Robbie AvilaKeith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Again, I had this one right. In fact, I exactly nailed Indiana State as the Third Team Out.
But I’m no happier about it than I am about the three-bid Big East.
Indiana State was a very good team. With Robbie Avila barely able to play because of immediate foul trouble, the Sycamores almost messed around and won at Michigan State. The final margin was MSU by 12, but ISU led by five midway through the second half.
With Avila out entirely for the opening week game at Alabama, the Trees still put up a pretty good fight. Again, the final margin doesn’t do it justice. That was a dead heat between two solid teams for the first 15 minutes, they kept it competitive for another 15 and then the Tide just pulled away late for a 22-point victory.
They swept a good Bradley team.
They beat Drake—who, to the surprise of some, got a No. 10 seed instead of a No. 11, so clearly the committee valued the Bulldogs.
Early in the week, selection committee chair Charles McClelland made it a point to say they were aware that the Sycamores were without a key starter (Jayson Kent) for the loss to Southern Illinois.
But the real kicker is Indiana State finished top 45 in every metric, and was even 29th in the NET—the somewhat controversial sorting tool that the NCAA spent a lot of time and money putting together as a replacement for RPI.
It was a close call, don’t get me wrong. And if there hadn’t been five bid thieves, the Sycamores would’ve made the cut.
What really got screwed by not including Indiana State, though, is the viewing audience.
We could’ve had cult hero Avila, Isaiah Swope and an incredibly potent offense playing in Dayton in the First Four.
Instead, we’ll be subjected to watching Virginia—who in addition to getting absolutely blown out in nine of its 10 losses and just generally playing like garbage away from home, really should have been left out of the field for wetting its pants at the end of the ACC semifinal and allowing NC State’s run to continue.
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