Hate to break it to you, but there were no bubble snubs this year


Don’t do it.

Don’t even try.

Because I really don’t want to hear it.

There were no bubble snubs this season. Not a single one. Not Kentucky. Not Tennessee. Not Alabama or Maryland or Virginia or UMass.

That’s not to say that there isn’t a valid argument to make for any of those six teams over one or more of the last four teams into the field — Boise State, La Salle, St. Mary’s and Middle Tennessee State. Because there is.

Maryland has two wins over Duke. Virginia beat Duke and won at Wisconsin. Kentucky and Tennessee both have wins over Florida and played well late in the season. There are plenty of top 100 wins and solid RPIs and tough non-conference schedules to throw into that conversation as well. There’s a reason that so many of the nation’s bracketologists had a different perspective on who got in and why they did in the hours before the bracket was announced.

At the end of the day, the difference between these teams was so miniscule that it simply came down to the negatives.

Virginia went 0-3 against the CAA, including a loss to Old Dominion, and picked up some ugly losses in ACC play. Maryland didn’t do a thing in the non-conference portion of their schedule and went 8-10 in a weak ACC. Kentucky’s best wins were over Missouri and Florida at home, which sandwiched losses at Georgia and Arkansas and came before a loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament. Alabama lost to Mercer, Dayton, Tulane and Auburn.

Every single one of those teams had the chance to keep themselves off of the bubble. Every single one of them had a chance to play their way into the tournament during the championship week. They didn’t do it.

So go ahead. Argue away. Explain to me why your favorite team was on the wrong side of the cutline. And I’ll simply point out the repeated losses to teams outside the RPI top 100. Or the non-conference schedule that included half the SWAC and three middle school JV teams. Or the early exit during championship week.

I have a tough time feeling pity for teams that get left out of the dance when they don’t schedule anyone and lose games a good team wins over and over again.

You wanna make the tournament?

Don’t get beat at Boston College.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.