The 5 Best Teams Left Out of the 2018 NCAA Tournament

3. Saint Mary's

By our metrics, the Saint Mary's (CA) Gaels' 10.97 nERD places them solidly as the 34th-best team in the country. Unfortunately for them, respect is tough to find in the West Coast Conference. Call it East Coast bias. Call it a poor strength of schedule. Call it whatever you want. The fact of the matter is that the committee left off a 28-5 team with recent tournament experience that has a win this season over the 4-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs.

While one can argue the worth of wins against teams such as the 10-22 Portland Pilots and the 6-26 Pepperdine Waves, their wins over their lesser opponents were decisive. They won their 28 games by an average of 16.14 points. Want to include their losses? They still won by an average of 12.48 points. The Gaels should be in the tournament, but instead they'll be playing the Southeastern Louisiana Lions for advancement in the NIT.