Big East bemoans NCAA tournament snubs as Rick Pitino backs Seton Hall - ESPN

The Big East said it is «very disappointed» over the conference's historic low number of schools selected for the NCAA tournament, echoing widespread sentiment around the league that multiple teams were snubbed.

The Big East received just three tournament bids — its lowest total since 1993 — on Sunday by the NCAA selection committee, which snubbed a trio of 20-win teams in St. John's, Seton Hall and Providence.

The league released a lengthy statement Monday night, congratulating its three schools that were selected — UConn, Marquette and Creighton — while joining the chorus of criticism against the NCAA selection committee.

«We have great respect for the NCAA men's basketball committee and the time and effort that goes into selecting and seeding the teams for the NCAA tournament,» the Big East said as part of its statement. «It is a very challenging job, and we have been advised that this year's upsets added to the complexity and contributed to the committee's final bracket selections. Given the high level of play in our league, we are understandably very disappointed that some worthy Big East teams were not selected to participate.

»We will be working closely with our schools in the coming months to best position the Big East next year and to ensure that we continue to be represented in March Madness in a manner befitting our stature as one of the best conferences in college basketball."

St. John's coach Rick Pitino, who has been among the most outspoken critics of the lack of Big East teams, took to social media to praise the Seton Hall, which finished 20-12 overall but went 13-7 in league play. The Pirates became the first team in Big East history to miss the NCAA tournament after finishing at least five games over