The last four teams in the 2013 NCAA Tournament field — the four teams just barely on the right side of the bubble — are the La Salle Explorers, the Boise St. Broncos, the Middle Tennessee St. Blue Raiders and the St. Mary's Gaels.
Selection Sunday 2013: Last 4 in the NCAA bracket
The last four bubble teams to make it are all from mid-major conferences, sure to fuel some anger among fans nationwide.
Andy Lyons
The most significant part of this small group is mostly the teams not included. No teams from the traditional “power conferences,” the Big East, ACC, Big 12, Big 10, Pac-12 and SEC, made it. Teams on the bubble, like Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, were left off, while a team like Middle Tennessee State, which lost to Arkansas State and didn’t beat a single ranked team, although they did beat SEC tournament champion Ole Miss.
In addition, a team like LaSalle, with nine losses playing the Atlantic 10, was rewarded for beating tournament teams VCU, Butler and Villanova in overtime early in the season.
Boise State made it into the bracket after coming out of the tough Mountain West despite double-digit losses on the year. Saint Mary’s was the second team in from the West Coast Conference, not traditionally a reputable mid-major conference. They lost to Gonzaga, the only other tournament team in the WCC, all three times they played.
The fans of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland and Alabama can whine all they want about not making it in over teams from mid-major conferences. The field of 68 is set.
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