"The bottomline is only one Quad 1 win": Analyst Seth Davis makes his feelings known as UNC makes NCAA tournament over Indiana
Every season, a couple of schools get snubbed from the NCAA Tournament, and according to Seth Davis, the Indiana Hoosiers were this year’s biggest slight. The Hoosiers came in as one of the first four teams out of the bracket, essentially ending Mike Woodson’s tenure in front of the program.
Woodson’s squad did not hear its name called on selection Sunday. The North Carolina Tar Heels did, even if they didn’t have the resume to back it up, according to the CBS college basketball analyst.
"Indiana is the one that sticks out to me," Davis said. "They had a win at Michigan State, home against Purdue. Four-and-13 Quad 1, so more than Carolina, and unlike Carolina, North Carolina also had a Quad 3 loss at home to Stanford. Indiana did not have any losses outside of Quad 1.
“North Carolina had a great nonconference strength of schedule, terrific in the metrics, but the bottom line is only one Quad 1 win to Indiana's four."
Indiana went 19-13 and, as Seth Davis mentioned, didn’t lose a game outside of Q1. They did, however, lose a lot in Quad 1, with 13 defeats in 17 games. The Hoosiers were likely doomed by a run of seven losses in eight games in the middle of the season.
The Tar Heels, on the other hand, went 22-13. But if Indiana’s four wins in 17 Q1 games were unimpressive, North Carolina’s 1-12 Quad 1 record was even worse. Besides the Hoosiers, West Virginia went 6-10 in Q1 games and was also left off the field.
The one thing that worked in the Tar Heels’ favor was their ranking. Carolina was No. 33 at KenPom and No. 36 in the NET. Mike Woodson’s team ranked No. 48 at KenPom and No. 54 in the NET.
UNC also had a decent run in the ACC Tournament, booking a semifinal date with rival Duke and mounting a furious comeback before falling just short in the end.
The Tar Heels will face the San Diego State Aztecs in a First Four matchup in the South Region.
Which other schools were next to Indiana as the first four out?
As usual, the committee released which schools ended as the first four out. The Hoosiers were accompanied by West Virginia, Ohio State and Boise State in that list.
The Mountaineers were the other big snub on Selection Sunday. West Virginia (19-13) had a better record than the Tar Heels, or Xavier for that matter, against Q1 squads. It was also hurt by the KenPom (53) and NET (51) rankings.
Ohio State (17-15), once very firmly in the bracket, lost steam late in the season and ended the year at 17-15. A loss to underperforming Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament erased any hopes of a bid.
As for the Broncos, they were No. 50 in KenPom and No. 43 in the NET rankings. They also had a decent 3-6 Q1 record. However, two losses to teams outside of the first at two quads, including a defeat to Q4 Boston College, hurt their profile.