First drubbed, then snubbed.

After missing their shot at an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by getting trampled by Middle Tennessee in the Sun Belt Conference championship last week, the Lady Toppers were banking on an at-large berth.

Last night, when a selection seemed assured, Western came up empty again.

The Lady Toppers (24-6) finished the season with a Ratings Percentage Index of 15 and was the only team in the RPI top-25 not to make the tournament.

“After I heard, I almost got physically sick,” Athletic Director Wood Selig said. “I almost threw up. It makes me want to question the committee work and expertise involved in this committee.”

Regardless, the Lady Toppers accepted a bid from the Women’s National Invitation Tournament shortly following their NCAA rejection.

At 7 p.m. Friday, Western will host the winner of Wednesday night’s game between Belmont and Tennessee Tech.

NCAA selection committee chair Joni Comstock, who oversaw each selection in the field of 64, seemed uneasy when trying to explain the reasons for Western’s blaring absence from the field.

“Western Kentucky really didn’t impress the committee with the strength of schedule we were looking for,” Comstock said in a conference call. “We felt that, um … personally, Western did not deserve to be in.”

According to collegerpi.com, the Lady Toppers were ranked No. 45 in strength of schedule in the NCAA.

Louisville, who ranked No. 57 in RPI, and California, who ranked No. 54, both received at-large bids.

Louisville wound up with a No. 9 seed and Louisiana Tech a No. 11 seed, both of whom lost to Western this season. California was credited with a No. 10 seed.

“Obviously, we are disappointed not to be a part of the NCAA tournament field,” coach Mary Taylor Cowles said in a press release. “We felt that with our RPI, our overall record and the way we ended our season, we did everything possible to position ourselves to earn a berth.”

The Lady Toppers canceled a post-selection show press conference after not being chosen.

College basketball analyst Charlie Creme had Western as high as a 7-seed in his “Bracketology” picks yesterday on ESPN.com.

MTSU, the automatic qualifier from the Sun Belt Conference, was awarded a 12-seed.

“Nothing is for sure if you don’t get that automatic bid,” said Chris Glowacki, assistant media relations director. “But it’s really a shame the committee looked them over this year.”

Bowling Green wasn’t the only place where Western’s snub garnered attention.

Women’s basketball analyst Clay Kallam, who contributes to Fox Sports online and Full Court Press online, said Western’s absence from the NCAA Tournament was the most glaring omission.

“Everyone’s trying to figure out why Western didn’t make it,” he said. “This seemed to be their year.”

Kallam, who works out of southern California, said the Lady Toppers were a victim of the committee’s perennial favoritism towards Bowl Championship Series schools.

He mentioned at-large nods to California, Notre Dame and Louisville as signals that the committee is looking to “protect their own.”

“We’re talking money here,” Kallam said. “That’s the way the business works. Western Ketucky wouldn’t sell as many tickets in tournament games as the likes of Notre Dame and California, and the committee knew that.”

Comstock said that the selection committee gave Western consideration.

“They had a very good season, and they were watched carefully by the committee throughout the entire season,” she said. “By not getting the automatic bid, they were put into a pool with too many other schools.”

Selig said no matter the explanation, he doesn’t understand the committee’s logic for leaving Western out.

He said he questioned whether the committee truly watched the Lady Toppers the whole season. He said he thought the omission was a mistake.

“I just thought, ‘Did we get erased off the board by accident?’” Selig said. “Any committee member who did their homework would’ve found a way to get us in. There will never be an adequate justification for this.”