From Here to Futility: March Madness Turns to Sadness For Many Big Winners

The alluring "Road to the Final Four" is a highway already lined with daydreamers and potholes. Stephen F. Austin (28-5) became the sixth 28-win school in the last 16 years to be shunned as an at-large entrant. It defies logic why 26-win mid-majors such as Belmont, Navy, Tulsa and UNC Wilmington were consigned to NIT participation at the expense of power-league members with non-winning conference records. Do committee members need to pass a history exam? SFA, Navy, Tulsa and UNCW previously prevailed in NCAA playoff games against a total of 11 different current power-conference members reaching the Final Four at some point in their history.

Rather than automatically focusing on underachieving middle-of-the-pack power-alliance affiliates with non-winning league records, 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.

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 earned at-large invitations the past two campaigns, but is a classic example depicting why many mid-level schools have an inferiority complex. The Gaels were ignored by the committee three times in a 10-year from 2008-09 through 2017-18 despite registering in excess of 25 triumphs. Utah State was shunned in 2003-04 despite winning nearly 90% of its games (25-3 record). Would Stephen F. Austin had been shunned six years ago with 30 wins if it lost in Southland Conference Tournament title tilt?

Prior to joining the Big East Conference, Creighton's splendid season 16 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: Bradley (defeated Baylor, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh, Southern California, SMU and UCLA), UC Irvine (Kansas State), Cleveland State (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), George Mason (Connecticut, Michigan State, North Carolina and Villanova), Illinois State (Alabama, Southern California and Tennessee), Indiana State (Arkansas, DePaul, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech), Liberty (Mississippi State), Louisiana-Lafayette (Oklahoma and Texas), Louisiana Tech (Ohio State and Pittsburgh), Navy (Connecticut, Louisiana State, North Carolina and Syracuse), North Texas (Purdue), ORU (Louisville and Syracuse), Saint Mary's (Vanderbilt and Villanova), SIU (Arizona, Georgia, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech), Stephen F. Austin (West Virginia), Toledo (Iowa), Tulsa (Cincinnati, Illinois, Marquette, Miami FL and Oklahoma State), UAB (Indiana, Iowa State, Kentucky, LSU, Michigan State, Missouri, Virginia, UNC Wilmington (Southern California) and Washington), Valparaiso (Florida State and Mississippi) and Vermont (Syracuse) collectively won NCAA playoff games in other years against a total of 49 different power-conference members (including 27 in this year's event).