5 Big-Name College Basketball Teams Who Will Miss the Tournament
5 Big-Name College Basketball Teams Who Will Miss the Tournament
When it’s finally March and time for the start of the NCAA Tournament, everyone loves the Cinderella team that barely made the tournament and will remember getting the bid for the rest of their lives. However, just as memorable as small schools shocking the nation to get into the NCAA Tournament are the big-name schools that got left on the outside looking in.
One of these such instances was last season when the Kentucky Wildcats, the preseason No. 3 team, failed to make it to the 2013 NCAA Tournament. On top of that, they didn’t even make it out of the first round of the NIT Tournament, losing to the Robert Morris Colonials.
This season, however, John Calipari shouldn’t worry because Kentucky looks like they will be nowhere near missing out on the tournament. No team that was ranked in the top 5 coming into the season should miss out on the 2014 NCAA Tournament barring some type of major collapse in the next few weeks.
However, the preseason top 5 or so teams are where that solidity ends. There are multiple preseason top 25 teams that were expected to be one of the best teams in their conferences that have just failed to get off to a good start. Failing to get off a good start in non-conference play when a team is in a difficult conference can lead to an extremely disappointing season, and this looks like it is going to happen to a few of the NCAA’s legends.
Here are 5 big-name college basketball schools that won’t make it to the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
Taylor Sturm is an SEC Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TSturmRS or add him to your network on Google.
5. VCU Rams
Shaka Smart and the Rams are on a bit of a winning streak, but early losses to the Florida State Seminoles and Georgetown Hoyas will hurt them in the long run. VCU has a better chance than most on this list of making it to the tournament, but their conference is far more difficult than anticipated. Saint Louis and UMass were expected to be good A-10 teams, but George Washington, Richmond and Dayton are a lot better than anticipated.
4. Indiana Hoosiers
The Hoosiers are another team that could sneak into the tournament, but unfortunately they lost their two chances to show out against the No. 18 Connecticut Huskies and the No. 4 Syracuse Orange. The Big 10 is going to be extremely difficult this year, and I don’t think Indiana will be able to pull off any major upsets against top Big 10 teams.
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame just can’t beat good teams. They’ve lost to their only possible NCAA Tournament bound opposition so far in the Iowa Hawkeyes and Indiana State Sycamores. Notre Dame still faces No. 5 Ohio State and the Indiana Hoosiers in non-conference play. The Fighting Irish will be the eighth or ninth best team in the ACC, and their inability to beat talented non-conference opponents will have them on the outside looking in on the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
2. Michigan Wolverines
Yes, the Michigan Wolverines are on this list. So far the best team they’ve beaten was the Florida State Seminoles in overtime. They lost to Duke, Iowa State and the Charlotte 49ers. If they cannot beat good teams how will they compete with teams like Ohio State, Michigan State, Iowa and Wisconsin in the Big 10?
1. Georgetown Hoyas
The Hoyas have already lost two games, and although they were a dark horse for the revamped Big East to start the season, Butler, Xavier, Marquette, Villanova and Creighton all look like better teams.
