LOOK: CBS analyst Seth Davis breaks down 'First Four Out' snubs for NCAA Tournament
CBS college basketball analyst Seth Davis broke down his take on the teams that just missed the cut for the NCAA Tournament. With the field of 68 teams set for March Madness, inevitably there will be teams that finished just outside the field who feel snubbed by the selection committee.
This year, the last four teams in the tournament were Mississippi State, Pitt, Arizona State and Nevada. The “first four out” distinction went to Oklahoma State, Rutgers, North Carolina and Clemson.
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Seth Davis on NCAA Tournament snubs
As the CBS bracket reveal panel discussed the committee’s choices, Davis explained that he felt Rutgers would have been one of his teams in the Big Dance — at the expense of another ACC team alongside UNC and Clemson.
“I had Rutgers in the field, but they had four Quad 3 losses so that’s why they were out,” explained Davis. “Oklahoma State is the one team that got victimized the most by being in the Big 12. They have a lot of Quad 1 wins but too many losses there.
“And how about North Carolina? They were the third team out, everybody had kind of buried them. They lost by one point to Pittsburgh and they lost in quadruple overtime to Alabama — the number one overall seed — all the way back in November. People say those games don’t count. Carolina wins that game, they are in the NCAA Tournament. That’s how close it is.
“I just want to say to be fair if I’m putting a team in, I have to take a team out. I had NC State out. I certainly have no huge argument with them being in, but they only had one Quad 1 win. I didn’t think that was enough, the committee obviously disagreed.”
Despite Davis’ disagreement, the Wolfpack did make the tournament as an 11-seed — while the Scarlet Knights failed to make the field.