That is because their bubbles, hard or soft, were burst in their conference tournament.
Or the selection committee was just stupid. Guess which one I am going for?
Now, not all of those teams deserved a spot in the tournament, but some of them did. Here is who should be in and who really needs to be out:
Arizona State replaces Arizona: The Sun Devils were probably the most bitch-jacked team in college basketball. Not only did they beat Arizona twice, they beat four other tournament teams, including a 3-seeded Stanford and an Oregon that also doesn't deserve to be in the field of 65.
Dayton replaces Oregon: While we are talking about the Ducks, lets get them out of there. Dayton beat Louisville and Big East champions Pitt. Their RPI is the highest of any team not making the tournament. And while the Flyers probably wouldn't have stayed around long, they at least deserved a ticket.
Virginia Commonwealth replaces Baylor: While the Bears' story is appealing, this isn't the daytime emmys. VCU was shocked by William & Mary in their conference tournament semis but looking only at that ignores a great season for the Rams. They didn't have the greatest RPI or strength of schedule, but they were one of Division I's most consistent teams over the course of the year.
Who didn't make the cut and for good reason:
Much love to Virginia Tech. They had UNC on the ropes before they forgot to block out in the ACC Semi-Finals. But, they really needed to beat UNC to have a shot at the tournament. In the tough conference, they beat the bottom teams and split with the slightly more mediocre. Even though they played strong late, they weren't that great this year.
No repeat finalists thanks to Ohio State and Florida. And while the Gators really weren't so close, the Buckeyes supposedly were. 19-13 with nine conference losses doesn't do it in my book, hence why Oregon should be out. OSU was 2-10 against top 50 RPI teams and thankfully the committee did not put them in just on name alone (can we say Arizona?).
And while I will be looking forward to some NIT games too (thanks to the brilliance of the selection committee), below is my NCAA Tournament bracket (which will be updated daily following my hits and misses).
My Final Four? North Carolina, Kansas, Pittsburgh and Duke.
Kansas and Pitt have the best line of sight to get there, while Duke will need to play bold in a region that could go to them, UCLA or West Virginia depending on who is playing the best.
North Carolina has the toughest road with Notre Dame, Louisville, Butler and Tennessee.
Not a big upsetting year if you ask me. But, I think Saint Joseph's will get through a couple of rounds with San Diego, Winthrop and Siena poised to pull round one upsets. I also like Drake, while a 5-seed, to get past Western Kentucky and UConn to head to the Sweet 16.
And the game of round one? Kansas State and USC. Beasley and Mayo may be the best one-on-one match that the tournament could hope to produce. Can we say ratings? Can we say bye-bye O.J, have fun in the NBA?
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