Did we deserve to make it?

[Ghost]

Yes, over Wake Forest and USC.

C'mon, I saw that USC hasn't beat a team with a winning record since Jan 25th. If that doesn't scream deserving, I don't know what does.

 

[Deano]

Yes, over Wake Forest and USC.

Throw in Providence and Kansas State too.

 

[UnknownOrange]

This. Want to make the tournament? Don't get smoked by Georgetown and St. John's on your home floor along with UConn and BC. Win two of those games we aren't even having the discussion.

If they beat St. Johns and Georgetown they still were 2-11 away from the Dome

 

[NineOneSeven]

The more I think about this the more pissed off I get. The overall down season, the failed expectations, the selections ahead of us. All of it.

 

[HOFCeluck]

The more I think about this the more pissed off I get. The overall down season, the failed expectations, the selections ahead of us. All of it.

I have no problem with the selections ahead of us. We had plenty of opportunities. If we had taken advantage of one more we're not putting our fate in the hands of the committee

 

[NineOneSeven]

I have no problem with the selections ahead of us. We had plenty of opportunities. If we had taken advantage of one more we're not putting our fate in the hands of the committee

Oh I know. Just very frustrating as a whole.

With our shooting, anything was possible if we got in... We just didn't quite do enough

 

[Consigliere]

LOL And we were fortunate to get them. Still, if we had scored on the last play against the Ville at home, it wouldn't have mattered.

Or if there had been a whistle on the reach in. That's how close it was. Fact of the matter is that we played ourselves onto the bubble and sometimes the bubble bursts. Top 50 wins offset bad losses and made us deserving of a bid but Wake Forest's two late big wins, Rhode Island's run, Vandy owning Florida and USC's (sorry can't come up with anything there) did us in.

 

[Consigliere]

No! We had lots of opertunities and didn't cash in. I have no issues looking at just this teams accomplishments and saying we didn't play our way in.

That said we had an obviously better resume than at least 3 teams that made it and arguably better than 5 to 6. This is where the committee fails. It's not consistent year to year nor is it consistent across the board on all the teams in a given year.

Don't disagree with anything you say but you do kind of contradict yourself and that's the rub. This is a question of relative merit, not absolute value. With a better resume than three that got in, and with no other snubbed teams that can match it, we should have been in the 2017 field. Listening to Bilas and then Dickie V cemented it in my mind. Vitale always decries the snubs but this is the first time I remember him saying USC should have been out and Syracuse in.

And Gillen was fouled at the end of regulation against Louisville.....