St. John's, Seton Hall snubbed by NCAA tournament selection committee
NEW YORK -- They are almost certainly screaming foul in Queens and South Orange, New Jersey.
Despite winning six of its last seven games and finishing with 20 wins, St. John's was snubbed by the NCAA tournament selection committee on Sunday night, as was Seton Hall, which also won 20 games and went 13-7 in the highly competitive Big East Conference.
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St. John's (20-13) appeared to have a very good shot of getting into the field of 68 after ripping off a late winning streak and playing eventual champion UConn tough in the conference tournament semifinals, but the committee thought otherwise.
Rick Pitino calls NCAA's NET rankings system "fraudulent" in explaining why St. John's wasn't selected to the 2024 NCAA Tournament pic.twitter.com/JtFiALEjZc
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 17, 2024
In an interview on SNY, coach Rick Pitino defended his team's overall body of work but did not criticize the committee.
"I mean, we're No. 32 in the NET ... First off all, I think we all should probably never mention that word again because it's fraudulent," Pitino said of the NCAA metric that measures things like game results, strength of schedule, and the quality of wins and losses. "I think the NET is something that shouldn't even be mentioned anymore.
"I think that we had a good strength of schedule ... We tried to do things the right way and we didn't get in, but I never hold ... I never make excuses," Pitino added. "I respect the committee for what they do. They give their time. They give their energy to it. They didn't think that we measured up to their standards and we'll take it very positively like men and move forward. We're not going to gripe. We're not gonna say we got screwed. None of that helps. Bitterness does not help. I've had enough bitterness in my life to last a lifetime."
The Red Storm have not made the NCAA tournament since the 2018-19 season. Pitino said his team will not participate in the NIT.
Seton Hall (20-12), which last participated in the Big Dance during the 2021-22 season, lost to St. John's in the Big East quarterfinals, but defeated then-No. 5 UConn decisively back in December and then-No. 7 Marquette in January.
Defending national champion UConn, as the Big East Tournament title holder, received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and is its No. 1 overall seed. Marquette and Creighton, as at-larges, were the only other teams from the Big East to earn a berth.
As for other schools representing the Tri-State Area in the field of 68, Wagner (16-15), champions of the NEC, earned a No. 16 seed and will play in the First Four against Howard. Ivy League champion Yale (22-9) is the No. 13 seed in the East Region and will take on No. 4 Auburn in the first round. Saint Peter's (19-13), fresh off its win over Fairfield in the MAAC Tournament title game, is the No. 15 seed in the South and opens against No. 2 Tennessee.