The Cougars still didn’t make the postseason.
It wasn’t the case of a team the selection committee viewed as stumbling to the finish line, either. CofC was 28-5 over its final 33 games and advanced to the CAA’s title game before losing to UNC-Wilmington, 6-4. The Cougars won a three-game series with the Seahawks during the regular season.
So, by any estimation, the Cougars passed the two most important exams: the blind resume and eye tests. Yet its profile didn’t measure up to the folks who assembled the NCAA tournament’s 64-team field.
No, this was an outright snub that continues to defy plausible explanations and belief. Common sense, too.
CofC’s RPI was higher than two of the final four teams that got in (No. 44 James Madison and No. 55 Indiana). Instead, selection committee chair Matt Hogue — who was Coastal Carolina’s athletic director at the time — cited the Cougars’ strength of schedule as the determining factor. It didn’t matter that CofC had beaten the schedule it was presented.
By the way, the Chanticleers received an at-large bid.
At the time, Holbrook described himself and his team as “devastated, bewildered, baffled, disappointed and dejected.”
He’s still sore only days away from the Great Snub’s anniversary.
“If you want me to get on my soapbox and complain about the act that happened to us last year, I will,” Holbrook, now in his eighth season at CofC, said. “But we’ve done our deal on the field and we’ll continue to do our deal on the field.”
That’s really all they can do.
Glory earned
Dylan Johnson’s third-inning, two-run homer rocketed over the Patriot Point Sports Complex’s left field wall. So did blasts by teammates Ethan Plyer and Landon Penfield (both in the fifth inning). Avery Neaves hit a sixth-inning missile that rocketed into the hitting background behind straightaway center field.
Each was a no-doubter, win or no wind.