It's that time again, folks: the madness is here.
While the NCAA Tournament often offers the most anticipated college basketball match-ups of the year, last week's conference tournaments offered plenty of thrilling moments, many of which determined the seedings released by the NCAA selection committee last night.
Both Clemson and Oklahoma State completed their unprecedented falls from grace this week as they were eliminated from their conference tournaments and relegated to the NIT. The Tigers lost what was effectively an elimination game against Florida State in the first round of the ACC Tournament. After a 17-0 start, Clemson lost 10 of its remaining 14 games and finished eighth in the conference.
The Cowboys made a run in the Big 12 tournament before getting knocked off by Texas in the semifinals. Oklahoma State started the season 15-1 but ended up 6-10 in conference play and struggled mightily on the road. Despite seven wins at neutral sites, the Cowboys had only one true road win the entire season, which came against Texas A&M in the Big 12 quarterfinals on Friday. Only a trip to the conference finals would have enabled Oklahoma State to punch its ticket to the Big Dance.
Among the other teams that saw their hopes for an at-large bid dashed were West Virginia, who lost in double overtime to Louisville in the Big East quarterfinals, and Air Force, who bowed out to Wyoming in the Mountain West quarterfinals. Despite a run to the Big 12 semifinals, Kansas State did not earn a bid.
The committee also passed over Drexel in favor of conference rival Old Dominion. Although Drexel led the nation in road wins, Old Dominion swept the Dragons this season, ultimately giving the Monarchs the edge on Selection Sunday.
With all the burst bubbles, there were a number of teams that slipped into the tournament at the last minute either by winning their conference tournaments, which yields an automatic bid to the tournament, or by going deep in those tournaments and making a better case for an at-large bid.
In the Horizon League, tournament-host Wright State defeated Butler to claim a spot in the Big Dance. But Butler's play in the regular season and postseason effectively secured it an at-large bid.
In the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference, Miami (Ohio) shocked tournament top-seed Akron on a last-second three for a 53-52 victory in the finals. George Washington won the Atlantic 10 and returns to the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row following its victory over Rhode Island.
In addition, New Mexico State joined Nevada as the second team from the Western Athletic Conference in the tournament following its victory over Utah State in the conference tournament finals. Arkansas' unlikely run to the SEC Tournament finals was sufficient enough to earn the Razorbacks a spot in the field.
Among teams that were at-large locks, UCLA cost itself a regional No. 1 seed with consecutive losses to Washington in the regular season finale and California in the Pac-10 quarters. In the end, the four top regional seeds were all champions of their conferences in the regular season and conference tournaments. Although UCLA had nine wins over top-50 rated teams, its late-season struggles proved too costly, as the Bruins settled for a No. 2 regional seed.
Oregon, on the other hand, surged to the Pac-10 Tournament Championship and a No.3 regional seed as a result. Mountain West champs UNLV received only a seven seed with a relatively impressive resume, while WAC champs Nevada could similarly only manage a seven seed despite being ranked in the top 20 nationally for much of the year.
While it's always impossible to escape the debate surrounding which teams were snubbed and which teams received unmerited bids, the NCAA Tournament always delivers the same excitement year after year.
The action kicks off Thursday at noon, so grab a bracket and enjoy.
See tomorrow and Wednesday's Daily for extended coverage.
