NCAA Tournament 2016: Five biggest snubs on Selection Sunday
1. Monmouth Hawks
This is absolutely tragic in the worst way. The fact that the greatest celebratory group of athletes arguably in the history of sports as a whole in the Monmouth Hawks bench won’t be in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Pour some out for them and for yourselves as a college hoops fans that we don’t get to see these guys throwing down on the sidelines after big plays.
However, it’s also a travesty that Monmouth just as a general whole was left out of the field of 68.
It might’ve been the bench and their celebrations that stole headlines, but Monmouth was one of the best mid-major programs in college basketball by a wide margin. Not only did they play against and have success against more quality non-conference opponents than virtually any other mid-major team as they beat the UCLA Bruins, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and USC Trojans, but they then went on to dominate the MAAC in the regular season by going 17-3 in conference play.
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Unfortunately, the committee overlooked them for whatever reason as they fell to the Iona Gaels in the MAAC Tournament. However, they shouldn’t have. Monmouth did absolutely everything that you can ask a mid-major team to do if they’re trying to build a resume for an at-large NCAA Tournament berth—yet they weren’t rewarded for it.