March Madness? Indiana State, three 20-win Big East teams among those snubbed on Selection Sunday

The only time Indiana State won more games was when Larry Bird was part of a national runner-up team in 1979. The Sycamores won’t even get a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament this time.

Even with 28 wins and goggle-wearing big man Robbie Avila among a lineup with all five starters averaging double figures in scoring, the Sycamores were snubbed Sunday by the NCAA selection committee. Three 20-win teams from the Big East Conference — Providence, Seton Hall and St. John’s — were also left out of the 68-team field.

“To me, the whole thing is kind of a shell game,” said coach Dan Hurley of Big East champion UConn, whose defending national champions are the No. 1 seed in the East Region. “In the end, it just comes down to what the committee values.”

The selection committee said Oklahoma, Seton Hall, Indiana State and Pittsburgh were the first four teams left out.

Committee chairman Charles McClelland, commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, said five bids were stolen during the conference tournaments by unexpected champions. He said one of those was going to go to Indiana State, which lost to Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference title game to land squarely back on the bubble.

“Under normal circumstances with those additional bids, they would have been in ... but when you start splitting hairs you have to look at something, you have to find something and that’s ultimately why they were not in the field,” McClelland said.

While the Big 12 got a conference-record eight teams in the field, Oklahoma (20-12) got left out even though it didn’t lose outside Quad 1 games. The SEC-bound Sooners did lose nine of their last 14 games after a 15-3 start.

“I am devastated for these young men who were left out of the NCAA Tournament, despite having a resume and metrics worthy of being in the field,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said in a statement.

“At a later time, I will have more to say about our body of work and the selection process.”

The Sooners declined an invitation to play in the National Invitation Tournament, with St. John’s and Pittsburgh also saying they would not participate.

Indiana State (28-6) will be in the NIT as a No. 1 seed. The Sycamores are among the nation's highestscoring teams at 84.4 points a game, bolstered by their school-record 373 made 3-pointers.

Sycamores coach Josh Schertz said he felt the MVC was trending as a league that would get multiple NCAA bids, and thought his team did enough based on its NET ranking of 28.

“So it’s beyond disappointing,” Schertz said. “We’ve got to get up tomorrow and get ready for what’s next.”

Pittsburgh (22-11) won 12 of its last 16 games, a stretch that began with a win at Duke. The early losses by the Panthers included one at home to Missouri, which went 0-18 in Southeastern Conference play.

“I am incredibly proud of the performance, development, and fight of our team,” Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel said in a statement.

“We ultimately fell short of our goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament, despite ranking favorably in the computers, performing well in conference play with a fourth-place finish and an ACC Tournament semifinal appearance, and playing our best basketball over the last eight weeks of the season.”

Had St. John’s gotten in, it would have been the record sixth school coach Rick Pitino had taken to the NCAA Tournament. The Red Storm won’t even play in the NIT.

“After thorough consideration of all that goes into postseason participation, we believe at this time it is best for our team and basketball program to prepare for next season,” Pitino said.

While the Big East had three 20-win teams snubbed, the conference’s three selections are very high seeds. Defending national champion UConn is the top overall seed, while Marquette is a 2-seed and Creighton a 3-seed.

“We have been advised that this year’s upsets added to the complexity and contributed to the committee’s final bracket selections,” the Big East said in a statement Monday evening.

“Given the high level of play in our league, we are understandably very disappointed that some worthy Big East teams were not selected to participate. We will be working closely with our schools in the coming months to best position the Big East next year and to ensure that we continue to be represented in March Madness in a manner befitting our stature as one of the best conferences in college basketball.”

BETTORS COUNTING ON UPSETS AS THEY PUT MONEY ON LONG SHOTS:

Given the numerous upsets that led to last year’s unusual Final Four and the many bids stolen in this season’s conference tournaments, bettors aren’t inclined to go chalk when laying wagers for the NCAA Tournament.

“People are loving some (under)dogs,” BetMGM trading manager Seamus Magee said. “We’ve taken all this money on some long shots to win these conference tournaments. Lots of people like taking a flier on some of these double-digit seeds.”

The First Four is Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio, and the tournament begins in full Thursday.

As recent history has shown, some of those fliers can turn into big money.

Saint Peter’s made the Sweet 16 two years ago as a No. 15 seed. Last year’s Final Four included a very un-blue-blooded San Diego State, Florida Atlantic and Miami.

The madness this year came to March before the NCAA Tournament, with underdogs sweeping through conference tourneys and taking bids from teams that otherwise would’ve been in line to make the Big Dance.

Only 11 of the 32 conference tournaments ended with the No. 1 seed as champion.

“I think the (NCAA transfer) portal is helping a lot of these mid-major teams,” Magee said. “There are a lot of players at power programs that want to play more, and they’re willing to go to some smaller teams just to play. I think people are starting to see the gap is kind of starting to shrink a little bit between a lot of these really good midmajors and maybe a bit overrated power-conference teams.”

LITTLE LOVE FOR MOUNTAIN WEST:

Six Mountain West teams made the tournament, but the NCAA selection committee did the conference little favor in the seedings.

Aside from San Diego State, which was fifth, Mountain West teams were put in tough spots. Boise State and Colorado State will compete in the First Four. New Mexico would not have made the field if it hadn’t won the conference tournament.

“You can’t argue the committee hated the Mountain West this year,” Magee said.

“But the seeding with some of them, it was almost like, ‘Hey, go prove it.’ Utah State winning the Mountain West regular season and getting an eight-seed, nuts. New Mexico getting an 11-seed, being on the same line as Duquesne, is a whole story altogether.”

GOOD AT THE TOP:

Sheldon Jacobson, who operates the site BracketOdds, said the committee did a good job putting together the top four seed lines, but struggled after that.

“There were a lot of teams that seemed to be spread all over the place, either under-seeded or over-seeded,” Jacobson said. “(Tenth-seeded) Nevada, people expected to go much higher. Florida Atlantic got a late seed (No. 8), and that was a head-scratcher.”

Jacobson said to keep an eye on those seeded 11th and 12th.

“If you look at the fiveline and the six-line, there are some mid-majors in there,” he said. “As a result, it’s going to create a lot of matchups that you would not have expected. Often, the tournament is filled with power conferences versus mid-major games. We’re seeing midmajor versus mid-major way across the board this time.”

EARLY LOVE FOR VIRGINIA:

Most of the BetMGM tickets have been on Virginia to beat Colorado State. The Cavaliers also were the most-bet underdog to win on the money line.

But the professionals aren’t buying it.

Even with the public going heavy on Virginia, Colorado State went from a 1 1/2-point favorite to 2 1/2 because the so-called sharps sided with the Rams and they’re the ones who move the lines.

“The opinion on (Virginia) was so low from so many people after selection Sunday, you wouldn’t expect all this money to be coming in,” Magee said. “It’s definitely noticeable and definitely something I didn’t expect, and this is coming from a Virginia Cavalier fan.”

ODDS AND ENDS:

• Bettors believe UConn will become the first team since Florida in 2006-07 to repeat. The Huskies have received the most money (18.3%) and tickets (10.8%) at BetMGM.

• UConn went from plus-1,200 to plus-400 to win it all at BetMGM. That means a bettor who lays $100 would make $400 if UConn wins. Other notable moves were Houston going from plus2,200 to plus-600 and Purdue from plus-1,800 to plus-650.

• At FanDuel Sportsbook, the following lower-seeded teams are favored: No. 10 Drake 1 1/2 over No. 7 Washington State; No. 9 Michigan State 1 1/2 over No. 8 Mississippi State; No. 10 Nevada 1 1/2 over No. 7 Dayton; No. 11 New Mexico 2 1/2 over No. 6 Clemson; and No. 9 TCU 2 1/2 over No. 8 Utah State.