst Losses: vs. Xavier
Seton Hall
NET Ranking: 67
Best Wins: vs. Connecticut, vs. St. John's (x2), vs. Marquette,
Worst Losses: at USC, vs. Rutgers, at Xavier
-And that brings us to Providence and Seton Hall, both whom make for questionable cuts too. Look at the best wins of each of these schools and you see that they're ready to compete with the absolute best teams in the country, and in Kadary Richmond and Devin Carter, you have two All Big East 1st Team performers who will be relegated to playing in the NIT. Had the bubble not shrunk considerably over the last couple of days — thanks a lot, Oregon, UAB, and NC State! — Seton Hall would've been in the field, which makes sense, considering they're the first Big East team ever to finish 5 games above .500 in conference play to miss the NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma
NET Ranking: 46
Best Wins: vs. Providence, vs. Iowa State, vs. BYU
Worst Losses: at UCF
-Porter Moser's squad didn't build up quite enough tournament equity with their hot start to the season, but just barely. Oklahoma was the First Team Out, according to the Selection Committee. But the rigors of the Big 12 schedule proved to be too much for the Sooners to handle. I, like the committee, had the Sooners just missing the Big Dance after avoiding the bubble for the majority of the season.
Indiana State
NET Ranking: 29
Best Wins: vs. Drake, vs. Bradley (x2)
Worst Losses: vs. Illinois State, at Southern Illinois
-I would've loved to see the Sycamores in the tournament field, but I had a feeling this was coming. If your marquee wins are a single victory over Drake and two against Bradley, the resume just isn't going to be quite strong enough, and the sad fact is, that's just life in a conference like the Missouri Valley. College hoops fans seem to prefer high achieving mid majors getting the last few at-large bids as opposed to middle of the pack teams from power conferences, and I'm in agreement the majority. I just feel bad that America was robbed of potentially prolonged experience of watching Robbie Avila, aka Cream Abdul-Jabbar.
Pittsburgh
NET Ranking: 41
Best Wins: at Duke, at Virginia, vs. Wake Forest (x2)
Worst Losses: vs. Missouri, at Miami FL, vs. Syracuse (x2)
-The Pitt Panthers were on the right side of the bubble last year, making the First Four, defeating Mississippi State in Dayton, and then upsetting Iowa State in a 6/11 matchup. The Panthers weren't so fortunate this time around. Road wins against Duke and Virginia look nice, and had Wake Forest not underwent a collapse at the end of the regular season, we may be having a different conversation. But ultimately, it feels like the committee got this one right, even if the folks in the Steel City feel otherwise.
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