- 347 words
Updated March 15, 2026, 9:33 a.m. ET
For the first time in program history, a Seton Hall basketball team with 21-plus wins on Selection Sunday is not projected to make the NCAA Tournament field.
In a sign of how things have changed for the Big East, the Pirates (21-12) do not appear at all in the Bracket Matrix, which compiles the work of 117 established bracketologists (yes, there are at least that many).
ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi, the Godfather of bracketology, ranks them last in the “Next Four Teams Out” category, which means they’re eighth in the pecking order of teams projected to be on the wrong side of the March Madness bubble. Ahead of the Hall on that list are Oklahoma, Auburn, San Diego State, New Mexico, Indiana, Stanford and Cincinnati.
Why did this happen? Seton Hall has a NET ranking of 54 with a record of 1-6 against Quad 1 opponents. The lack of quality wins, according to the metrics, dragged the Pirates’ resume down.
The Pirates went 10-1 out of conference, garnering the lone Quad 1 win against N.C. State, but a December victory at Kansas State turned out to be less valuable than forecasted because the Wildcats subsequently imploded. In Big East play, Seton Hall went 0-7 against the three teams projected to be in the NCAA Tournament field (UConn, St. John’s and Villanova). The league’s weak overall metrics gave the Hall no room for error.
It’s a stark contrast with 1994, when Seton Hall made the Big Dance with just 17 wins, or even 2006 (18 wins) or 2019 (19 wins). The only other Pirate editions to miss the NCAAs with 20-plus wins as of Selection Sunday were the 20-win 2012 squad in Kevin Willard’s second season at the helm, and the 20-win 2024 squad, which went on to capture the NIT championship under current head coach Shaheen Holloway.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at [email protected].
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