First-year St. John's coach Rick Pitino told the NIT selection committee that the team didn't want to play in the also-ran event. Oklahoma and Pitt also said they didn't want to take part.

Dreams die hard, particularly in March.

The Big East found that out Sunday as three 20-win teams – Providence, Seton Hall and St. John’s – were all snubbed by the NCAA selection committee.

St. John’s arguably had the biggest gripe of the three. It finished 20-13 overall, winning six games in a row – four of them by at least 14 points – before a loss to overall No. 1 seed UConn in the Big East semifinals on Friday.