Texas A&M wasn’t the only major conference team that will be waiting for an NIT bid. Several other big names won’t be going to the Big Dance this year.
View the live NCAA Tournament Bracket here.
The Aggies finished the year 16-15 (8-10 SEC) and will not be going dancing this year. At least not in the NCAA Tournament. The NIT Tournament seeds will be announced later Sunday evening, but before then let’s take a look at which other big name programs won’t be cutting down the nets this year.
Indiana
Indiana finished 18-15 (7-11 Big Ten). The season started out well for the Hoosiers, but the drop-off was precipitous. They opened the year with a 103-99 overtime victory against Kansas. If that wasn’t enough, they beat North Carolina two weeks later. How many teams knock off a pair of No. 1 seeds and don’t go dancing? Indiana might be the only name on that list in 2017.
Syracuse
Their inclusion last year was controversial at best. The Orange responded with a run all the way to the Final Four in Houston. This year they weren’t so lucky, failing to get in with an 18-14 (10-8 ACC) record. With the calendar edging closer to March they were able to pull upsets over No. 6 Florida State, No. 9 Virginia, and No. 10 Duke they looked to be nearing contention. So close, yet so far.
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BYU
The Cougars had a better record than the rest of the teams that missed out. There was just one problem: they didn’t really play anyone. A marquee win against then undefeated Gonzaga boosted their resume up to the bubble, but a conference tournament defeat by Saint Mary’s sent the 22-11 (12-6 WCC) Cougars packing.
California
Another team with 20 wins that wasn’t close enough to the edge of the bubble to sneak in was the Golden Bears. Cal finished the season 21-12 (10-8 Pac-12) with a loss in the conference tournament to No. 5 overall Oregon. It was a tale of two halves for the Bears, who couldn’t keep up the pace of their 18-6 start. NIT time for them.
Texas
Zero. That’s the number of games that the Texas Longhorns won outside the city of Austin, Texas this season.
4. The number of wins in the Big 12 conference for the Longhorns this season. Those came against OSU, Oklahoma, Iowa State, and Texas Tech. All at home.
11. That’s the total numbers of wins that Texas was able to accrue in 33 games.
Next: Texas A&M Misses NCAA Tournament
Zero. Number of post season invitations of any kind that the burnt orange will receive this year.
Hey, it wasn’t a great year for Aggie basketball. But it’s never a bad time to poke some fun at our rivals up north that were even worse. Gig’em! BTHO tu.
***Stats from ESPN***