Great point omni. A lot of people were saying last year that Cincinnati was left out to be a marquee name in the NIT. I think UC probably would have won the NIT last year if James White and Jihad Muhammad weren't idiots.

It would be great if the NCAA tourney had 4 BEast teams in the final four. I'd love to see that.

CatsClaw Wrote:Great point omni. A lot of people were saying last year that Cincinnati was left out to be a marquee name in the NIT. I think UC probably would have won the NIT last year if James White and Jihad Muhammad weren't idiots.

In regard to Syracuse and the NIT, it is my hope we decline the invitation (though I seriously doubt we will).

Syracuse is a senior dominated team with one of those seniors playing hurt for most of the season.

No reason to go to the NIT and I think declining the invite would be a quiet and reasonable protest to not being selected to the NCAAs.

On the other hand, West Virginia having a young team should embrace the NIT as a way of further developing their skills for next season.

Cheers,
Neil

At least South Carolina will not win the NIT again this year. It's up for grabs!

Its rare for teams to decline NIT bids unless there are circumstances such as a coach being fired or a scandal, so I don't think that would be a quiet protest for Syracuse.

Andy Katz was told by the committee chair that Cuse & KSU did not make it due to unbalanced league scheduling. If that is the case, it really isn't the unbalanced scheduling for the Orange that kept them out, its the fact that they only went 2-2 against St John's & UConn in the home & away games against bottom half of the league teams. I still say a majority of coaches in America would rather play Ark over Cuse in a tournament when thy're hoing to advance, but its over in that regard.

Omni, since the NIT is now under the NCAA umbrella, declining a bid might have ramifications for future "bubble" situations.

BJUnklFkr Wrote:Omni, since the NIT is now under the NCAA umbrella, declining a bid might have ramifications for future "bubble" situations.

Didn't Arkansas decline an NIT bid under the old regime a couple years ago? Rumor was they were going to get stuck playing Arkansas-Little Rock and Frank Broyles didn't want the possibility of UALR, the top Sun Belt team that year, beating the flagship.

A better protest would be winning the NIT. That would make the selection committee look rather bad to the public and might have ramifications for future situations as well...bubble or otherwise.

cardtopper Wrote:A better protest would be winning the NIT. That would make the selection committee look rather bad to the public and might have ramifications for future situations as well...bubble or otherwise.

Teams expecting to make the NCAAs rarely perform well in the NIT - usually ousted in the first game. Their hearts aren't really into it.

Cheers,
Neil