Arizona State was left out of the tournament. They likely lost their spot when Georgia took down Arkansas for the SEC title.

The toughest thing to swallow were the seeds Oregon (9) and Arizona (10) landed. That showed the committee didn't even view us as close to those two teams, despite finishing ahead of them in Pac10 play. While I think ASU certainly deserved a bid over some other teams, they gave the committee an opportunity to leave them out. Had they swept Oregon, or not blown big leads against Washington and Stanford, they would be in. Heck, one more win period would have likely allowed them to dance.

As it stands, ASU is a #1 seed in the NIT, and will face Alabama State in the first round on Tuesday.

For teams like Arizona State and Virginia Tech, it is important that they prove the committee wrong. Too often "snubs" come out flat in the NIT, because they feel slighted. The NIT is a chance for a free trip to New York, and redemption for being left out of the field of 65.

Both ASU and VT are extremely young teams who could grab very high NCAA seeds next year with little personnel turnover. Hopefully ASU can use this as a learning and growing experience. If they can, it could help them next year when they get a bid to the actual tournament.

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