Memphis played much better the last 6 weeks of the year and lost twice to Houston within a week by a total of 5 points. The first loss was a lucky heave as time expired. They had an important transfer that wasn't granted a waiver until after about 6-8 games. Their resume wasn't good enough because they didn't have a Q1 win and lost a couple early that they shouldn't have lost. If they beat Houston in one of those games, they probably replace Wichita State in the play-in game. Just trying to provide context.
They were probably playing better ball near the end than some of the tournament teams, but the whole body of work is what counts.