NCAA Tournament Snubs: Does Boston College Have A Legit Gripe?

Brian: Selection Sunday has come and gone and BC didn't hear its named called as one of the teams in the Field of 68. But neither did Colorado, Alabama, Virginia Tech or St. Mary's. The question is which snubbed program has the biggest gripe of being left out of the field of 68? How would you rank the NCAA Tournament's list of snubbees this year?

Jeff: I think certainly Colorado was the biggest snub this year. After that I'd say BC. I know I'm biased and most others would go with Virginia Tech but BC beat Virginia Tech twice this season. Some people might say Alabama, but I personally think the SEC was very weak this year and Georgia should not have gotten in and Florida should have been a 4 or 5 seed instead of a 2 seed. Actually if you look at Colorado, they lost to both Georgia and Harvard out of conference who were other bubble teams this season. We also know what flaws BC has this season.

I guess the bottom line is that the bubble is not what is was last year. Last year, with three less teams in the tournament, Clemson and two other teams would be on the outside looking in instead of BC, Colorado and Alabama. As the tournament expands, bubble teams have bigger and bigger flaws on their resume and it's tough for anyone who did not get an at-large bid to make a good argument that they should have been in.

As I told you earlier yesterday, I really did think that Boston College was going to get in. I couldn't make a real strong argument that between BC, Clemson and Virginia Tech any one or two of those teams stood about the rest. Also, the committee always seems to favor a conference or two and I thought the ACC would get some love this year for what they've done in the past. I am glad that Virginia Tech is with BC in the NIT because I think the committee got it right that they should've both been in or both been out, but of course I hoped for both in. The committee instead hit the ACC hard with Florida State as a 10 seed and Clemson in a play-in game. Meanwhile, the Selection Committee have the SEC a lot of love seeding Georgia as a 10 and Florida as a 2.

BC should be happy with their season and making the NIT as a 1 seed. Going into the season if we had known that BC would be part of the Selection Sunday festivities even as a bubble team, we would've taken that. Now let's try to win the NIT.