There were 68 teams celebrating Selection Sunday and starting to prepare for their first matchup in the men’s NCAA Tournament, but there are several teams moping around, wishing they had the same opportunity.
Every year, there teams on the bubble trying to prove they belong in the field. More often than not, those teams end up building a resume worthy of making March Madness. Unfortunately, the tournament selection committee chooses to go another route, thinking those team’s cases weren’t strong enough or there just weren’t enough spots for them to make it into the bracket. Last year, several bids were stolen by conference tournament champions, and while that wasn’t nearly the case this time around, there were still teams that have a right to be upset by the decision, especially after the controversial decision to put North Carolina in.
The big dance is always going to be magical, but that doesn’t mean all of the right teams got in. Here are the biggest snubs from the 2025 NCAA men’s tournament:
West Virginia
The shocking omission is the Mountaineers, who were widely believed to make the field before it was revealed it was the first team to miss it. The impressive start of the year for first-year coach Darian DeVries wasn’t enough after a late slump that included a loss to Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.
What doesn’t make sense is the Mountaineers had a resume worth being in the field. Early in the season, it picked up big wins against Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas and Iowa State, all wins against top 20 teams in the NET rankings. An overall 6-10 Quad 1 record is on par for a bubble team and the 10-13 record combined with the Quad 2 is really good.
The six Quad 1 wins were more than 13 at-large teams selected. West Virginia proved it can beat quality teams, but it somehow wasn’t enough.
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Boise State
The late pushed by the Broncos were all for naught. Boise State won nine of its last 11 regular-season games and made it all the way to the Mountain West tournament final, but it wasn’t enough.
Boise State had an exceptional 24-win season, more than last year’s First Four team. The Broncos posted win against tournament teams Utah State and New Mexico and also beat Clemson in the regular season. They followed that with a defeat of San Diego State and New Mexico before falling to Colorado State in the conference tournament. The Broncos finished with an 8-8 Quad 1 and 2 record, proving they were capable of playing against the field of 68.
The biggest mark against Boise State was it had a Quad 3 and 4 loss. Although they happened before 2025 began, the whole resume matters at the selection committee.
Indiana
The late surge by Indiana was all for nothing. The Hoosiers missed out on the tournament and giving Mike Woodson a March Madness appearance in his final season in Bloomington.
Much of the season was a disappointment for Indiana and was sitting at 14-10 before reviving its season with impressive wins over Michigan State and Purdue. The Hoosiers needed a good week at the Big Ten tournament, but lost to Oregon in the first matchup in Indianapolis.
Indiana can feel slighted with North Carolina’s selection. It had a 4-13 Quad 1 record and never suffered a bad loss − unlike the Tar Heels − with a perfect 15-0 record in Quad 2-4 games. If North Carolina didn’t get punished for failing to capitalize on Quad 1 chances, the Hoosiers have a right to be mad the same thing didn’t apply to them.
Ohio State
Ohio State had a similar argument as Texas to make the tournament. The only difference is the Longhorns got in and the Buckeyes didn’t, likely because of its bad losses − despite picking up some notable wins this season.
The Buckeyes went 17-15 with victories against Texas, Kentucky, Purdue and Maryland. They also had a No. 41 NET ranking, a pretty solid spot to be at considering teams behind them got into the field and the highest ranking to miss this year’s tournament.
A 6-11 Quad 1 record isn’t ideal considering the amount of opportunities and a 3-4 Quad 2 record, but the six win mark in the top quadrant has typically been the benchmark for teams in power conferences to get in.
UC Irvine
The Anteaters were close to securing the automatic bid from the Big West tournament before UC San Diego pulled away to take the title. While the automatic spot would have erased any doubt, Russell Turner’s team had a legit case to give the Big West two teams in the field for the first time 2005.
At 28-6, UC Irvine is tied for the eighth-most victories in Division I this season and equals the most wins of any team to miss the tournament. The NET ranking is what hurt the Anteaters the most at No. 62 in the rankings, and the 1-1 Quad 1 record likely doesn’t outweigh three Quad 3 losses. Still, UC Irvine did plenty of winning to put up a case to be an at-large spot, but instead the Big West won’t get two teams in the tournament.
Dayton
A team that flew under the radar for much of the season but certainly had a case to be an at-large team was Dayton. The Flyers finished third in the Atlantic 10 and while 10 losses in that conference is typically too much, they had a 3-3 mark in Quad 1 games with defeats of Connecticut and Marquette. They also Atlantic 10 conference champion Virginia Commonwealth on the road.
The 2-6 Quad 2 record was hurtful and the one Quad 3 loss to Massachusetts in early January may have been the fatal mark that ever prevented Dayton from making some noise on the bubble.
