The 6 biggest snubs of the 2019 NCAA Tournament

Based on the Selection Show, the Southern Conference Tournament runner-up UNC Greensboro Spartans were the among first teams left out of the 2019 NCAA Tournament field, just missing a surprise inclusion alongside the Belmont Bruins, the OVC Tournament and regular-season co-champs who will play the Temple Owls in a First Four game in Dayton on Tuesday night.

When the Oregon Ducks won the Pac-12 Tournament title over the Washington Huskies on Saturday night, that undoubtedly popped the Spartans’ bubble. (Which is somewhat ironic, considering many on college basketball social media thought that Belmont would be left out instead.) But considering the difficulties mid-majors like UNCG have in building non-conference schedules and getting quality win opportunities, like the pair of competitive losses Wes Miller’s squad had against Kentucky and LSU early in the season, the Spartans can’t really be blamed for missing the NCAAs. Neither can the Furman (victorious at Villanova in November) and Lipscomb (who defeated a TCU team featured below in Fort Worth). However, the following teams could have done better in one factor or another, based on the post-Selection Show interview Selection Committee chair Bernard Muir gave on CBS.

Note: All records and NET data account for only games played against Division I opponents and are accurate as of the morning of Sunday, March 17. Data is courtesy WarrenNolan.com.

Alabama Crimson Tide (18-15; 8-10 SEC)
Muir stated specifically that failing to take advantage of plentiful quality win opportunities cost some teams, the Crimson Tide certainly qualify, thanks to a 3-10 record in Quadrant 1 games. Making matters worse, they won just two notable games away from home, against Atlantic Sun champion Liberty in a semi-home game in Huntsville and in Thursday’s SEC Tournament second round over Ole Miss. Losses to fellow bubble team Florida and eventual NCAA qualifiers Northeastern Huskies (on a neutral-floor) and Georgia State Panthers (in Tuscaloosa) also hurt.

TCU Horned Frogs (20-13; 7-11 Big 12)
Sweeping Iowa State and Texas and defeating Florida in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge wasn’t enough for the Horned Frogs, another squad that won a pitiful percentage of Quad 1 games. A 25-percent rate of return on such games (3-9) meant TCU will be playing in the NIT instead.

Indiana Hoosiers (17-15; 8-12 Big Ten)
Based on their three top 30 wins, the Hoosiers looked like a good bet to earn a surprise at-large based on previous Committee focus on quality wins. And had Indiana not been so inconsistent, going 8-15 in Quad 1 and 2 games combined, with a poor 2-6 record in the lesser category, they probably would have snuck in. Muir stated that for some teams, the loss total outweighed the wins. That certainly seems to have been the case for Archie Miller’s squad.

Texas Longhorns (16-16; 8-10 Big 12)
And it’s a copycat story for the Longhorns, who finished right at .500 with 16 losses, a combination of factors that likely eliminated them. (Remember that 15 defeats is the most-ever for an at-large.) Texas went 9-15 in Quad 1 and 2 games and added a late November loss to 144th-ranked Radford Highlanders for good measure.

NC State Wolfpack (22-11; 9-9 ACC)
While the Wolfpack ranked 33rd in the NET this morning, they didn’t even make the list of the first four teams left out. You have to think that State fell under the category of teams that failed to take advantage of the quality win opportunities made available to them. While Kevin Keatts’ squad went 3-9 in Quadrant 1 contests, they lost eight of the nine such opportunities they got in ACC play. The exception was Wednesday’s ACC Tournament second-round bubble elimination game against Clemson. After the Wolfpack’s subsequent loss to Virginia, that victory was too little, too late. Factor in a non-conference schedule that ranked dead-last in the country and it’s not much of a surprise that NC State is on the outside looking in.