NC State Men’s Basketball Denied NCAA Tournament Bid

The 2019 NCAA Tournament Bracket is officially out, and NC State was denied a bid.

Apparently the new NET Ranking system was pointless.

NC State ranked 34th in the supposedly new and improved system, that did in fact take into consideration strength of schedule. The Wolfpack were ranked higher in the NET than any of the other “bubble” teams.

NET Rankings for he First Four In

Belmont – 47th
Temple – 56th
Arizona St. – 63rd
St. John’s – 73rd

Ohio State, Ole Miss, and Oklahoma took 3 of the other bubble spots the Wolfpack needed.

The NCAA Chair stated they selection committee ultimately wasn’t as concerned about NC State’s strength of schedule, but rather their lack of Quadrant 1 wins.

“NC State had so many opportunities in the Quad 1 but they just didn’t win them. That was a concern for us.”

The Wolfpack were 3-9 against Quadrant 1 teams.

No big deal…5 of those 9 losses came against teams that ended up being #1 seeds in the Brackets.

How did the other Bubble teams do against Quadrant 1 teams?

Belmont – 2-2
Temple 2-6
Arizona St. – 3-3
St. John’s – 5-7
Ohio St. – 4-10 (NET – 55)
Ole Miss – 4-10 (NET – 36)
Oklahoma – 4-10 (NET – 37)

It’s rare that a team goes 9-9 in conference play in the ACC and finds themselves on the outside looking in at the Big Dance.

Could NC State have improved their chances?

Sure.

The losses to Wake Forest and Georgia Tech were inexcusable. The Wolfpack wins those, they should have been in. If not, it would have been criminal.

With that being said, you will have a hard time convincing me that all 7 of those “bubble” teams are more deserving.