CMJ

There's a team with a losing record this year. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think that's ever happened before. I don't care if they're a brand name. I'd have to look at the metrics and such, but I believe last year's field was stronger in the NET.

People who crap over the NIT are pretty lame. It's TOUGH to make the NCAAs. Even counting the NIT field, a much greater percentage of teams play in the postseason in basically every major North American sport. The NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB all do. Obviously college football now has 40 something bowl games. I don't think people realize how almost impossible it is to get in the Big Dance. All but....8 or 9 leagues get in only a single team. And for conference that get in multiple bids, sometimes it's only two or three (even the vaunted Big East only got 3 this year!). Really only the top few leagues consistently get five or more.

I am thrilled so many schools turned down invites, because I'm not sure we get in otherwise. Hard to know now given they've changed the way they invite AND seed the thing. Up until two years ago they had seeded the four brackets 1-8 (once seeding started, which is actually fairly new for the NIT...probably only started within the last dozen years or so). Now it's 1-4 and they throw everyone else in seemingly randomly.

It is bizarre. I swear the tournament used to have a rule that unless there were a ridiculous amount of teams from one conference (say the Big 10 gets in nine), that they did everything possible to have schools within the same league avoid each other until the Regional Final/Elite 8.

Previous game thread:

As an aside, I like that both the NIT and the WBIT will have the semis/final in Hinkle.

Not to look past the Tigers, since as the first showdown showed the game will be no gimme, but I wonder if we could host 2nd round in the unlikely event that Seton Hall goes down.

Winning this would be nice if for no other reason than we SHOULD HAVE beaten them the first time and it'd show growth.

I mean all 1st round games are on a weekday.

Biggest game in the History of Western Civilization.

The NCAA owns the old NIT

Helps that they own the head to head too.

Why should someone be made to play if they don't want to? It'd just turn into the college bowl game crisis where so many kids opt out.

It helps that several schools looked down their noses at the NIT, but I'll take it.

Holy cow

He wasn't when he was at Louisville.

Ironic given St Johns helped run it for around 70 years. I believe they've also won more NIT titles than anyone (many back when it was arguably as prestigious as the NCAA).

The SEC and ACC Title games used to go to Atlanta every few years (maybe once every six or so?). Not sure if either is scheduled to any time soon.

That was the reason apparently.

I was thinking somewhere in Tennessee might be as centralized as we can get. Maybe Knoxville just so Memphis wouldn't have homecourt advantage.

I mean, way back in the day NT made the SLC title game with like 6 wins (and that's with three wins in the conference tournament!). Sometimes a team who has been bad all year gets on a roll.

Memphis has said they're not interested in playing. Not sure about any others.

You should root for the league. If we only get in one team, who may end up as a 16 seed....the AAC looks like a lower tier SWAC type of conference.