It was a year ago, but you can tell the wounds are still open for Robert Morris head basketball coach Andy Toole.

Like anyone in the college hoops game, Toole is thrilled that the NCAA college basketball tournament is actually getting played this year.

But that doesn’t bring back the lost opportunity for his Colonials. They had won the NEC Tournament a few nights before March Madness 2020 was scrapped. Thus meaning his players never got the ultimate thrill of participating in “the big dance” by virtue of their automatic bid for winning the conference crown.

“For us, it was brutal after qualifying for it and not having the opportunity to play in it,” Toole told me during our annual bracket preview podcast. “That made it that much harder. Even (Sunday) as we watched the brackets go up, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a side of me that was disappointed that we didn’t get to experience (a year ago) what those 68 teams got to experience.”

Toole said he didn’t reach out to any of his 2020 players on Selection Sunday, thinking that perhaps calling them to commiserate about it may make them feel worse.

But he was definitely thinking of the team.

“I’m sure all of them looked a little bit sideways at the bracket,” Toole said. “I don’t know if you are human if you didn’t take a second to say, ‘Man, it would’ve been nice to have that happen last year.’”

For many of us in the Pittsburgh media who were there that night, the 77-67 victory by Toole’s team over St. Francis (Pa.) was the last sporting event we covered before the pandemic shutdown. And very few of us got into another stadium again until that odd Pirates Opening Day in late July.

And yet here we still are, waiting to see if covid-19 will impact the 2021 March Madness field. Is Virginia going to be able to play despite the positive case that popped up within its program during the ACC Tournament? Or will they have to pull out? Will a team make it all the way to the Elite Eight, only to have to forfeit before cutting down the nets?

If you thought Toole’s team was hurt by the outcome they had to endure, imagine if that kind of event were to occur to this year’s Cinderella version of — say — Loyola Chicago from 2018.

Then there are the “first four out” teams (Louisville, Colorado State, Saint Louis, Ole Miss) that are waiting on standby if Virginia, Kansas or somebody else from a multi-bid league has to withdraw before the deadline of Tuesday. And some of the preapproved runner-up schools from one-bid leagues are also waiting on hold.

“You’re sitting there testing, and what do you do?” Toole asked. “Do you keep practicing? Are you ‘rooting’ for someone to get covid? I don’t know. It’s a hard place to be all across the board. The confusion hasn’t stopped as we got to this tournament as we have experienced over the last year.”

In Tuesday’s podcast, Toole and I also talked about how the coronavirus situation impacted the Colonials’ (4-15) first year in the Horizon League, lessons the team took from that experience, and plans for the squad to improve in 2021-22.

Plus — as we do every year — Andy and I give our bracket predictions. We both agree on two Big Ten teams making the Final Four. We just disagree on which ones.

Regardless, Toole will be right. I’ll be wrong.

He has Illinois (Midwest), Ohio State (South), Gonzaga (West), Florida State (East).

I have Oklahoma State (Midwest), Baylor (South), Iowa (West), Michigan (East).

But you’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear our overall champions.

Listen: Tim Benz and RMU coach Andy Toole break down the 2021 NCAA Tournament brackets

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