Seattle Post-Intelligencer · Nov 1, 2018
Top 25 includes 4 teams that missed NCAA field last year
The preseason rankings suggest next season's NCAA Tournament could feature plenty of new faces.
The AP Top 25 includes four teams that failed to reach last year's big dance: No. 14 Oregon, No. 18 Mississippi State, No. 23 LSU and No. 25 Washington. In last year's preseason Top 25, the only ranked team that wasn't coming off an NCAA Tournament berth was No. 25 Texas A&M.
All four of the ranked teams that missed out on NCAA Tournament invitations did play in the NIT. Mississippi State advanced as far as the NIT semifinals before losing to eventual champion Penn State .