I’m not going to call out the Selection Committee’s decision.
This was surprising (no, not Seton Hall being snubbed from the NCAA Tournament), but St. John’s losing out on a bid. Conventional wisdom had the Red Storm as a lock after winning six of seven to finish the season. But, so it seems, it was that seventh game, losing to Connecticut in the Big East tournament semifinals, that sent SJU packing.
It’s hard for me to empathize with St. John’s plight; the team was 14-12 at one point, including losing to 8-24 Michigan in November. Can you blame the Committee? I think not. Strong finish, you contend? Well, the Johnnies beat an awful Georgetown team twice, a flat Creighton team, a mediocre Butler team, and a hideous DePaul team. Yes, SJU beat Seton Hall and played UConn well, but those performances weren’t enough, especially for a Committee that didn’t look at the Big East with fondness. Providence and Seton Hall didn’t get bids either.
Would a win over UConn have been enough to get a slot? Probably. But I wonder if the only route–with other teams doing what they did during championship week–that a Big East tournament championship would have been required. That’s pure speculation, of course, but I don’t think it’s speculative to conclude that the St. John’s program has lots of work to do before it can earn respect again.
That’s a conclusion from the outside, but the look on the inside is very much the same. Remember that Pitino called out his players after a loss to Seton Hall (blowing a 19-point lead in the process), making it hard to celebrate this season and call it a “success.” Furthermore–and as I’ve written on these pages previously–the program upgrade needs to include the head coach’s bad behavior, which continued in the semifinal vs. UConn.
Maybe this snub can teach humility, and if so, then some good can come out of it.
There’s lots of work (and growing up) to do in New York’s East Village.
