Has it ever happened that a team that was ranked in the top 5 anytime during the season didn't make the NCAA Tournament?
1 Answer
Has it ever happened that a team that was ranked in the top 5 anytime during the season didn't make the NCAA Tournament?
Yes.
The most recent instance took place during the 2012-2013 season. Kentucky was ranked #3 in the preseason AP and Coaches' polls and held that ranking in both polls up to week 2. By week 5 (with the exception of week 15), Kentucky was outside the top 25 in the AP poll. By week 9, Kentucky was outside the top 25 in the Coaches' poll.
This page from Sports Reference shows the top 25 teams in the AP and Coaches' poll for each week during a season and * indicates a NCAA tournament team. Parsing through these per season may yield more results.