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For teams not included in the 68 teams that will play in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, Selection Sunday was the beginning of March sadness.
Every year, teams strive throughout the season to prove that they belong in this bracket. Although there were some hiccups along the way, they achieved results worthy of joining the field. However, not everyone has a spot, and the selection committee decided that there were too many bad points on their resumes to write them down, so they decided to take a different path.
Regardless of whether the tournament expands or not, there will always be teams who felt unfairly left out. While the rank-and-file candidates weren’t necessarily as strong as previous years, there’s a reason these candidates are upset about their omission.
oklahoma
All of the Sooners’ second-half gains were in vain, and despite being one of the hottest teams in the much-talked-about bubble, they finished as the first team eliminated.
Oklahoma looked to be on the back foot with a 13-14 record, but a six-game winning streak flipped a switch and they fell just short of Arkansas in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. What really helped was that two of those wins were Game 4 wins, pushing them toward a modest 4-10 record. Despite having 15 losses during the season, none of them were in Game 3 or Game 4. This cannot be said for any bubble team.
The Sooners were able to regain momentum at the right time and finish the season showing they are a completely different team. They certainly would have been a competitive team, but the selection committee evaluated their entire resumes, even though some of the teams that entered struggled at the end of the campaign.
san diego state
The Aztecs were minutes away from clinching the Mountain West’s automatic bid. It turns out that was the only way they could enter the tournament.
It may not be a huge jump from San Diego State’s history, but they did finish second in the conference with a win over champion Utah State. If you add up your Quad 1 and 2 records, you’ll get a score of 9-10, which is good enough for a general candidate. There was a loss in Quad 3 very early in the season, and the team showed that they have grown by leaps and bounds since then. Unfortunately, the Aztecs lost to Utah State in the tournament finals, dropping two spots in the NET rankings to No. 47, below the New Mexico team they beat twice. They were also the first team just below the WAB cut line.
It hasn’t been a good year for the Mountain West, which is the final season for the current group. This will be the first time since 2017 that they will send only one team to the tournament, even though the conference runner-up proved they should be in the tournament.
new mexico
It’s a “what if” feeling for New Mexico, a team with a remarkable record, but maybe a few plays sealed their fate and they miss the tournament for the first time since 2023.
The Lobos finished with a 2-7 record in Quad 1, but defeated tournament teams in VCU and Santa Clara in nonconference play, contributing to a pretty decent 8-8 overall in Quads 1 and 2. However, some of those defeats were by close margins. Three of the losses to Utah State and San Diego State were by four points or lost, showing New Mexico State can compete with tournament teams.
However, the commission did not evaluate New Mexico’s competitiveness. The two losses in Quad 3 also loomed large and were perhaps too big to pass up. The Lobos are a great example of how one game can completely change the course of a team, no matter how good it looks.
belmont
It’s going to be increasingly difficult for mid-majors to earn a large spot on the field, and there will always be teams that don’t get enough love in the conversation. This year, it belonged to Belmont, which had a dominant campaign as Missouri Valley Conference champions but failed to earn an automatic bid.
The Bruins’ 26 wins were second only to Stephen F. Austin’s 28 wins for a team that did not make the tournament. However, Belmont ranks 63rd in the NET rankings, significantly ahead of the Lumberjacks. Tulsa also has 26 wins, leading them in the NET (52 wins), but while the Bruins won in Quad 1, the Golden Hurricane did not.
Belmont was expected to be a dangerous team in the bracket, but an early exit in the conference tournament quickly dashed that chance. That’s the unfortunate reality of mid-level players.
