If Mississippi St. does not get an at large bid after missing the field by just a tenth of a second, it will be a shame. Utah St., although they finished 27-7 and won their league's regular season championship, did not play the schedule and beat the teams the Bulldogs did.
With so many teams like Mississippi St. riding the fence as far as their NCAA Tournament chances, their may in fact be a need to expand the tournament to 80 teams. They can play instead of one play-in game in Dayton, OH, 8 games on Tuesday. They can include all of the regular season champions in the mid-major conferences. Also, if there is any doubt whether to take a Mississippi St. or Utah St., have the two teams square off as one of those Tuesday games to decide who gets an 8 or 9 seed on the following Friday. Expanding the tourney to 96 is too much. I think 80 is plenty.
Mississippi St. (23-11, 9-7 in SEC) played an outstanding game against Kentucky. Had it not been for a shot made with just a tenth of a second left, the Bulldogs would be going dancing. However, the Bulldogs missed three critical free throws during regulation which, if made, would have iced the game and their ticket for them. If they don't make the field of 65, they cant just blame DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall. They will have to also look back on those missed free throws.
Nevertheless, back to my point. Their are a few more teams who won't make the tournament this year that perhaps deserve to. If there are any doubts as to whether a Mississippi St. or Utah St. should go, invite them both, but have them play each other as one of 8 games played on Tuesday night, two days before the "tournament proper" begins.
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