6 biggest snubs from the March Madness bracket in 2024

Indiana State Sycamores

Mid-major fans across the country had their hearts broken when yet another dominant mid-major program got punished for failing to win its conference tournament. Indiana State had a tortured week on the bubble after falling to Drake in the Missouri Valley title game although they were closer to the cut line than expected.

The Selection Committee had the Sycamores as the third team out of the field, meaning Saturday's first bid thief from the American knocked them out. Metrics have been very high on Indiana State all year and the Sycamores finished with a NET of 29, making them the new standard bearer for lowest NET to be excluded from the field.

When asked about Indiana State on the Selection Show, committee chair Charles McClelland pointed to the Sycamore's non-conference schedule as a reason why they didn't get in. This is a very disappointing response from a committee with plenty of mid-major representation and is well aware of the difficulty mids have in getting power conference teams to play them.

A 1-4 Quad 1 record doesn't look as bad as the 2-7 one Virginia carried into the First Four with a NET nearly 25 spots worse. There is no way that Indiana State deserved the fate it did.