NCAA accidentally invited South Carolina to NCAA Tournament, had to uninvite

Well, this is a pretty bad error to make.

A report from WISTV’s Jeremy Turnage detailed how the NCAA accidentally notified the South Carolina Gamecocks athletics department that their basketball team had been selected for the NCAA Tournament when Vanderbilt had been selected instead. According to athletic director Ray Tanner, the Gamecocks were notified of their selection at about 6:30 on Selection Sunday, only to be told in a phone call ten minutes later that the invitation had been extended in error and they were destined for the NIT instead.

The Gamecocks went 24-8 during the regular season, but stumbled to the finish line after a 21-3 start, including a first round SEC Tournament loss to Georgia.

On Thursday, the NCAA issued a statement clarifying the error and apologizing for it – and throwing a junior staffer under the bus.

NCAA puts out a statement related to South Carolina-NCAA tourney: pic.twitter.com/gvt2Y5Ryo2

— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) March 31, 2016

It’s tough when your tournament bubble bursts. It’s even tougher when it bursts after you were made to believe you were in. Of course, had South Carolina checked the leaked bracket that circulated, they’d have known the truth before this happened.