All chalk in the the first day of the first round. Only real scare was top seeded USC who needed 2OT to beat Asheville.

Rider, who Drexel beat, led through 3 before getting absolutely smoked in the 4th quarter, giving up 38 points to Oregon and falling by 17. BC went to WKU and lost convincingly.

UNCA cannot catch a break!

First round is complete and the only upset was #5 Washington beating #4 Boise State, even though UW hosted as the lower seed (guessing since Boise is hosting the NCAA)

I would love to see a lottery system utilized instead of awarding games to the highest seed. Seed them as you want, but gives mids a chance to host their opponent. USC coming to UNCA would have been HUGE and done a tremendous box office.

(03-15-2018 09:34 AM)solohawks Wrote:  I would love to see a lottery system utilized instead of awarding games to the highest seed. Seed them as you want, but gives mids a chance to host their opponent. USC coming to UNCA would have been HUGE and done a tremendous box office.

One of the best college basketball games I ever saw was when Kentucky faced Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT with KY as a 1 seed and RMU as the 8 seed, but since Kentucky was holding NCAA games, the game had to be played at Robert Morris. RMU won a really close game against Kentucky. Every student in the old wooden bleachers had stormed the court within 5 seconds of the buzzer. Had that game been at Kentucky, it wouldn't have been the same kind of atmostphere.

If the NIT wants to be different, it needs to take advantage of the unique feature it offers that the NCAA does not, playing on home courts.

Bracket it however you want, but give each team a 50-50 shot at hosting. That would be fun and unique

For those still following along, half of the NIT's elite 8 is set with PSU, Marquette, Mississippi St and Louisville present. The other half will be set tonight. Middle Tennessee got beat by double digits to Louisville. Western Kentucky and St Mary's are the only remaining mids. WKU plays at Southern Cal tonight and St Mary's plays at home against Washington.

Final four are Penn State, Mississippi State, Western Kentucky and Utah

For those who missed congrats to Penn State for their victory in the finals

(04-03-2018 07:34 AM)dan10 Wrote:  For those who missed congrats to Penn State for their victory in the finals

I totally missed it. And it shows how little Penn State fans care about basketball. My facebook feed is loaded with pro Penn State posts during football season. Nary a single post about their Basketball team in the NIT.

(04-04-2018 09:38 AM)J.B. Wrote:  

(04-03-2018 07:34 AM)dan10 Wrote:  For those who missed congrats to Penn State for their victory in the finals

I totally missed it. And it shows how little Penn State fans care about basketball. My facebook feed is loaded with pro Penn State posts during football season. Nary a single post about their Basketball team in the NIT.

Penn State had the third highest average Football attendance in the Big Ten and the third lowest average Men's Basketball attendance in the Big Ten. Their ratio of Football attendance divided by Men's Basketball attendance was the highest in the Big Ten. Their Men's Basketball attendance of 7,197 is lower than what Old Dominion got in 2010-2011, when the CAA got three bids and VCU went to the Final Four, and lower than what VCU got in 2011-2012.