4 Biggest Snubs of the 2025 Men’s College Basketball Tournament

The field is set for this year's men's college basketball tournament. While most of the chatter from here on out will be about the teams in the bracket, let's look at some of the squads who got left out despite having a strong case for being in the field.

Which teams were this year's biggest snubs? Let's dive in.

Which Teams Were Snubbed Most in This Year’s Tournament?

Ohio State Buckeyes

The Buckeyes might be this year's biggest snub.

By all of NET rankings, KenPom and Torvik, Ohio State was the best team left out of this year's tourney. KenPom has OSU ranked 39th while NET rankings and Torvik slot the Buckeyes 41st.

Ohio State posted six Quad-1 wins, going 6-11 in the split. That's five more Quad-1 wins than North Carolina had as the Tar Heels made the tournament despite being 1-12 versus Quad-1 teams.

The Buckeyes will be watching from home despite beating Texas and Kentucky at neutral sites, Purdue on the road and Maryland at home. Texas earned an 11 seed for next week's tourney and is in a play-in game, meaning the Longhorns were likely one of the last teams in the field and got in over OSU despite the Buckeyes' head-to-head win over Texas.

Indiana Hoosiers

Indiana -- another Big 10 team -- can have some complaints about being left out.

The Hoosiers notched four Quad-1 wins, including victories over Michigan State and Purdue, with the win over MSU coming on the road. IU's biggest plus is that it didn't have any truly bad losses, with each of Indiana's Ls coming to a Quad-1 foe.

However, NET rankings have Indiana just 54th -- behind a handful of other bubble teams that didn't make it -- and the same goes for KenPom and Torvik, which rank the Hoosiers 48th and 55th, respectively.

West Virginia Mountaineers

The Mountaineers also have a strong case to be in this year's field.

West Virginia recorded six Quad-1 victories, going 6-10 in the split. They beat both Gonzaga and Arizona on a neutral court while winning at Kansas and picking up a home win over Iowa State.

Similar to the Hoosiers, NET rankings don't love West Virginia, placing them just 51st. Torvik (34th) has WVU as the best team to miss the tourney while KenPom (53rd) isn't nearly as high on the Mountaineers.

Boise State Broncos

Boise State checked a lot of boxes to be in this year's tournament.

The Broncos ranked 44st by NET rankings, the second-highest for any team excluded from the field. KenPom and Torvik both have Boise State rated 50th.

Playing in the Mountain West, the Broncos didn't have as many Quad-1 opportunities as some other teams, but Boise State still picked up three Quad-1 wins, going 3-6 in the split. The Broncos topped St. Mary's on a neutral floor while getting a home win over Clemson. They also beat New Mexico on a neutral court in the MWC Tournament.

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