2009 NCAA Tournament Snubs and Surprises

The 2009 NCAA Tournament field featured plenty of snubs and surprises. Here are the biggest snubs from the 2009 March Madness field.

Saint Mary's: Saint Mary's was one of the biggest surprises for being snubbed from the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Led by star guard Patrick Mills, the Gaels had two other great players in center Omar Samhan and forward Diamon Sampson. They posted a 26-6 overall record with a 10-4 in-conference record.

Gonzaga made the tournament from this conference with a perfect 14-0 conference record, but some may say that Saint Mary's was just a tad beneath their talent level. The fact that Saint Mary's was not from a power conference (the West Coast Conference) definitely hurt their chances. However, I felt they should have been included in the March Madness Tournament.

Penn State: The Big Ten was a very difficult conference to find success in this season, and I felt that the Penn State Nittany Lions just missed the tournament for 2009. Guard Talor Battle and forward Jamelle Cornley were not able to power this very strong team into the tournament.

Penn State won their first game in the Big Ten Conference Tournament against the Indiana Hoosiers, but ended up losing to Purdue in the second round. Purdue would end up to go on and win the Big Ten Conference Tournament, but a win against Purdue would have solidified the Nittany Lions' chances at making the 2009 Men's Basketball Tournament field.

Creighton: The Creighton Bluejays always seem to be in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament mix, but they were snubbed this year. Out of the four teams that I have listed here, the Bluejays probably had the least chance to make the field, but they still had a rock-solid team and roster.

The Bluejays were led by star guard Booker Woodfox, a solid player that could have anchored this roster through the NCAA Tournament. They lost in the second round of their conference tournament, which may have ultimately meant the end for the Bluejays. Since Creighton is not from a power conference, this was probably another reason why they were snubbed.

San Diego State: San Diego State University had one of the more underrated teams in college basketball this year. Forward Kyle Spain lead the team this season. Stuck in a difficult Mountain West Conference, they ended up finishing fourth with a 11-5 record. Their overall record was 23-9, and had the highest RPI of any of the snubbed teams.

SDSU was extremely deserving of a tournament berth, and they were snubbed this year. Hopefully the team can regroup, and they can come back an even stronger team next year-possibly one that could win their conference completely outright.

References: http://www.smcgaels.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=101611&SPID=12536&DB_OEM_ID=21400; http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/psu-m-baskbl-sched.html; http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/psu-m-baskbl-sched.html; http://goaztecs.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/sdsu-m-baskbl-sched.htmlﾠ

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