Life On NCAA Bubble Getting Tougher For Little Guys "The Opportunity Is Disappearing"

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https://sports.yahoo.com/march-sadness-life-ncaa-tournament-bubble-getting-tougher-little-guy-041832135.html#comments

 

 

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This March, optimism has taken a precipitous dive in Murfreesboro, twinning with a larger trend outside of college basketball’s top conferences. The NCAA tournament committee has felt more like a cartel the past three seasons, as just three at-large teams have been selected for the NCAA tournament from outside the top seven conferences – ACC, AAC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC – in each of the last three seasons. The nine at-large bids from smaller leagues over the past three years is a stark comparison to the 28 at-large bids for teams outside the top leagues in a three-year span from 2012 to 2014.

 

“The beauty of the tournament is always the upsets,” Middle Tennessee State athletic director Chris Massaro told Yahoo Sports Tuesday night. “The way the trend is going, in the long run it’s going to hurt the NCAA tournament and college basketball.”

 

Middle Tennessee blew out Vermont, 91-64, in the first round of the NIT here on Tuesday, the only antidote to a few days around Murfreesboro that played out like a country music refrain – The NCAA tournament dumped us, our coach is (likely) leaving and even the NIT gave a kick while we were down.

 

Middle Tennessee didn’t just get snubbed by the NCAA tournament committee. It appears it was barely even considered, as it ended up as a No. 3 seed in the NIT.  With a proven pedigree, 24-7 record, 12 road victories and a challenging out-of-conference slate, Middle Tennessee State should have been strongly considered for the NCAA tournament field.

 

But perhaps the most telling part of Middle Tennessee’s fate is that no one was really surprised by their exclusion, as the NCAA tournament shunning teams from outside power conferences has gone from a blip to a trend to a full-blown expectation. “The opportunity is disappearing,” Massaro said.