I told them not to hold their breaths, but that we had an outside shot at an at-large bid. It was just a matter of the right teams winning their conference tournaments to make sure there are enough at-large bids left.
The guys are disappointed now because we came so close and had a great opportunity to win the game at the end. But I think in time the hurt will go away and they will appreciate what they did.
You don't win 20-plus games if you're not a good team.