(03-12-2013 01:02 PM)EaglehasLanded Wrote: (03-12-2013 12:41 PM)BeliefBlazer Wrote: (03-12-2013 11:43 AM)oldtiger Wrote: (03-12-2013 11:33 AM)Ole Blue Wrote: (03-12-2013 10:13 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote: Middle Tennessee played everyone home and away losing only once on the road in overtime.
It would be a crime to not let MT in the NCAA this year. I know there's lots of other "bubble teams" but seriously, what team gets Top 25 votes (we were #26 last week in Coaches' Poll) and doesn't get in?
I can't recall if there has ever been a "30ish" RPI team not included in the field, but it would be a huge surprise if it happened this year to MT.
Missouri State is the only team I remember missing out with an RPI of 29 or better. They were at 27 one year and got left out.
I thought Missouri State was actuall at 21 or 23 that year. I would be interested in seeing a list of the 5-10 highest rated rpi teams to be left out of the dance.
In bold are the 11 teams with the best RPI's to be left out:
Top 50 RPI teams left out of the NCAA Tournament, 1994-2012
2012 (68 teams): #44 Marshall
2011 (68 teams):
#35 Harvard, #42 Cleveland State, #43 Missouri State, #46 Saint Mary's, #50 Colorado State
2010 (65 teams): #40 Rhode Island, #43 Wichita State, #45 UAB, #47 Kent State
2009 (65 teams):
#34 San Diego State, #40 Creighton, #46 UAB, #47 Illinois State, #48 Saint Mary's, #49 Niagara
2008 (65 teams):
#32 Dayton,
#33 Illinois State, #42 Massachusetts, #46 Creighton, #48 Mississippi, #49 Ohio State
2007 (65 teams):
#30 Air Force, #36 Missouri State, #38 Bradley, #39 Drexel, #41 Florida State, #43 Utah State, #45 Clemson, #49 Alabama, #50 Syracuse
2006 (65 teams):
#21 Missouri State,
#30 Hofstra, #39 Creighton, #40 Cincinnati, #43 Saint Joseph's, #47 Michigan, #49 Maryland
2005 (65 teams): #39 Miami-Ohio, #45 Wichita State, #46 Buffalo
2004 (65 teams): #38 LSU, #43 Utah State, #48 Georgia, #49 Notre Dame, #50 Oklahoma
2003 (65 teams): #5 Georgia (on probation), #40 UNLV, #42 Seton Hall, #48 Texas Tech, #49 Boston College
2002 (65 teams): #43 Villanova, #46 Arkansas, #47 South Carolina, #50 Virginia
2001 (65 teams): #40 Mississippi State, #43 Richmond, #45 Villanova, #50 Utah
2000 (64 teams):
#34 Missouri State, #36 Kent State, #39 Vanderbilt, #42 Villanova, #46 BYU, #49 SMU
1999 (64 teams): #40 Oregon, #41 TCU, #43 Rutgers, #46 DePaul, #47 Nebraska
1998 (64 teams):
#35 Wake Forest, #44 Vanderbilt, #45 Hawaii
1997 (64 teams): #29 Texas Tech (on probation), #40 Michigan, #41 TCU, #42 Missouri State, #48 Oklahoma State, #49 West Virginia, #50 Hawaii
1996 (64 teams): #42 Providence, #43 Oklahoma State, #46 Minnesota, #48 Arkansas-Little Rock, #49 Illinois
1995 (64 teams): #36 Virginia Tech, #41 Saint Joseph's, #43 Ohio, #48 New Mexico State, #49 College of Charleston
1994 (64 teams):
#33 Oklahoma,
#35 Charlotte, #39 Georgia Tech, #46 BYU, #47 Villanova, #50 Kansas State