Selection Sunday is supposed to be a time of joy at the NCAAB betting sites.
However, that’s not the case for teams that end up crying in their beers and pouting over being snubbed by the selection committee that only has 68 invites to be handed out.
To be honest, most of the snubs would have been No. 12 or No. 13 seeds, at best, making it difficult to feel those teams have been slighted all that much.
Certainly, there have been some deserving teams in the past that didn’t get a chance, but the most deserving of those came 50+ years ago when the NCAA Tournament restricted each conference to just one entry.
The 1970 South Carolina Gamecocks and 1974 Maryland Terrapins were left out of the dance despite unbeaten conference records or top 10 rankings, and during UCLA’s heyday in the 60s and 70s, more than one Pac-8 team fell victim to the rule.
Some of the teams that did make our list do have strong arguments in their defense, but they should all take solace in the fact they weren’t snubbed near as much on the hardwood as Florida State was on the gridiron in 2023, and it’s not even close.
2023 North Carolina
We begin with the most recent tournament, not necessarily because North Carolina was snubbed by the NCAA selection committee, but because the Tar Heels turned up their noses and snubbed the NIT.
After making it to the NCAA Finals and losing to Kansas in Hubert Davis’ first season as head coach in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels entered the 2022-23 season as the preseason No. 1, a ranking that looked shaky even when getting off to a 5.0 start.
Then came a 4-game losing streak beginning in the Phil Knight Invitational and ending with their conference opener at Virginia Tech in a game some top sportsbooks closed as a pick, and the Tar Heels never seemed to gain control of their season after that.
Needing a deep run in the ACC Tournament, North Carolina was gone after the second round.
Name and history were the only reasons UNC was even a bubble team, and it’s obvious the school crafted its statement about not playing in any other postseason event than the NCAA Tournament prior to the announcement on Selection Sunday.
Maybe the old saying, “Humble in victory, gracious in defeat” isn’t taught at UNC.
2015 Colorado State
Larry Eustachy and the Rams were given a classic NCAA snub by the committee in 2015, one that goes like this: If a school with a big national falling is even close, send that program dancing over deserving mid-majors.
Colorado State tore through the regular season 26-5, covered the odds at NCAAB betting sites in 4 of its final 5 games, sported a perfect 13-0 mark in non-conference games plus slipped in and out of the conventional polls during the season.
AJ Avila injured his ankle in a win over Fresno State in the MWC Tournament opener, and Eustachy decided to sit his star in the semifinals against San Diego State, a game the Rams ultimately lost.
That was enough for the selection committee to bypass a 27-6 Colorado State team in favor of Texas, UCLA and Indiana, all with 13 losses.
2004 Utah State
How thin is the margin between dancing in the NCAA and being relegated to the NIT? Utah State fans will tell you it’s one point.
The Aggies were 25-2 at the end of the regular season, 17-1 in Big West action and ranked No. 22 when they fell 63-62 in the final minute to Cal State Northridge at the league tourney.
Good afternoon, good evening and good night, said the selection committee.
Utah State became the first ranked team since the 1970s to miss the NCAA Tournament and had the highest win percentage (25-3, .893) for any team excluded.
2018 Southern California
Not wanting to get egg on their face by sending a school that was about to be punished for running afoul of NCAA recruiting rules – and the real law itself –, perhaps the 2018 Trojans can be filed as a deserved snub.
The quality of play was certainly deserving of an invite; the Trojans won the Diamond Head Classic tournament in December, finished second to Arizona in the regular season league standings and then lost to Arizona in the Pac-12 Championship.
That didn’t stop the NIT from welcoming the Trojans for their event, and the worst penalty USC suffered in the bribery and corruption scandal was the loss of a couple of scholarships.
2010 Virginia Tech
If ESPN studio analyst Seth Greenberg ever sounds angry to you, maybe his blood is still boiling a bit after the selection committee snubbed his Virginia Tech Hokies in 2010.
Virginia Tech enjoyed a fine season and finished fourth in the ACC during the regular season. The Hokies were a dark horse college basketball pick to win the league tourney behind ACC leading scorer Malcolm Delaney.
Even after an upset loss to Miami in the ACC quarters, Virginia Tech seemed a sure bet to go dancing, but that wasn’t the case and the Hokies had to watch Clemson, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech get in despite finishing behind Greenberg’s team in the regular season.
