NIT Bubble Busters

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Still hoping on a BET run. But figured I would keep track of the regular season champs who aren't winning their conference tournaments. They get an auto-bid in the NIT and can either weaken or strengthen the pool of competition.

In the NIT
America East: Vermont lost to the 4 seed Albany
Atlantic Sun: 2 seed Mercer upsets Florida Gulf Coast in the championship
Big South: High Point was taken down by an awful Winthrop team
Big West: UC Irvine goes down to 7 seeded Cal Poly
Conference USA: Louisiana Tech loses the championship to 2 seeded Tulsa *has a very outside shot at an at large bid
Horizon: UWGB gets shocked by UWM. *Still has outside shot of an at large bid
MAAC: Iona bows out to Manahattan in the championship
NEC: Robert Morris gets embarrassed by a weak Mount St. Mary's in the championship game
Ohio Valley: Belmont goes down to 3 seed Eastern Kentucky
Patriot: Boston University gets held to 36 points is in the championship game against American
Southern: Davidson loses in the semis to 5 seed West Carolina
SWAC: Southern loses to Prairie View A&M in the quarterfinals (yay, TAMU system schools)
WAC: Utah Valley falls in the semifinals to an awful Idaho team

In the NCAA
Big Sky: Weber State slaughters North Dakota in the final
Colonial: Delaware sneaks by William and Mary in the championship
MAC: Western Michigan destroys Toledo for the MAC title
MEAC: North Carolina Central beats Morgan State in the championship game
Southland: Stephen F. Austin embarrasses Sam Houston State in the championship game
Summit: North Dakota State beats IPFW for the Summit crown

TBD
Sun Belt: Georgia State in the championship game

So far we have 6 mid-major regular season champions who will be in the NIT.  We could have a maximum of 20. Will be interesting to see what lines up.

Update: We have our first 2 regular season championships in the NCAA. Delaware and North Dakota State both took care of business in the Colonial and Summit Conference tournaments respectively. We also added 2 more to the NIT field as Iona and Robert Morris fell in their championship games. 10 more NIT bids still at risk to midmajor regular season champions.

Update: More NIT bubbles have burst! Lots of regular season champs are faltering this year. Boston U got held to a measly 36 points in the in Patriot Conference Championship game. Meanwhile, Southern got bounced out of the SWAC tournament in the quarterfinals by 8 seeded Prairie View A&M. No new mid-major NCAA locks. NCCU advanced to semis of the MEAC by beating Howard. Southland tournament started today with SFA's first game being in the semis.

[NavinRJohnson]

Y'all may want to make your plans right now to head to the Resch Center next Tuesday night.

[slack00]

Y'all may want to make your plans right now to head to the Resch Center next Tuesday night.

Nope.  The game is at Wright State.

[NavinRJohnson]

Nope.  The game is at Wright State.

Next Tuesday.

[slack00]

Next Tuesday.

My apologies.  Words are hard.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Original post have been updated. 2 have clinched the NCAA berth and 2 more are stuck in the NIT.

[Tums Festival]

Still hoping on a BET run. But figured I would keep track of the regular season champs who aren't winning their conference tournaments. They get an auto-bid in the NIT and can either weaken or strengthen the pool of competition.

In the NIT
America East: Vermont lost to the 4 seed Albany
Atlantic Sun: 2 seed Mercer upsets Florida Gulf Coast in the championship
Big South: High Point was taken down by an awful Winthrop team
Horizon: UWGB gets shocked by UWM. *Still has outside shot of an at large bid
MAAC: Iona bows out to Manahattan in the championship
NEC: Robert Morris gets embarrassed by a weak Mount St. Mary's in the championship game
Ohio Valley: Belmont goes down to 3 seed Eastern Kentucky
Southern: Davidson loses in the semis to 5 seed West Carolina

In the NCAA
Colonial: Delaware sneaks by William and Mary in the championship
Summit: North Dakota State beats IPFW for the Summit crown

TBD
Big Sky: Hasn't started yet
Big West: Hasn't started yet
Conference USA: Louisiana Tech in the quarterfinals
MAC: Western Michigan in the Semis
MEAC: North Carolina Central in the quarterfinals
Patriot: Boston University is in the championship game
Southland: Hasn't started yet
SWAC: Southern is in the quarterfinals
Sun Belt: Hasn't started yet
WAC: Hasn't started yet

So far we have 6 mid-major regular season champions who will be in the NIT.  We could have a maximum of 20. Will be interesting to see what lines up.

Update: We have our first 2 regular season championships in the NCAA. Delaware and North Dakota State both took care of business in the Colonial and Summit Conference tournaments respectively. We also added 2 more to the NIT field as Iona and Robert Morris fell in their championship games. 10 more NIT bids still at risk to midmajor regular season champions.

This is great information! Thanks for putting it together. Unbelievable how many regular season champs have failed to win their conference tournaments.

[bilsu]

We may need to beat Xavier to get an NIT bid. Between NCAA and NIT there are 100 bids. Probably 16 automatics are to schools ranked over 100. So if you are not in top 80 you are on NIT bubble.

[chapman]

We may need to beat Xavier to get an NIT bid. Between NCAA and NIT there are 100 bids. Probably 16 automatics are to schools ranked over 100. So if you are not in top 80 you are on NIT bubble.

CBI here we come!  Though Xavier had too much pride to accept the invite last year...

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

We may need to beat Xavier to get an NIT bid. Between NCAA and NIT there are 100 bids. Probably 16 automatics are to schools ranked over 100. So if you are not in top 80 you are on NIT bubble.

We're still projected as an upper seed in the NIT. I'm not too worried....but...let's win just to be sure.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Does anybody remember the year when we were a legit NCAA bubble team and didn't make the dance. Then I woke up the next morning to find out the NIT snubbed us as well? I think this was during the Deane era.

[keefe]

Still hoping on a BET run.

And Ziggy's still hoping for a threesome with Ines and Erin

[melissasmooth]

CBI here we come!  Though Xavier had too much pride to accept the invite last year...

Why would we even accept an NIT bid? Not trying to be a smart-ass, just wondering, do we make money? I guess you get more practices, correct?

[The Equalizer]

Does anybody remember the year when we were a legit NCAA bubble team and didn't make the dance. Then I woke up the next morning to find out the NIT snubbed us as well? I think this was during the Deane era.

It was O'Neill. This was the year:
http://wiki.muscoop.com/doku.php/men_s_basketball/1991

[keefe]

Does anybody remember the year when we were a legit NCAA bubble team and didn't make the dance. Then I woke up the next morning to find out the NIT snubbed us as well? I think this was during the Deane era.

Not sure which is worse. Getting snubbed that year or not even being considered in Crean's second year? At least KO had us in the discussion.

[keefe]

CBI here we come!  Though Xavier had too much pride to accept the invite last year...

As should Marquette. No matter how drunk you are at closing time there are some paths a man just does not wander down...

[keefe]

Why would we even accept an NIT bid? Not trying to be a smart-ass, just wondering, do we make money? I guess you get more practices, correct?

There are some things we regret in hindsight...

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Why would we even accept an NIT bid? Not trying to be a smart-ass, just wondering, do we make money? I guess you get more practices, correct?

Money and valuable postseason experience for the younglings.

[melissasmooth]

Money and valuable postseason experience for the younglings.

Sort of like playing in a crappy Bowl game?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

My God, we are not a blue blood. We aren't even a top 15 college basketball program. We are not above the NIT. We are not even above the CBI. You don't turn down a tournament offer....unless you are Al. But then we were a blue blood and above whatever we wanted to be above. And he backed it up by winning the lesser tournament.

The experience can only benefit you.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Sort of like playing in a crappy Bowl game?

Pretty much

[Benny B]

Why would we even accept an NIT bid? Not trying to be a smart-ass, just wondering, do we make money? I guess you get more practices, correct?

Somewhere around $15,000-17,000 per game for the next six years (to the conference), ticket and concession revenue for home games (or a portion of it any way), a banner if you win the tournament, and....

for all of you who have lamented the loss of ESPN this year, you just got your wish: a bunch of games televised on ESPN or the Deuce.

[melissasmooth]

Money and valuable postseason experience for the younglings.

thanks

[melissasmooth]

Somewhere around $15,000-17,000 per game for the next six years (to the conference), ticket and concession revenue for home games (or a portion of it any way), a banner if you win the tournament, and....

for all of you who have lamented the loss of ESPN this year, you just got your wish: a bunch of games televised on ESPN or the Deuce.

thanks

[nathanziarek]

Considering Kentucky and Florida have both played in recent NITs, I think it's funny that we think Marquette should turn it down.