Brokenhearted Drexel snubbed from NCAA Tournament
By: Brett Fischer
Issue date: 3/9/07 Section: Sports
Originally published: 3/12/07 at 10:51 PM EST
Last update: 3/14/07 at 12:24 AM EST
Originally published: 3/12/07 at 10:51 PM EST
Last update: 3/14/07 at 12:24 AM EST
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"It takes the breath out of you," Flint said. "I just feel so bad for my kids right now. I said all along that these are the best group of guys that I ever coached."
Renowned ESPN Analyst Dick Vitale and controversial commentator Billy Packer were not only shocked, but upset that the committee made such poor judgment in regards to Drexel's shunning of the tournament. Flint shared his feelings with them, but was also confused as to why his team was left out of the Dance.
"(The Selection Committee) told us last year, 'Go play some tough teams and you will have a better opportunity to make the tournament, (but) you have to win some of those games,'" Flint said. "We did that. What they told us was, 'That still isn't good enough.' In that respect I look it at and think, 'What do you do? What is the formula? How do you do it?' But what can I say?"
Joe Lunardi, commonly known as the "Bracketologist," had Drexel as the penultimate team to make the Big Dance the morning of Selection Sunday. In the previous seven years since he created Bracketology, Lunardi had only missed eight at-large picks. But history was not in Drexel's favor as their bubbles were burst despite an amazing regular-season run.
Flint said that he does not want his team's performance to be negatively affected when Drexel moves on to the National Invitational Tournament.
"We will continue to play," Flint said. We will try to win the NIT. I don't want this to devastate them."
Instead, Drexel will have to settle for a No. 3 seed in the NIT when it hosts NC State at the Daskalakis Athletic Center March 13. The Wolfpack (18-15, 5-11 ACC) defeated No. 21 Duke, No. 24 Virginia and Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament before losing to North Carolina in the Championship game. The meeting between the two colleges is the first ever and will mark the first time Drexel has ever hosted an ACC team.
Drexel has a lot to prove in the NIT. If it can win the tournament, it may prove to basketball nation that the Selection Committee made a precarious mistake.
"We have to go out and prove that people look at us and see that we should have been in the tournament," Flint said. "We played a tough schedule, but our resume wasn't good enough. But that's the way it goes and we have to move on."
A reporter asked Flint it was any consolation for his team to be able to say that it was robbed. Flint gave the harsh reality of the situation.
"Not really, because we were never in it; because when you get robbed, you get robbed," Flint said. "We're out of it, there is no consolation."
Renowned ESPN Analyst Dick Vitale and controversial commentator Billy Packer were not only shocked, but upset that the committee made such poor judgment in regards to Drexel's shunning of the tournament. Flint shared his feelings with them, but was also confused as to why his team was left out of the Dance.
"(The Selection Committee) told us last year, 'Go play some tough teams and you will have a better opportunity to make the tournament, (but) you have to win some of those games,'" Flint said. "We did that. What they told us was, 'That still isn't good enough.' In that respect I look it at and think, 'What do you do? What is the formula? How do you do it?' But what can I say?"
Joe Lunardi, commonly known as the "Bracketologist," had Drexel as the penultimate team to make the Big Dance the morning of Selection Sunday. In the previous seven years since he created Bracketology, Lunardi had only missed eight at-large picks. But history was not in Drexel's favor as their bubbles were burst despite an amazing regular-season run.
Flint said that he does not want his team's performance to be negatively affected when Drexel moves on to the National Invitational Tournament.
"We will continue to play," Flint said. We will try to win the NIT. I don't want this to devastate them."
Instead, Drexel will have to settle for a No. 3 seed in the NIT when it hosts NC State at the Daskalakis Athletic Center March 13. The Wolfpack (18-15, 5-11 ACC) defeated No. 21 Duke, No. 24 Virginia and Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament before losing to North Carolina in the Championship game. The meeting between the two colleges is the first ever and will mark the first time Drexel has ever hosted an ACC team.
Drexel has a lot to prove in the NIT. If it can win the tournament, it may prove to basketball nation that the Selection Committee made a precarious mistake.
"We have to go out and prove that people look at us and see that we should have been in the tournament," Flint said. "We played a tough schedule, but our resume wasn't good enough. But that's the way it goes and we have to move on."
A reporter asked Flint it was any consolation for his team to be able to say that it was robbed. Flint gave the harsh reality of the situation.
"Not really, because we were never in it; because when you get robbed, you get robbed," Flint said. "We're out of it, there is no consolation."
Drexel Alum
posted 3/13/07 @ 3:13 PM EST
Who knew the shaft extended all the way out to the NCAA Selection Committee.