On March 17, 2024, CBS announced the 68-team tournament field for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The results left a sour taste in fans’ mouths throughout the country, especially among supporters of the Big East. Teams including Seton Hall, Providence, and St. John’s.

It can be speculated that teams at the bottom of the Big East, for example, 3-29 DePaul and 9-23 Georgetown, held down the rest of the conference and were deciding factors for the committee in the end. “I totally believe that six teams from the Big East belonged in the field. I know our players, along with Providence, are totally disappointed with the decisions made,” said St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino on X after the tournament field was revealed. “Not having Seton Hall at 13-7 in BE [Big East] play with wins over the top teams is flat out wrong!” he continued to comment. 

Along with these notable teams being snubbed out of the field, Seton Hall went on to win the “NIT”, marking them as the “March Madness Snub”. During this notable run for Seton Hall, they beat multiple qualified teams such as Indiana State, Georgia, and St. John’s. 

On April 8, 2024, UConn became the first team in 17 years to win back-to-back national titles as they cemented themselves as one of the most dominant teams to ever play the sport. They went 37-3 in the season with these losses coming to teams who barely missed the tournament, including the Big East team Seton Hall, and a very competitive game against St. John’s in the Big East semifinal, only edging them out by 5 points.