[Batpuff]

Missouri State: Had 20 wins and finished in a tie for second in the highly competitive Missouri Valley, but only had four wins in 11 chances against the five other top teams. Great RPI was overcome by a lack of nonconference name wins and a quarterfinal loss in the MVC tourney to Northern Iowa.


Hofstra: The Pride fell to UNC Wilmington in the CAA final and came up just short of an at-large. They beat league co-champ George Mason twice in the final 10 days of the season, but a weak nonconference schedule was too much to overcome.


Creighton: The computer numbers had CU behind every other Valley at-large candidate. Josh Dotzler's absence for three late-season losses apparently wasn't enough to wipe out a quarterfinal loss in the MVC tourney.


Cincinnati: Losing Armein Kirkland torpedoed a very promising season and a couple of big wins down the stretch weren't enough to avoid the snub after the heartbreaking loss to Syracuse in the first game in the Big East Tournament.

Florida State: One big win over Duke, a 9-7 mark in the ACC and a bunch of close losses weren't enough to make up for a terrible nonconference schedule and a bad loss to Wake Forest in the ACC tourney's first round.

Michigan: Seven losses in their last nine games took the Wolverines from a virtual lock for the field to an NIT slot. Injuries were an issue, but looking disinterested in a Big Ten quarterfinal loss against Minnesota probably eliminated them.

Maryland: The loss of Chris McCray at midseason really defused the Terps. They struggled down the stretch, winning only five of their final 13 games, with no real quality wins in that stretch.