I saw this late last week and did not get a chance to share. I thought it interesting because aren't regular season champs automatically in the NIT? Yale is still pissed as they had their best season, ever, were Ivy league regular season co-champs that included wins over UConn & Harvard and then lost a one game playoff to Harvard for an NCAA bid. Their RPI was also 63.
http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20150409/nit-still-ducking-questions-about-yale-mens-basketball-snub
NIT still ducking questions about Yale men’s basketball snubBy Chris Hunn, New Haven Register
Posted: 04/09/15, 6:25 PM EDT | Updated: 4 days ago This past season was a memorable year for the Yale men’s basketball team.
The Bulldogs (22-10, 11-3 Ivy League) finished with the program’s most wins since 1948-49 and clinched a share of the Ivy title for the first time since 2002. Yale racked up postseason awards, with James Jones earning the Ivy’s coach of the year honor and forward Justin Sears being named conference player of the year. Sears was also an honorable mention on The Associated Press All-America Team.
But there was a bitter ending to the historic season.
After a pair of heartbreaking losses left Yale still searching for its first NCAA tournament berth in 53 years, the Bulldogs were snubbed from the 32-team National Invitation Tournament.
“They don’t know how good we are,” Jones said last month after finding out Yale didn’t get into the tournament. “We had a great year, one of the best Yale’s ever had. If we can’t get in this year, I don’t know how we get in. It’s disheartening.”
So why didn’t the Bulldogs receive an invitation? There is no clear answer.
Jones said the NIT was not able to give him an explanation and directed the Register to the Ivy League office.
Ivy League associate executive director for communications Scottie Rodgers offered this statement: “Our office remains very disappointed that Yale was not selected for the NIT field. We will be following up with the NCAA staff/NIT committee in the offseason in a more formal way to engage in deeper discussions on this matter. Hopefully we can work collaboratively to reach a change in this interpretation that gives the Ivy League appropriate access to the NIT when we have a co-champion situation.”
Members of the NIT committee did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Yale knocked off defending national champion UConn, Harvard and held its own in a double-overtime loss to Vanderbilt this season. Harvard earned the Ivy’s automatic NCAA berth, while UConn and Vanderbilt each played in the NIT. Furthermore, Yale had just one double-digit loss and the Bulldogs had an impressive 11 road victories to finish No. 63 in the RPI rankings.
Yale certainly suffered a few losses that didn’t help its chances, including defeats at the hands of Columbia, Dartmouth, NJIT and Quinnipiac.
ESPN college basketball analyst Andy Katz called Yale being left out “the one major snub in the NIT.”
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Chris Hunn
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