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Providence was one of a number of Big East basketball schools to see their bubbles burst on Selection Sunday. Despite having won 21 games, which included a deep run in the conference tournament, the Friars were on the outside looking in when the field was announced.
Head coach Kim English responded to what he believed to be a snub, blasting the NET rankings in the process.
“I think the analytics are bulls—,” he said in an interview after the selection committee’s decision. “I think you can schedule bad teams in your non-league and beat the snot out of them. Beat ’em by 50 and 60.
“I think coaching for so long has been a gentlemen’s agreement. If you have a large lead at the end of the game, for health reasons you take guys out. You get some others guys an opportunity to play, you take guys out. Right now, might be a change in college basketball.”
“I think the analytics are BULLS***.”
-Kim English after Selection Sunday
pic.twitter.com/JVLxMyCcZy— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 17, 2024
English went on to talk about how playing in a competitive Big East skews the NET rankings as good teams beat up on one another in the conference slate, essentially eating their own in terms of NCAA Tournament bids.
He’s not the only one to voice the concerns about scheduling. The ACC has been dealing with a similar issue this year.
Clemson coach Brad Brownell blasted the Big XII for their tendency to schedule (and destroy) weak non-conference foes in order to better their standing in the NET. He pointed to the ACC’s 9-3 head-to-head record against the Big XII.
Kim English’s rival, Rick Pitino, said the same after seeing his St. John’s team snubbed on Sunday.
“The NET is fraudulent.”
Rick Pitino calls NCAA’s NET rankings system “fraudulent” in explaining why St. John’s wasn’t selected to the 2024 NCAA Tournament pic.twitter.com/JtFiALEjZc
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 17, 2024
The Red Storm was one of three Big East teams who entered with a chance to make the field only to be left out, joining Providence and Seton Hall.
St. John’s denied an NIT bid after being omitted from the Big Dance.
It will be interesting to see if Providence does the same.