NCAA Tournament Selection Committee makes huge seeding error

The top 7 teams in the NET all advanced to the Sweet 16; the 8th-ranked team got a raw deal

The Gonzaga Bulldogs failed to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 10 years. | James Snook-Imagn Images

The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee has used the NET Rankings as the primary sorting tool for evaluating the best men's college basketball teams since the 2018-19 season.

And this season, the NET proved to be remarkably accurate.

Twelve of the 16 teams still alive in the NCAA men's basketball tournament were ranked in the top 19 of the NET. The top seven teams in the NET all advanced to the round of 16.

The Arizona Wildcats finished No. 12 in the NET and is one four Big 12 teams still playing, along with Houston, Texas Tech and BYU.

There is one significant outlier, however.

Biggest March Madness seeding error

The only teams in the top 10 of the NET who didn't advance to the Sweet 16 are No. 8 Gonzaga and No. 9 Iowa State.

Iowa State (25-10), the fifth-place team out of the Big 12, received a No. 3 seed in the South Region. The Cyclones were upset 91-78 by No. 6 Ole Miss in the second round. They were playing without their second-leading scorer and arguably their most important player — guard Keshon Gilbert. After struggling with injuries late in the year, Gilbert was shut down for good after playing just 10 minutes in Iowa State's victory over Cincinnati in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament.

By all measures, the Cyclones received a fair seed, and losing to Ole Miss wasn't a shock, considering the absence of Gilbert.

Gonzaga, on the other hand, was dealt a brutal hand. Despite their No. 8 ranking, the Zags received a No. 8 seed in the Midwest Region. They're the only team in the top 23 of the NET to receive a seed that low. Michigan, ranked No. 23 in the NET, received a No. 5 seed.

The Bulldogs looked like a top-four seed in their first-round 89-68 demolition of No. 9 Georgia. But Gonzaga had to face No. 1 seed Houston in the second round — a team that finished No. 3 in the NET. By all measures that should have been an Elite Eight matchup at worst.

"You know this KenPom analytics are pretty spot on. That's the eighth or ninth-best team in the country," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said after beating Gonzaga 81-76. "They should have never been seeded where they were seeded. I get the analytical component. I also think the eye test should come into play too."

"You look at that team, I mean — we came from the Big 12, and we're in a league with Kansas, Iowa State, the Arizona schools — Gonzaga's as good as anybody we've played all year. Personnel-wise, too, (Graham) Ike and (Braden) Huff, (Ryan) Nembhard, I mean, that's a really good team. Had they been seeded somewhere else, that team probably has a chance to get to the Elite Eight and maybe even Final Four. They're that good."

NET Rankings of Sweet 16 teams

Here is how each Sweet 16 team finished in the final NET Rankings:

• Duke - No. 1 in the NET
• Auburn - No. 2
• Houston - No. 3
• Florida - No. 4
• Tennessee - No. 5
• Alabama - No. 6
• Texas Tech - No. 7
• Maryland - No. 10
• Michigan State - No. 11
• Arizona - No. 12
• Kentucky - No. 14
• Purdue - No. 19
• Michigan - No. 23
• BYU - No. 24
• Ole Miss - No. 28
• Arkansas - No. 40