Most of the college basketball talk leading up to the release of the NCAA Tournament bracket was the bubble. Which teams were going to get in and which teams were going to be left out?
This year, the bubble was not a good one. Several teams had an opportunity to sneak into the tournament, but failed to take advantage. As is generally the case, the bubble surrounded power conference schools. Auburn was the subject of a lot of the conversation, and it got ramped up more when Miami (Ohio) fell to the bubble. After the RedHawks went 31-0 through the regular season, they were upset in their MAC quarterfinal last week against UMass.
That loss sparked debate as to whether or not they deserved an at-large bid, as the MAC generally only gets one, the conference tournament champ. Despite what Bruce Pearl said, a majority of fans thought they deserved to be in, and they got in.
They were sent to Dayton to play in the First Four on Wednesday night against SMU out of the ACC. The Mustangs were a team that not many believed to be deserving of a bid at 20-13. When the dust settled, it appears that SMU may have duped the selection committee to grab a bid over someone else.
Did SMU Lie To the NCAA Tournament Committee About Star Players’ Health?
SMU lost guard B.J. Edwards to an injury last month. He was the Mustangs’ third-leading scorer at 12.9 points a game and second with 5.9 rebounds. Edwards missed the rest of the regular season and ACC Tournament following his injury. It was a big blow. When push came to shove in selecting the final bids, SMU got in. It turns out, they may have lied to the committee to get in.
On March 13, the school’s X account posted that “Edwards was expected to return to competition and be available for the NCAA Tournament.” Turns out, he wasn’t ready, which led to the theory that the Mustangs lied to the NCAA.
After the field was revealed on Sunday night, the committee chair, Keith Gill, went on CBS, and it sounded like he was told that Edwards was going to play in the First Four.
“Six games ago, they lost one of their important players, Edwards, and they’ve lost five of six of those games (since),” Gill said. “He’s coming back. He’s the third-leading scorer, defensive player, and so the quality of wins and obviously them getting back to full strength allowed them to kind of get that last spot.”
They weren’t at full strength. Before the game against Miami (Ohio), it was announced that Edwards was going to be out again. It led many to believe that SMU duped the NCAA.
SMU Coach Andy Enfield Denies Misleading NCAA Tournament Committee
Without Edwards, Miami (Ohio) continued their magical season with an 86-76 win over SMU to advance on to take on Tennessee on Friday in Philadelphia in the first round. After the game, Mustangs coach Andy Enfield denied misleading the committee to get the final at-large bid.
“He looked really good in practice today, last couple days, he shot the ball well,” said Enfield. “He’s moving well, but I think there’s a thing called game readiness, and he just didn’t feel like he was quite game ready. He said, ‘I could definitely play on Friday, if we win this game,’ definitely going to play on Friday, but just not quite game ready. Really, that was a probably a day short.”
If you’re a fan of Auburn, Oklahoma, San Diego State, or Indiana, it’s hard to believe Enfield. Maybe he’s telling the truth. However, truth be told, SMU likely didn’t belong given their struggles down the stretch. In the end, they got in and got bounced. This is something that will be discussed for a long time.
SMU Coach Andy Enfield Denies Duping NCAA Tournament Committee