Shannon Sharpe hails Tara VanDerveer, Pat Summitt and Geno Auriemma as Stanford miss March Madness for first time since 1987

Stanford's first season after longtime coach Tara VanDerveer retired has resulted in the team missing the NCAA Tournament bid. After a first-round exit in the ACC Tournament, the women's basketball program fell out of favor, marking the first time since 1987 the team will not feature in the NCAA Tournament.

On Sunday, while previewing NCAA Tournament's Selection Sunday results, analyst Shannon Sharpe reacted to Stanford’s omission from the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

"I can't believe that Stanford didn't make it," Sharpe said on NightCap (1:30 onwards).

The Hall of Fame tight end and sports analyst paid tribute to legendary coaches Tara VanDerveer, Pat Summitt and Geno Auriemma, acknowledging their impact on women’s college basketball.

"You know, the great Coach Tara VanDerveer—she won two national championships when she had Jennifer," Sharpe said. "She had a great team. Obviously, we know what Coach Summitt did.

"Coach Summitt is what this thing was all about. She is—she is—she’s a Mount Rushmore of coaching in women's college basketball. She is the standard-bearer, her and Coach Geno."

Stanford’s absence from March Madness marks the end of a remarkable 37-year streak under VanDerveer. Sharpe also noted a significant shift in the competitive landscape of women’s college basketball.

"But the talent is spreading out now. Before, everybody went to Tennessee, everybody went to UConn," Sharpe added. "That’s why you had UConn and Tennessee playing almost every year.

"Now, they’ve started spreading out. They started going to Baylor and a couple of other teams, and you’re like, 'Oh, damn.'"

How Stanford performed in their first season after Tara VanDerveer's retirement?

Tara VanDerveer announced retirement last spring, drawing curtains to her legendary head coaching career which saw her become the winningest head coach in men’s and women’s Division I college basketball. She had a 1,065-220 career record. Her record was broken by UConn's Geno Auriemma earlier in November.

Longtime assistant Kate Paye was promoted to head coach after VanDerveer's retirement. She led the program to a 7-1 record before hitting the slack, losing five of its next six games. That along with the inability of the program to record wins against strong and ranked teams hampered its selection on Sunday.

Clemson eliminated the Cardinal in the first round of the ACC Tournament, bringing their season record to 16-14.