Getty Image / Michael Hickey
- Bellarmine beat Jacksonville tow in the ASUN tournament today
- A dumb NCAA rule will keep them out of March Madness
- Read more BroBible articles here
Gaining entry into the NCAA tournament is supposed to be a pretty straightforward endeavor. There are two paths for entry into March Madness. Either you win your conference tournament or you put together a strong enough resume that the selection committee picks you for a spot in the tournament.
It turns out it isn’t that simple. This season, there’s a team that met one of those two criteria who won’t get a spot in March Madness. That team is Bellarmine.
Bellarmine beat Jacksonville to win the ASUN tournament today, but unfortunately won’t get to celebrate everything that should come with that win. Why is that? Bellarmine just moved up to Division 1 last season and teams have to wait 4 years after moving up to become eligible for March Madness.
Bellarmine won't be dancing, despite their conference championship. Even more bizarre is Jacksonville, the runners-up in the ASUN, also won't advance to the NCAA tournament. That honor goes to the regular season champions Jacksonville State. pic.twitter.com/w2jeBGxpWH
— SB Nation (@SBNation) March 9, 2022
It’s a really disappointing outcome after Bellarmine took out the top 3 teams from the ASUN’s East division en route to a title, including a win as a 7.5 point underdog against Liberty. Now, Jacksonville State, who fell in the semifinals, will get the spot in the NCAA Tournament for having the conference’s best regular season record.
The whole situation doesn’t make any sense. If a team is good enough for a spot in March Madness, then they should get a spot as long as they haven’t been sanctioned by the NCAA. It should be that simple. Bellarmine deserves that spot.
While we’re discussing the ridiculousness of this situation, who decided the right answer to this issue is to let Jacksonville St. get that automatic bid after they didn’t even make it to the ASUN final? If anything, this should be Jacksonville’s spot as the other finalist.
Everybody loses when deserving teams are left out of March Madness and that is exactly what is happening to Bellarmine.