Snubbed

Everything seemed to be set for Drexel to finally make the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for the first time since 1996.  “Seemed” seems to be the key word there.  A magical season for the Dragons has taken a very sharp turn out of the NCAA tournament and into the National Invitational Tournament.   What went wrong? 

You could blame the selection committee for picking Iona.  An illogical choice at best, Drexel seemed to have the clear upper hand on the Gaels going into Selection Sunday.  What did Iona have that Drexel did not?  Other than a flashy offense, I’m personally not quite sure what the committee saw there. 

You could blame the selection committee’s seemingly biased attitude towards the Dragons.  In 2007, Drexel went into Selection Sunday a 23 win team with key wins over Syracuse, and Big5/City 6 foes Temple, St. Joes, and Villanova.  Drexel was knocked out in the semi-finals of the CAA conference tournament.  In 2007, the selection committee told Drexel that they did not have enough total wins.  This year with 27 wins, Drexel didn’t have enough “quality” wins.  Who knows if the Dragons will ever get it right in the committee’s eye?

You could blame Xavier.  The A-10 was sure to be a three team conference come NCAA tournament time.  It was looking good for Drexel.  All they needed was a win by Xavier over St. Bonaventure in the A-10 title game.  A loss by the Bonnies would have put them in the same bubble limbo that the Dragons were facing.  Instead, to the dismay of many Drexel fans, St. Bonaventure blew Xavier away and made the A-10 a four team conference.

You could blame the committee for rewarding mediocrity in the power conference schools.  Out of the Big East, there is West Virginia with 19 wins, UConn with 20 wins, and South Florida with 20 wins.  Out of the Big 12, Texas only had 20 wins.  Even Xavier, an at-large out of the A-10, only had 21 wins.  It is unfortunate that a 27 win Drexel does not have a chance to prove the CAA’s power.

You could blame the committee for disrespecting the CAA this year.  Last year the CAA had three bids to the NCAA tournament and saw VCU ride a magical season all the way to the Final Four.  This year, only one bid.  VCU gets in as the CAA tournament champions, looking as strong as ever, and are given a 12 seed.  Let alone only getting one team in this year, last season should have proved that the CAA is strong than people think.  Plus, Drexel won the CAA regular season title outright and only lost the CAA championship game to VCU by 3.

You could blame Drexel’s non-conference schedule for not playing up to their hype.  Before the season, it seemed that Bruiser Flint had put together a non-conference schedule that could boost the numbers that the committee typically looks for.  Of course losses to quality RPI teams in Virginia and St. Joes didn’t help, but Rider, Princeton, and Fairfield all finished their seasons as disappointments.  Drexel couldn’t even get any help from their BracketBuster game.  Cleveland State looked strong to start the season, but fell off a few games prior to Drexel and never really got back on track. 

You could blame the committee for not watching enough games.  It seems as if the committee tends to look at numbers instead of taking the time to actually watch the games.  Numbers are great, but as a supplement.  Nothing replaces the value of watching a team play live.  If you asked the committee I’m sure they would tell you that they watch all the teams.  Without hesitation, I would say they are lying.  About half to a third of the people on the selection committee are division one athletic directors.  You’re not going to tell me that LSU’s AD watched all 68 tournament teams and all of the bubble teams all year long.  It just ain’t gonna happen.

Regardless of which blame game category you fall under, it is impossible to forget that Drexel has had a great season.   Fortunately for us fans, that great season continues only in the NIT.  The great season not only continues, but we all get to pack the DAC at least one more time.  So please jump on Twitter, break out your #DrexelvsTheWorld, and support the team on Wednesday night at the DAC versus UCF.  Let’s make a statement and show the NCAA tournament what they are missing.  You can definitely blame the committee for fueling the Dragon’s fire.

­--Written By:  Kevin Rossi

@kevin_rossi