March Madness 2026 Embarks on Epic Journey as Fresh Superstars Shine Bright!
There's always somebody left out at the dance, but this year, the teams that missed it had plenty of chances.
Steven Pearl and the Auburn Tigers did not make the NCAA tournament. (Carly Mackler/Getty Images) Carly Mackler via Getty Images This would be the most ludicrous possible year for college sports leaders to try to ram NCAA tournament expansion down our throats. There were scarcely enough worthy bubble teams to fill out a 68-team field, let alone a 76-team one.
When CBS unveiled this year’s bracket on Sunday evening , Texas snagged one of the final bids despite a pedestrian 18-14 record and losses in five of its last six games. So did SMU even though the Mustangs also endured a similar late-season nosedive and finished with a sub-. 500 record in league play.
Miami (Ohio) also controversially earned the final at-large bid awarded by the committee. The RedHawks (31-1) were the only team to finish the men’s college basketball regular season without a loss, but they piled up wins against a schedule ranked 340th, one featuring three games against NAIA opponents and a handful of other non-league matchups against the dregs of Division I. [ Enter Yahoo Fantasy Bracket Mayhem now for your shot at $50K ] While those bubble teams experienced the relief of hearing their name called, others weren’t so lucky.
Here are this year’s biggest NCAA tournament snubs, each of whom the selection committee found to be even less deserving than the flawed teams who made the 68-team field ahead of them. 1. Oklahoma (19-15, 7-11 SEC) WAB: 49 | SOR: 46 | KenPom: 40 | NET: 47 | Q1: 4-10 | Q2: 6-5 | Q3: 2-0 | Q4: 7-0 As recently as early February, Oklahoma was a sub-.
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