Never count out the NCAA to mess something up!
South Carolina was one of the last remaining undefeated teams in the country this year, but stumbled the second half of the season, leaving them on the bubble.
Tensions, therefore, were extremely tight on Selection Sunday. The Gamecocks didn’t get in, and were instead sent to the NIT. Most experts say that they were probably the 69th or 70th team, getting beat out by teams like Syracuse, which ended up being a smart and deserving selection.
But Selection Sunday wasn’t that cut and dry for Frank Martin and his fellas. The folks in charge of travel arrangements for the NCAA mistakenly called South Carolina AD Ray Tanner, to set up flights and hotels for the Gamecocks, who hadn’t been to the tourney since 2014. Pumped. Excited. Proud. Then devastated.
South Carolina of course wasn’t in the tourney, and the worst kind of mistake had occurred. Within 10 minutes, the travel arrangers called back to inform them they screwed it up, and the Gamecocks wouldn’t be dancing. They could’ve just looked at the bracket that leaked an hour earlier to find out, but still! Heartbreaking for SC.
Never change, NCAA.
Crossover Report 