Although former champions Kentucky and Florida missed the NCAA tournament in historic fashion, schools from the non-power conferences suffered the deepest disappointment Sunday when the 65-team field was announced.

Of the 34 at-large berths available, 30 went to programs from the six largest conferences, continuing a trend that has seen the number of mid-major schools in the tournament dwindle since the high-water mark earlier this decade. Mid-majors earned 10 at-large bids in 2003 and 12 in 2004. Since then, the number had fallen to nine, six and six before Sunday.

"We look at teams, not at conferences," said Mike Slive, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference and chairman of the Division I men's basketball committee. "We understand teams play in different competitive configurations. But every year is a different year. It isn't like we are looking at a continuum."

Xavier and Dayton from the Atlantic 10 Conference, Butler from the Horizon and Brigham Young from the Mountain West were the only mid-major schools to receive at-large bids. Saint Mary's (West Coast), Creighton (Missouri Valley) and San Diego State (Mountain West) were among those left on the outside.

"What I've said since Day One is it's about the whole body of work," Slive said. "It's about who you play, where you play and how you do."

* Seven-time champion Kentucky missed the field for the first time since 1991 after going 8-8 in the SEC and losing in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. After back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007, Florida became the first school since Oklahoma State in 1945 and 1946 to miss the field the next two seasons.

Joining them were teams the selection committee judged to have holes in their resumes.

* Saint Mary's went 26-6 and won 13 road games, playing the final third of the regular season without injured All-America point guard Patty Mills. But the Gaels lost to league champion Gonzaga three times, the last by 25 points in the WCC tournament final.

* Creighton was 26-7 but lost by 24 points in the Missouri Valley tournament semifinals and did not play anyone in the top 25.

* San Diego State was 23-9 with a strong schedule and a ratings percentage index rating better than 40. But it was fourth in the Mountain West and lost in the league tournament final.

Those left out also included Penn State and Virginia Tech. The Nittany Lions hoped to end an eight-year NCAA drought and went 22-11 (10-8 in the Big Ten) with four wins against top-25 teams. But the Nittany Lions were undone by a weak nonconference schedule and a quick exit from the conference tournament.

The Hokies were 18-14 with wins at Clemson and Wake Forest but lost seven of their last nine games.