By Dean Boerner | Editor-in-Chief
The Gaels had given the NCAA tournament selection committee enough reason to exclude them from the NCAA tournament, so it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the committee obliged, leaving Saint Mary’s as one of the first four out of the field of 68.
The Gaels (28-5, 16-2) played well for most of their season, and at times they looked dominant. But a convincing loss to Gonzaga last month, which ended the Gaels’ record-setting 19-game winning streak, seemed to derail Saint Mary’s, who went on to lose to an average USF team five days later and struggle their way to a semifinals exit in the conference tournament on March 5.