From Here to Futility: Four Schools With > 25 Wins Denied At-Large Berths
The "Road to the Final Four" is a highway lined with daydreamers and potholes. But it defies logic why a total of four mid-major schools with more than 25 victories were consigned to NIT participation. It's as absurd as believing FBI probe involving Louisville, Oklahoma State and USC didn't impact their at-large status. In the end, Saint Mary's matched Coastal Carolina '11 as the teams with most triumphs but denied an at-large bid despite posting 28 victories.
Rather than automatically focusing on underachieving middle-of-the-pack power-alliance affiliates, shouldn't teams capturing undisputed regular-season crowns in a Division I conference warrant more extensive consideration as at-large entrants to the NCAA playoffs? Season-long excellence needs to count more than always paying homage to mediocre members of a power league. Actually, we got a pretty clear picture this season showing the power conferences really weren't all that powerful. Doubt many committee members know the following at-large entrants lost in previous tourneys to the following mid-majors: Alabama (Illinois State), Florida (bowed to Colorado State and Creighton), Missouri (Colorado State, Northern Iowa and Rhode Island), Ohio State (Louisiana Tech), Oklahoma (Louisiana-Lafayette), Syracuse (Oral Roberts and Vermont), Tennessee (Illinois State), Texas (Louisiana-Lafayette), Texas Tech (Southern Illinois) and Virginia Tech (Southern Illinois). It's inconceivable any committee member watched Vermont's narrow loss at Kentucky and came away with opinion other than the Catamounts are a tourney team. Ditto St. Mary's triumph at Gonzaga unless committee members can't discern a quality mid-major as much as coach Bruce Pearl couldn't recognize his residence in Tennessee.
Davidson had two of 11 teams from mid-major conferences - Lafayette '78, American '81, Temple '82, William & Mary '83, Coppin State '94, Davidson '96, Austin Peay '04, Davidson '05, Norfolk State '13, Murray State '15 and North Carolina Central '15 - going undefeated in league round-robin regular-season competition but not participating in the NCAA playoffs after losing by a single-digit margin in their conference tournament since at-large bids were issued to schools other than conference champions in 1975.
Saint Mary's, rejected despite a sterling 28-5 worksheet, is a classic example depicting why many mid-level schools have an inferiority complex. The Gaels were overlooked only two years ago despite posting 27 victories. Utah State was shunned in 2003-04 despite winning nearly 90% of its games (25-3 record). Does anyone believe Buffalo, Loyola of Chicago and Marshall would have been selected as at-large entrants if they didn't win their respective league tourneys?
Prior to joining the Big East Conference, Creighton's splendid season nine years ago was downplayed. Know-it-all national media types and committee members may haughtily belittle mid-major achievements because they're from the other side of the tracks, but following is an alarmingly long track record listing chronologically eligible teams winning more than 25 games yet failing to earn invitations to the NCAA playoffs since the field expanded to at least 64 in 1985:
NOTE: Cleveland State (defeated Indiana and Wake Forest), College of Charleston (Maryland), Colorado State (Colorado, Florida and Missouri), Creighton (Alabama, Florida, Louisville and Texas), Davidson (Georgetown, St. John's and Wisconsin), Illinois State (Alabama, Southern California and Tennessee), Louisiana-Lafayette (Oklahoma and Texas), Louisiana Tech (Ohio State and Pittsburgh), ORU (Louisville and Syracuse), Saint Mary's (Villanova), SIU (Arizona, Georgia, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech) and Vermont (Syracuse) collectively won NCAA playoff games in other years against 23 different power conference members.