Putting aside my strong desire to get out of East Lansing just one more time to watch the women play, MSU truly deserved an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. Just as MSU head coach Suzy Merchant probably keeps saying over and over in her head and to the media, the Spartans’ résumé was simply just better than a couple of teams’ that did receive a bid in the end.

Laying out MSU’s stats — a Big Ten team with a 19-13 overall record, an RPI rating of 52, a 7-3 record down the stretch along with a 2-3 record against AP Top 25 teams and a 33 strength in schedule — it is hard for me to think there weren’t politics involved in the bubble decisions.

So believing what the NCAA selection committee says about basing its decision on those exact criteria, let’s compare MSU to Auburn and Florida State, who both received No. 11 seeds in the Big Dance.

Auburn, an SEC team, brought a 20-11 record, a 61 RPI rating, a 5-5 record down the stretch, a 1-6 record against AP Top 25 teams and a 69 strength of schedule to the table. The Seminoles came out of the ACC with a 18-13 overall record, a 57 RPI, a 4-6 record in their last 10 games and not a single win against an AP Top 25 team with an 0-8 record, and a 37 strength of schedule.

MSU had a better résumé for a bid than both of those teams, and I’d like to get in line with Merchant and the team to give the NCAA selection committee a piece of my mind.

But instead, I’ll continue pondering what can only be described as, in the end, the “politics” involved in almost every decision.

I’ve heard a few people discuss the possibility of some ACC/Duke influences in the committee who would like nothing better than to keep the Spartans out and a fellow ACC team in (oh, and former MSU head coach and current Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie probably doesn’t want to see MSU anywhere near her new team).

It was said the Spartans were hurt by their loss to Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, their road record (7-8) and losses to Old Dominion and Hartford.

Bottom line — if MSU had notched just one more win to put them at the 20 mark, the committee would have been very hard pressed not to let them in. Politics or not.

Hopefully the Spartans’ anger won’t work against them and they can use it to fuel the flames in the WNIT come Saturday.