Only three teams from the Big East were selected to play in the NCAA Tournament this season – the UConn Huskies, the Creighton Blue Jays, and the Marquette Golden Eagles. All three of those teams made the Sweet 16, and UConn head coach Dan Hurley seems to think that means the NCAA Tournament selection committee made a mistake.
After UConn’s 75-58 win over the Northwestern Wildcats on Sunday afternoon, Dan Hurley was asked about the league going 6-0 in their NCAA Tournament games over the weekend.
He took the opportunity to call out the selection committee for their controversial decision to exclude teams like St. John’s, Providence, and Seton Hall which were left out of the tournament in favor of some other at-large teams.
UConn coach Dan Hurley was asked about the Big East going 6-0 so far in the NCAA Tournament:
"You’ve see how other leagues that got the bids that our league deserved has underperformed."
He added: "Obviously the mistake was made. It sucks."— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) March 25, 2024
“You’ve see how other leagues that got the bids that our league deserved has underperformed,” Hurley told reports according to Ralph D. Russo of the Associated Press. “Obviously the mistake was made. It sucks.”
It’s always difficult for the committee to select the at-large teams for the tournament and it was made even more difficult this season with more “bid-stealer” automatic qualifiers than usual. But the performance of the Big East so far seems to indicate that the league deserved more than three bids to the NCAA Tournament,
