Legendary coach Rick Pitino called out the NCAA’s NET rankings as “fraudulent” Sunday after his St. John’s Red Storm got left out of the NCAA Tournament.
The Red Storm got passed over despite a 20-13 record and No. 32 NET ranking. Pitino pitched his team’s case in a Zoom press conference and shared his frustration shortly after the selections were announced.
“We’re 32 in the NET,” Pitino said. “First of all, I think we all should probably never mention that word again, because I think it’s fraudulent.
“My son (New Mexico Lobos head coach Richard Pitino) was 25 in the NET and they were saying he wasn’t in with 25 wins. I think the NET’s something that shouldn’t even be mentioned anymore.
“I think we had a good strength of schedule … we were 26th in KenPom. So I don’t know. We tried to play a tough schedule, we tried to do things the right way, and we didn’t get in.”
The tournament begins on Tuesday, March 19. Here’s the entire first-round schedule.
Pitino’s Red Storm found themselves in the same situation as several other Big East teams, on the outside looking in despite good NET rankings. Villanova (No. 41) got snubbed, as did Providence, ranked No. 58. Seton Hall (No. 67) had an impressive five Quad 1 wins. The Big East, despite ranking second in the KenPom rankings this season, sent only three teams to the tournament: UConn is the No. 1 overall seed and will be joined by Marquette and Creighton.
“I think it’s a very disappointing day for the Big East, absolutely,” Providence coach Kim English told the Providence Journal. “Number-one-overall seed, a two seed, a three seed, and no other seeds. Seton Hall with a plethora of Quad 1 wins. St. John’s with a high finish in the NET. Us, with six Quad 1 wins. Very disappointing that a league this great only gets three teams in.”
Upsets in several conference tournaments resulted in automatic bids going to ACC champ North Carolina State, Atlantic 10 champion Duquesne, Pac-12 champion Oregon, and Richard Pitino’s Mountain West champ New Mexico. Florida Atlantic, the favorite to win the American Athletic Conference tournament, got upset resulting in another lost bid that might have otherwise gone to power conference teams such as St. Johns, Providence, and Seton Hall.
After calling the NET rankings “fraudulent,” Pitino changed his tone to give his respect to the selection committee.
“I never make excuses, I respect the committee for what they do,” he said. “They give their time, they give their energy to it. They didn’t think that we measured up to their standards. We’ll take it very positively like men, and we’ll move forward. We’re not going to gripe, we’re not going to say we got screwed.”
[SNY]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.