Bracketology: These Are The Teams That Shouldn't Have Made It

Yesterday, we advocated for our "Final Four" rule for March Madness: only teams that finished in EITHER the final four of their conference regular season standings OR in the final four of their conference championship tournament should get to go to the Big Dance.

Here's the teams that violate that rule--watch them carefully, as they are likely to exit quickly; it would've been much more interesting to let a good mid-major take their place:

Villanova (finished 8th(!) in the Big East; lost in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament)

Miami (finished 5th in the ACC; lost in the ACC quarterfinals)

Oregon (6th in the Pac 10; didn't make the semis)

Arizona (7th in the Pac 10; didn't make the semis)

Vanderbilt (5th in the SEC; didn't make it past the quarters)

Of these, Arizona and Villanova are particularly atrocious picks: both got in last year, also in violation of our rule, and both promptly lost in the first round. Why are such weak sisters given slots when they could barely crack the Elite Eight of their own darn conferences?

In contrast, there are a few mid-major at-large teams that are worth looking at. They are:

Xavier

St. Joseph's

BYU

Gonzaga

St. Mary's

So. Alabama

Let's see if they do better than the also-rans from the "power" conferences.

Oh, and GO HOYAS!!