When the last at-large team to make the NCAA tournament learns it has received a bid, the reaction video is typically replete with hugs, fist pumps and a euphoric roar.*
That wasn't the case this year because the last at-large team in the field had no idea it was even on the bubble.
Dayton's quizzical reaction to discovering it will be playing in the First Four on Wednesday night is perfect since neither the Flyers nor most college hoops pundits expected them to be in any danger of missing the NCAA tournament. Their average seeding among the almost 100 projections charted by the website BracketMatrix.com was 8.81.
Things got more surprising for Dayton when the NCAA released the selection committee's true seedings and revealed that the Flyers were somehow the very last team in the field of 68. That means Dayon would have been the team dumped in favor of UConn had the Huskies won the American Athletic Conference title game on Sunday and stolen a bid from an at-large hopeful.*
It's understandable that Dayton wasn't pleased with its seeding because the Flyers had no business being one of the last teams in. They boast seven RPI top 100 victories, a top 40 KenPom ranking, a top 30 RPI and only one loss to a team outside the RPI top 100, a resume that compares favorably to teams like Georgia, UCLA and Indiana that are safely in the main field.
Unlike Dayton, the rest of the bubble teams who made were as jubilant as you'd expect. A look at some of the best reaction videos:
The Bruins react to their NCAA Tournament selection #MarchMadness #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/gE9PItXEiw
— UCLA Basketball (@UCLAMBB) March 15, 2015
UCLA (11th seed, South Region)
"It was fun because they said, 'UC' and there was some anxiousness and then they said, 'Irvine.' It was like we almost got tricked. They said, 'the Bruins of' and then they said, 'Belmont.' You think you're in and you've earned a spot with what you've done, but you don't have control over it, so there are some anxious moments." — UCLA coach Steve Alford

BYU (11th seed, West Region)
"It was terrible. The tension was pretty high in that room. We thought we were [in]. We were confident going into today, and then when you see all those other teams getting their name called before you, it can be nerve-wracking." — BYU senior Tyler Haws (Salt Lake Tribune)

Boise State (11th seed, East Region)
"To think, five years ago when the NCAA expanded the field from 64 to 68, I thought it was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard. #IWasWrong." — Boise State forward Jake Ness (Twitter)










LSU (Ninth seed, East Region)
“When I saw [NC State's] come up, I was excited for [coach Mark Gottfried] and where they were. Then, our name popped up underneath. … We’ve been friends for a long, long time in the profession. It certainly will be an interesting game for the both of us.” — LSU coach Johnny Jones on facing a close friend in the round of 64. (Baton Rouge Advocate)
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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