Don't Cry

When Arizona was given a spot in the NCAA Basketball Tournament, some people complained that the Wildcats didn't deserve to be included, and that other teams were more worthy. Folks thought that teams such as Saint Mary's, San Diego State, or New Mexico should have made it into the touramant instead of Arizona.

I thought Arizona was deserving, and I discussed why in my blog entry, "Arizona Belongs" (3/20/09).

Not that a case couldn't be made for those other teams.

Saint Mary's went 25-5 in the regular season and finished 2nd in the West Coast Conference. They lost to Gonzaga in that conference's tournament championship game, 83-58.

San Diego State made it to the Mountain West Tournament championship game, losing to Utah, 52-50.

New Mexico finished in a three-way tie for the Mountain West regular season championship with Utah and BYU.

Gonzaga, Utah, and BYU all made it into the Big Dance, along with Arizona.

Saint Mary's, San Diego State, and New Mexico were left out, and played in the NIT instead.

Here's how the teams fared.

Arizona made it to the Midwest Regional Semi-finals of the NCAA tournament by upsetting Utah and beating Cleveland State before getting clobbered by Louisville, 103-64.

Saint Mary's lost in the quarterfinals of the NIT to San Diego State, 70-66.

San Diego State lost to Baylor in the NIT semi-finals, 76-62.

New Mexico went out in the 2nd round of the NIT, losing to Notre Dame, 70-68.

None of those four teams were all that impressive in post-season play, but Arizona made some noise in the NCAA tournament, while the other three teams fell flat in the NIT. The view here is that the NCAA Selection Committee got it right; Saint Mary's, San Diego State, or New Mexico could have proven them wrong by winning the NIT.

Neither team was able to do it, so they didn't prove that they belonged in the Big Dance.

(Penn State did back up their claim that they should have been in the NCAA Tournament by winning the NIT.)

My point: Don't cry about being left out of the Big Dance unless you can then go out and win the NIT. Otherwise, you're just gonna look silly. Saint Mary's, San Diego State, and New Mexico couldn't cut it against the little guys, and so they had no right to complain about being left out of the NCAA Tournament.