Monmouth Basketball: Analyzing how the Hawks have missed the Big Dance

Monmouth basketball has been extremely successful recently, but they have not make the NCAA Tournament. Was it mid-major bias or did they deserve to miss?

Led by miniature yet electric guard Justin Robinson, the school had two of its best years in program history. Yet, they were unable to reach the NCAA Tournament either year. Let’s take a look back at those two seasons and dive in on whether or not the program really deserved an invite to the Big Dance.

2015-16 season

Monmouth busted out in grand fashion in the nonconference schedule, defeating five teams from power conferences (UCLA, Georgetown, Notre Dame, USC and Rutgers). From a resume perspective, this is already an impressive feat, but it is even more so considering all were on the road. Monmouth was supposed to be a dangerous double-digit seed looking to advance in the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, though, Iona bested Monmouth in the finals of the MAAC tournament. Despite heavy consideration, Monmouth was ultimately left out, settling for an NIT invite.

It’s amazing that Monmouth defeated five power conference teams in one nonconference slate, big names included. Three of those wins, however, actually had little value. Notre Dame and USC were good wins, but Georgetown and UCLA both had disappointing seasons, finishing with losing records. Rutgers was, well…Rutgers.

By just looking at team names, yes, it was a big deal for the program to beat both the Hoyas and Bruins. But fairness must apply for all teams, so including them as quality wins just would not make sense. Two good wins combined with three sub-200 RPI losses made their overall resume much harder to get invited.

2016-17 season

With a lack of marquee non-conference wins, the tournament title was all that mattered. For Monmouth, their semifinal matchup was against Siena, with Siena holding the home-court advantage.

Each conference determines the location of their respective conference tournaments. Smaller conferences aren’t able to sell out big neutral venues. This forces them into deciding in other ways to choose the right location. Conference officials concluded Siena to be optimal for both attendance and revenue purposes, even though they were not the top seed in the tournament.

Siena ultimately upset the Hawks, sending them to the NIT once again. In the aftermath, many were upset at the scenario of top-seeded Monmouth having to play on the road for their semifinal game.

It’s certainly weird that a team other than the regular season champ gets to host the tournament, but that is the way it is. While one certainly can feel for the Hawks for having to face a team on the road, you can also criticize them for losing to them in the first place. With Monmouth losing a 17-point lead in that game, it looks even worse.

Next: Revisiting the 2003-04 college basketball season

For most mid-majors, they know that they have to win their conference tournament to make the Big Dance. Beating the good teams and avoiding the bad ones are a must to keep the at-large hopes alive. It is tough to be a mid-major in the current college basketball landscape, but making the tournament can be done.