This is unfamiliar territory for Stanford.
For the first time since 1987, the Cardinal will miss the NCAA tournament, ending a streak of 36 consecutive appearances. Only Tennessee, which has made every tournament since it began in 1982, has had a longer run.
Stanford won five of its last six regular-season games to give it a shot of sneaking into the tournament. But at 16-13, the Cardinal needed to make a run in the ACC tournament and that didn’t happen. Stanford bowed out in the first round, losing to Clemson.
‘We’re not going to let this one game define us or who we are,” first-year coach Kate Paye said after the loss.
Stanford is likely to get an invite to the WNIT, and Paye has indicated the Cardinal will accept. But the NCAA streak is over.
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Stanford wasn’t just a staple of the NCAA tournament, it had become one of its cornerstones. The Cardinal played in the national championship game five times, winning three of them, and reached the Final Four an additional 10 times. The team was a No. 1 or 2 seed each of the past five years.
Yet Stanford’s absence isn’t a total surprise, either.
In addition to longtime coach Tara VanDerveer retiring, Stanford lost its top three scorers and two leading rebounders from last year’s team. Cameron Brink was the No. 2 pick in the WNBA draft, Hannah Jump graduated and Kiki Iriafen transferred to USC.
Together, the three combined for an average of 47.4 points and 24.8 rebounds a game.
Stanford has just two seniors on its roster this year, and its regular starters included two sophomores and a freshman. Stanford also moved to the ACC, which meant entirely new opponents and a much heavier travel schedule.
Stanford isn’t the only notable name to miss out on the NCAA tournament. Here’s a look at some of the other snubs:
Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech lost games it shouldn’t have. The bigger problem, however, was other teams lost games they shouldn’t have.
Richmond, for example, was a lock for the tournament, ranked 33rd in the NET. But when the Spiders got bounced in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament, that left one less at-large bid. And teams like Virginia Tech were on the outside looking in.
James Madison
The Dukes were phenomenal during the regular season, winning 28 games and going unbeaten in the Sun Belt conference. But an overtime loss to Arkansas State in the Sun Belt tournament final killed their chances.
Minnesota
Minnesota’s season began spiraling at the end of January and it could never get it back on track. A loss to Washington in the first round of the Big Ten tournament just made it official.
Arizona
The losses to Grand Canyon and even Northern Arizona look better than they initially did. But Arizona just didn’t have that signature win.
Iowa State/Princeton
It’s hard to call this a true snub, since both Iowa State and Princeton made the tournament. But … woof. They have to play each other in the First Four, with the winner getting Michigan in the Wolverines’ backyard with that first-round game being played at Notre Dame.
Again, it’s great to make the tournament. But for two teams that were living on the bubble the last few weeks, hard not to wonder if making the NIT and doing some damage there would have been better.