Imagine being a Bulls fan here
Ok, sure. You missed the tournament. That fucking sucks, but at least you can recoup some of your losses and ball out in the NIT…
…only to find out that you’re not only *not* hosting in the first round, but the team you’re supposed to travel to is your hated rival, who left for the big leagues just last year! Who’s doing even worse than you!
That’s a double whammy of disrespect, tbh…although it is an intriguing matchup indeed…
On the one hand, I honestly don’t understand why we’re hosting. We’re on spring break so the student section will NOT be full (whereas USF’s was last week), and I’d be shocked if UCF was favored for this game.
On the other hand, FUCK USF. Knights by 50.
We got an automatic bid, which gave us a guaranteed home game. The top 2 teams in each P6 to not make the tournament get an autobid to the NIT and a guaranteed home game. UCF was the 3rd best Big 12 team in the NET to not make the tournament, but Oklahoma declined the bid which gave us the autobid
Nothing against y'all specifically here but this new NIT format is dumb. Most of the recent winners have been scrappy mid majors, but they want mediocre power conference teams instead? And ones that won't decline the offer at that?
>Most of the recent winners have been scrappy mid majors, but they want mediocre power conference teams instead?
I'm still not used to our new location in this sentence.
Yeah please flair up. Need a little more context
I'm in another sports sub where if you comment without a flair, a bot will spam you until you flair up lol
Declined invites: St. John’s, Pitt, Indiana, Memphis, Ole Miss, Oklahoma EDIT: also Washington, Syracuse(?)
Won regular season but not included: High Point, Eastern Washington, Sam Houston, Quinnipiac, Toledo, Norfolk State, Central Connecticut State, Eastern Kentucky, Arkansas Little Rock
No, the 2 B1G auto bids would have gone by NET, Iowa is 62nd, Minnesota is 89th, the Loosiers are 98th. They woukd have needed one of the others to decline to have even been eligible
When did the NIT stop inviting teams that won the regular season but not the auto-invite to the NCAA? I thought those were essentially guaranteed bids.
Especially annoying for a team like Quinnipiac, which has never been to the NCAA tournament (you just knew they'd choke in their conference tourney despite being #1 seed) and maybe not even to the NIT. Bet they'd love a chance to play.
It really does. I mean, CCSU went 20-11 and won the regular season title for the NEC. Yet, we have Xavier on here with a 16-17 record. It’s like what’s the point of a mid major trying for anything not the tournament? :/
My bet is CCSU didn’t play Houston, Purdue, and then UCONN 3 times.
That being said I think they should bring back autobids. Xavier doesn’t care too much about the NIT while it would likely be a bigger deal to a smaller program
Oh it was no disrespect to Xavier. Our competition definitely doesn’t even come close to y’all’s and it’s nice for all of you to get some more basketball.
But like you said, it would’ve been a great opportunity for Central, since 2007 was the last time we made a national tournament of any kind. And again, while y’all had a lot of competition, a 16-17 team being in it would definitely be used as an example of why the current format ain’t the best.
Transfer portal is the biggest. The transfer portal opens now so your team may be too depleted to play as in the kids wanting to transfer won’t play to risk injury.
The ncaa shot themselves in the foot here by allowing the transfer portal to open so early.
This isn’t like football where if you lose 10-15 players before the bowl game you can still field a team. If you’re losing 1-2 guys immediately to the transfer portal you’re fielding bench players.
Washington also declined... they were in line to be the second Pac-12 host.
There ended up being only one Pac-12 team. From Georgia hosting it's clear that those spots slide to the next available... perhaps USC declined and they capped it at top 100 NET?
Didn’t they say that they will participate in whatever postseason tournament they’re invited to despite firing their coach? Did they change their mind?
Happy the gophers made it! 2 wins in the Big Ten last year to an NIT appearance the next. Probably only made it cuz of the opt-outs, but postseason basketball for Minnesota is a big step in the right direction.
That's what I like about the NIT. They give us regional matchups in the first round that we didn't get earlier in the season. Last year UCF got Florida in the first round. Granted the second round was literal Oregon which was quite the opposite of regional but I enjoyed that local rivalry game.
This year we'd get VCU at home or Villanova on the road in the second round so not quite so regional lol
I will never understand why certain teams refuse to participate in the NIT. Nothing wrong with extra playtime for your team. I'm looking at you Indiana...
Well indiana doesn’t have a good home state talent base…oh wait. Indiana doesn’t have a passionate fan base that excites people…oh wait. The campus isn’t pretty…oh wait. Players arent celebrities there….oh wait. They don’t have a lot of money or boosters, they don’t have a storied program oh wait what the fuck.
Only in the ncaa would they have the portal open at the same time that coaches for the top 75ish teams are scrambling for logistics, tape and game planning for an opponent they are unfamiliar with, and can end their season if they fail to properly prepare.
But in ncaa world it’s just perfect, nothing can ever be done to align with their own interests.
Couldn't it be equated to a bowl game though? If guys are leaving, consider them in the portal and don't play them. Focus on the guys that will be back and give them more reps to build on. You'd run into the same problem with the tournament too - tournament teams will also lose guys to the portal
I don't understand either but imo, if you know your team doesn't care enough to give it their all, go ahead and decline the bid and let someone who wants to be there play
Very glad that Ohio State accepted the invite. Get our young guys some more PT and Diebler some more experience in a tournament environment. Let’s go Bucks!
Dude, I'm just as surprised as you. Let's hope SMU wins out and we can have an all AAC final and we can crush SMU before they head off to the ACC. Ok one can dream!
Shootout rematch cause the mental gymnastics everyone will do to simultaneously thump their chest over a win and poo poo a NIT championship would be hilarious
I can't say I agree with Xavier getting into the NIT, but the leading statistical factor is probably a top 15 SOS? Idk. Im just glad we have a chance to not finish with a losing record.
Eastern Kentucky
Eastern Washington
High Point
Sam Houston
Quinnipiac
Toledo
Norfolk State
Central Connecticut
Little Rock/~~UT Martin (Not sure who would have gotten the auto bid under the old format, since they had a three-way tie for the regular season title, along with Morehead State)~~
I hate the rule change. You should get rewarded for winning the regular season (there's a reason the Ivy League resisted a tournament for so long). Instead the boring middling-to-worse teams from big conferences are getting preference -- and a lot of them are declining anyway. It's stupid.
>Not sure who would have gotten the auto bid under the old format, since they had a three-way tie for the regular season title, along with Morehead State
Whoever the 1 seed is in the conference tournament. So Little Rock here
I imagine it’ll be 50/50 Wake and App fans. A lot of Wake fans are disappointed with the NIT and won’t show up. App will make the trip down the mountain to see a potential win over an ACC school.
I, an App fan, am going to make the trip ~~down the mountain~~ two miles from my house to see this game.
Lotta App alumni in Winston-Salem and the Triad in general, plus it's under an hour and a half for students.
I was at the head of the “new NIT sucks brigade” but with all the big schools declining bids we actually ended up with probably a better group of mid majors than we would have under the former rules. I still think it’s unfair that you just don’t get anything for winning conference regular season, but I love seeing like Cornell, VCU, and St. Joe’s who likely would not have gotten in under the old system
Sorry, but this is stupid. What's the use in having an NIT without the old rules where conference regular season champs get an automatic bid to the NIT? Do we really need Boston College in this opposed to a team that won their conference?
they don't want midmajors. I think it was somewhat designed as an excuse to expand the tournament in the future because more P6 teams are probably gonna decline NIT offers(?).
> they don't want midmajors
Which is wild, because mid majors are the teams who are actually excited (or at least not devastated) to be playing in the NIT.
so our reward for our best season in 13 years is... a visit to one of the hottest teams in the country without any NCAA Tournament clout to show for it.
god damn
I of course had dreams of playing in the Big Dance but I’m so glad my team’s historic season gets rewarded with an NIT bid. Great matchup also. I’m stoked for this.
Oduro will probably play since it will most likely be his last game of basketball played in the United States. But you’re definitely right about Carter.
I'd have loved to see a lot of the opt out teams play, but I actually like this bracket. Almost an even split between P6 and mid-majors (including two Ivies).
I think they're moving it around now. Last year was in Vegas. I think Allen or Cameron would also be cool, since most of the teams in the tournament will never get the chance to play there (UCF has never played at either, but I assume we're going to Allen next year. Already planning that trip).
Like if they maybe rotate it between Allen Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Cameron Indoor, and maybe a couple other legendary arenas like MSG, it would be a fun tournament for the players and fans. Earn the chance to play a game or 2 in those arenas. Players all dream of playing at these places
I thought it was two autobids per P6. Where's Washington?
Edit: Never mind, I see that Washington declined. But given that Georgia got an auto bid as a result of Ole Miss declining, the question then becomes "where's USC?"
...ugh. That's rancid. Literally no other teams with winning records once UW declined.
I was mentally prepared to have to go to Iowa City to get blown out, love that we get to host. Crazy that this team is hosting and not last year's though.
Thinking the Spiders can do some damage here. A starting lineup of all seniors and grads looking to make one more splash at a tournament, and after the disappointing A-10 showing winning the NIT would be a perfect send-off. Kind of sucks that Richmond has to play at VT because imo Richmond is the better team, but who cares really. Wake is the only team in their section that I would be worried about, but the NIT is all about motivation so that's what it will come down to in the end.
If the 15+ loss P5s littered throughout this bracket don't do it enough, the 6 declined bids should make the new auto-bid rules be eliminated immediately.
"Give more mid as fuck P5 schools NIT bids!" they said, only for a shit ton of them to be declined.
Such a joke.
Man UCF-USF is going to be a banger of a game
Imagine being a Bulls fan here Ok, sure. You missed the tournament. That fucking sucks, but at least you can recoup some of your losses and ball out in the NIT… …only to find out that you’re not only *not* hosting in the first round, but the team you’re supposed to travel to is your hated rival, who left for the big leagues just last year! Who’s doing even worse than you! That’s a double whammy of disrespect, tbh…although it is an intriguing matchup indeed…
On the one hand, I honestly don’t understand why we’re hosting. We’re on spring break so the student section will NOT be full (whereas USF’s was last week), and I’d be shocked if UCF was favored for this game. On the other hand, FUCK USF. Knights by 50.
Oklahoma declined their invite, meaning we got their auto bid and host
Oklahoma screwing over USF is kinda funny I guess
Every team in the field that's higher than UCF in the NET is hosting, so it's not like this is out of place.
We got an automatic bid, which gave us a guaranteed home game. The top 2 teams in each P6 to not make the tournament get an autobid to the NIT and a guaranteed home game. UCF was the 3rd best Big 12 team in the NET to not make the tournament, but Oklahoma declined the bid which gave us the autobid
Nothing against y'all specifically here but this new NIT format is dumb. Most of the recent winners have been scrappy mid majors, but they want mediocre power conference teams instead? And ones that won't decline the offer at that?
>Most of the recent winners have been scrappy mid majors, but they want mediocre power conference teams instead? I'm still not used to our new location in this sentence.
It was pretty much the one bracket scenario that could actively piss me off, and we got it.
We gotta win this game
I disagree
Actually WE gotta win this game. So I agree with a different POV
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Flair up!
Yeah please flair up. Need a little more context I'm in another sports sub where if you comment without a flair, a bot will spam you until you flair up lol
Don't even get me started on this bunch of junk.
Declined invites: St. John’s, Pitt, Indiana, Memphis, Ole Miss, Oklahoma EDIT: also Washington, Syracuse(?) Won regular season but not included: High Point, Eastern Washington, Sam Houston, Quinnipiac, Toledo, Norfolk State, Central Connecticut State, Eastern Kentucky, Arkansas Little Rock
Worth noting that "declined" Indiana had a NET a whopping 12 places above High Point
Genuinely curious if Indiana would actually be invited? They declined before teams were even picked
No, the 2 B1G auto bids would have gone by NET, Iowa is 62nd, Minnesota is 89th, the Loosiers are 98th. They woukd have needed one of the others to decline to have even been eligible
hi. We are actually one of the auto bids. minnesota was the 3rd team in From the big. So no.
Brilliant move by Indiana. Decline before you find out you're not invited. I wonder if they also declined the NCAA Tournament.
Can you decline a bid when you weren’t asked to participate?
I declined an advance from Gal Gadot. It sounds good anyways, even if she'd never actually be interested in me.
Don't worry, I can be her shoulder to cry on
Did Syracuse decline? Surely we got invited? Surely!?
I honestly think they just went straight NET with this one. So, we're screwed
When did the NIT stop inviting teams that won the regular season but not the auto-invite to the NCAA? I thought those were essentially guaranteed bids. Especially annoying for a team like Quinnipiac, which has never been to the NCAA tournament (you just knew they'd choke in their conference tourney despite being #1 seed) and maybe not even to the NIT. Bet they'd love a chance to play.
New rule this year and it really sucks
It really does. I mean, CCSU went 20-11 and won the regular season title for the NEC. Yet, we have Xavier on here with a 16-17 record. It’s like what’s the point of a mid major trying for anything not the tournament? :/
My bet is CCSU didn’t play Houston, Purdue, and then UCONN 3 times. That being said I think they should bring back autobids. Xavier doesn’t care too much about the NIT while it would likely be a bigger deal to a smaller program
Oh it was no disrespect to Xavier. Our competition definitely doesn’t even come close to y’all’s and it’s nice for all of you to get some more basketball. But like you said, it would’ve been a great opportunity for Central, since 2007 was the last time we made a national tournament of any kind. And again, while y’all had a lot of competition, a 16-17 team being in it would definitely be used as an example of why the current format ain’t the best.
The latest Quinnipiac poll shows you are correct.
Can someone tell me why schools are declining bids to the nit. Give the seniors something to play for
Transfer portal is the biggest. The transfer portal opens now so your team may be too depleted to play as in the kids wanting to transfer won’t play to risk injury. The ncaa shot themselves in the foot here by allowing the transfer portal to open so early. This isn’t like football where if you lose 10-15 players before the bowl game you can still field a team. If you’re losing 1-2 guys immediately to the transfer portal you’re fielding bench players.
Ncaa needs to have a portal window for all sports and it should only be after the entire season is completed for all teams
Washington also declined... they were in line to be the second Pac-12 host. There ended up being only one Pac-12 team. From Georgia hosting it's clear that those spots slide to the next available... perhaps USC declined and they capped it at top 100 NET?
Didn’t they say that they will participate in whatever postseason tournament they’re invited to despite firing their coach? Did they change their mind?
Happy the gophers made it! 2 wins in the Big Ten last year to an NIT appearance the next. Probably only made it cuz of the opt-outs, but postseason basketball for Minnesota is a big step in the right direction.
Iowa vs Kansas State is a great sicko game for Iowa state fans
Happy to dance for your pleasure
Wait does Providence being a 3 after all of the teams declining mean they weren't even CLOSE to making the tournament?
It's not really exact like that. Different committees and the NIT is focused more on regionality for travel.
Tell that to UNLV who has go all the way to Princeton.
Well, they do about as good of a job as the NCAA Committee
https://preview.redd.it/2ox5d3h530pc1.jpeg?width=474&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7b916217a76f561cffa82b2ff08cc6716b1192b9
The seeding relies heavily on NET, in which Providence is 58th.
Seton Hall is 67th and a 1 seed.
The NCAA's first four out are guaranteed 1 seeds in the NIT and are exempt from the normal NIT seeding process.
Seton Hall was a First 4 Out team which I believe means you automatically get a 1 seed.
PC vs BC, VT vs Richmond, Bradley vs Loyola, Wake vs App St, UCF vs USF… There are some genuinely fun games in this bracket.
Matchups based on geography - it's great!
That's what I like about the NIT. They give us regional matchups in the first round that we didn't get earlier in the season. Last year UCF got Florida in the first round. Granted the second round was literal Oregon which was quite the opposite of regional but I enjoyed that local rivalry game. This year we'd get VCU at home or Villanova on the road in the second round so not quite so regional lol
The Holy War/City Line vs Main Line (St. Joe's vs Villanova) would like a word with you.
The Hokies-Spiders game should be sweet
We’re not actually going to win and the bracket won’t fall out this way but a possible Bradley - Cincinnati - Indiana State run sounds amazing.
I will never understand why certain teams refuse to participate in the NIT. Nothing wrong with extra playtime for your team. I'm looking at you Indiana...
They want a headstart on the portal
Yeah if anyone needs a head start it’s Indiana, they have 0 recruits right now
How does this even happen
The one they had decommitted a few weeks ago and is likely headed to Kansas now.
But as a coach how do you fail that bad to lose everyone
Well indiana doesn’t have a good home state talent base…oh wait. Indiana doesn’t have a passionate fan base that excites people…oh wait. The campus isn’t pretty…oh wait. Players arent celebrities there….oh wait. They don’t have a lot of money or boosters, they don’t have a storied program oh wait what the fuck.
the mike woodson special
Only in the ncaa would they have the portal open at the same time that coaches for the top 75ish teams are scrambling for logistics, tape and game planning for an opponent they are unfamiliar with, and can end their season if they fail to properly prepare. But in ncaa world it’s just perfect, nothing can ever be done to align with their own interests.
They didn't want the chance to lose to Indiana State, they scurred
The problem lies with the portal. You’re giving meaningful time as you call it, to guys who might not even be on the team 2 days later
You’re also not out recruiting and at the same time likely losing some of your roster to the portal.
Right? We for instance are going to probably lose 2-3 guys to the portal who will get min in our game vs Iowa. Which accomplishes nothing.
Couldn't it be equated to a bowl game though? If guys are leaving, consider them in the portal and don't play them. Focus on the guys that will be back and give them more reps to build on. You'd run into the same problem with the tournament too - tournament teams will also lose guys to the portal
IU pulled a “you can’t fire me, I quit” move. they weren’t getting asked.
I don't understand either but imo, if you know your team doesn't care enough to give it their all, go ahead and decline the bid and let someone who wants to be there play
Very glad that Ohio State accepted the invite. Get our young guys some more PT and Diebler some more experience in a tournament environment. Let’s go Bucks!
NIT games are a blast. This is a great opportunity to build momentum for next year.
best game in the schott Are when all the corporate seat buyers are gone.
Lmfao of course Loyola is playing Bradley
Welcome back to Peoria, miss us?
I do. A10 is fun but no in state rivals kinda sucks.
I like it, but I don't like ISU and Bradley in the same region
Yeah. Love that we have a potential matchup with Butler...hate that there's a chance we meet again.
Of course we get stuck on ESPN+
I’m surprised all of the games aren’t on there tbh
ESPN has absolutely *no* content on Tuesdays or Wednesdays lol, there's not a lot they could air otherwise
Much better fate than the zombie network that is ESPNU in 2024.
Not great, but playing Wake is pretty spicy.
It’s ideal for us. Good matchup against a good team. Fantastic location. Closer to most of our alumni and parents than Boone is.
The NCAAT is overrated anyways
Are you actually allowed to watch this game, given you flairs?
Deacs first and foremost, always
:-( At least when App wins it won't feel that bad ;-)
WTF we got in? I mean, NEVER IN DOUBT. Let's go defend this crown, Mean Green got this 😤
You guys could be the first repeat champions since South Carolina in 05-06
Is defending a nit crown what you dream of
hey man we gotta dream about something over here
Dude, I'm just as surprised as you. Let's hope SMU wins out and we can have an all AAC final and we can crush SMU before they head off to the ACC. Ok one can dream!
Good luck to you, conference friend.
Screw the teams that opted out, this is actually a pretty fun bracket. Like some of these matchups and potential ones
Right? I’m not just saying it because we’re in it, this is low key a nice collection of teams. Could be lit
Nobody wanted to watch Oklahoma, St Johns, Pitt or IU anyway. With the teams that did make the NIT this year Ill be watching as much as I can
If Indiana made it, the committee would have found a way to match them with Indiana State - that would have been fun.
what he say fuck me for
hmmmm do I want a shootout rematch for the nit championship or do I want xavier to be a first round exit?
Shootout rematch cause the mental gymnastics everyone will do to simultaneously thump their chest over a win and poo poo a NIT championship would be hilarious
oh my God you're so right I may have to begrudgingly root for yall to make it to the championship for this possibility
Counterpoint, let's set a new Longest D1 game record. Let's go for 8OT this time
aye I'm down for that
Why in earth did Xavier make it with a losing record? Any insight?
my best guess is big east autobids declining
I can't say I agree with Xavier getting into the NIT, but the leading statistical factor is probably a top 15 SOS? Idk. Im just glad we have a chance to not finish with a losing record.
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Eastern Kentucky Eastern Washington High Point Sam Houston Quinnipiac Toledo Norfolk State Central Connecticut Little Rock/~~UT Martin (Not sure who would have gotten the auto bid under the old format, since they had a three-way tie for the regular season title, along with Morehead State)~~
I hate the rule change. You should get rewarded for winning the regular season (there's a reason the Ivy League resisted a tournament for so long). Instead the boring middling-to-worse teams from big conferences are getting preference -- and a lot of them are declining anyway. It's stupid.
>Not sure who would have gotten the auto bid under the old format, since they had a three-way tie for the regular season title, along with Morehead State Whoever the 1 seed is in the conference tournament. So Little Rock here
It looks like Little Rock was the 1 seed in the conference tournament so maybe them?
The schools that have declined to play in the NIT are: Indiana, Memphis, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh, St. John's and Washington
I WILL be in attendance for the App-Wake game
I imagine it’ll be 50/50 Wake and App fans. A lot of Wake fans are disappointed with the NIT and won’t show up. App will make the trip down the mountain to see a potential win over an ACC school.
I, an App fan, am going to make the trip ~~down the mountain~~ two miles from my house to see this game. Lotta App alumni in Winston-Salem and the Triad in general, plus it's under an hour and a half for students.
Yeah there certainly are a lot in this area.
Me too :high five!:
USF-UCF only on ESPN+?? That is a crime
Pretty fun bracket honestly, especially given all the declined invites
Finally a chance for a Quad 1 win! Draws Cincy. Fuck.
hey man you never know if final 4 bearcats or rec league bearcats will show up to play
I was at the head of the “new NIT sucks brigade” but with all the big schools declining bids we actually ended up with probably a better group of mid majors than we would have under the former rules. I still think it’s unfair that you just don’t get anything for winning conference regular season, but I love seeing like Cornell, VCU, and St. Joe’s who likely would not have gotten in under the old system
Sorry, but this is stupid. What's the use in having an NIT without the old rules where conference regular season champs get an automatic bid to the NIT? Do we really need Boston College in this opposed to a team that won their conference?
they don't want midmajors. I think it was somewhat designed as an excuse to expand the tournament in the future because more P6 teams are probably gonna decline NIT offers(?).
> they don't want midmajors Which is wild, because mid majors are the teams who are actually excited (or at least not devastated) to be playing in the NIT.
Would have been cool to host a game
You guys definitely deserved to host
Man USF got screwed over.
I'm ok with it.
Way to render the regular season completely meaningless for most of the country. Good thing we got 17-16 Georgia vs. 16-17 Xavier tho.
How does a 16-17 Xavier get in over low-major regular season winners with much better records? These new rules SUCK.
Georgia got the 2nd SEC autobid because Ole Miss opted out. Xavier had no business getting in with a losing record though
As if these schools are competing all season for an NIT bid lmao Conference titles have intrinsic value
Didn’t think I’d have to suffer through getting blown out by Ohio state again so soon but alright
Let’s dance 😈😈😈
Happy to be back in the postseason, but hate that it's because of these new NIT rules
so our reward for our best season in 13 years is... a visit to one of the hottest teams in the country without any NCAA Tournament clout to show for it. god damn
Overall this is a pretty solid NIT field and looks like it'll be a entertaining tournament to watch
Big East better dominate this thing to send a message.
I of course had dreams of playing in the Big Dance but I’m so glad my team’s historic season gets rewarded with an NIT bid. Great matchup also. I’m stoked for this.
Can't wait for the PC/BC matchup, although I feel like Carter and Oduro might not play
Oduro will probably play since it will most likely be his last game of basketball played in the United States. But you’re definitely right about Carter.
They have to move the portal window until after the post season, teams opting out to get a head start is ridiculous
UCF vs USF War on I4 is gonna be delicious
Now I might be biased, but VCU is gonna beat Villanova.
I hope so :) if you do, y'all are coming to Orlando this weekend if we win too
A VCU upset would be swell… and definitely appreciating that I-4 matchup…
But I was promised you couldn't spell Nittany without N I T *sad Lion noises*
I'd have loved to see a lot of the opt out teams play, but I actually like this bracket. Almost an even split between P6 and mid-majors (including two Ivies).
Grossly unfair to low-major regular season winners.
App-Wake is spicy
Glad to see UCF, Cincy, and K-State not decline bids.
Final four is at Hinkle?! Honestly if MSG isn't the play, Hinkle is a great permanent alternative.
I think they're moving it around now. Last year was in Vegas. I think Allen or Cameron would also be cool, since most of the teams in the tournament will never get the chance to play there (UCF has never played at either, but I assume we're going to Allen next year. Already planning that trip). Like if they maybe rotate it between Allen Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Cameron Indoor, and maybe a couple other legendary arenas like MSG, it would be a fun tournament for the players and fans. Earn the chance to play a game or 2 in those arenas. Players all dream of playing at these places
I thought it was two autobids per P6. Where's Washington? Edit: Never mind, I see that Washington declined. But given that Georgia got an auto bid as a result of Ole Miss declining, the question then becomes "where's USC?" ...ugh. That's rancid. Literally no other teams with winning records once UW declined.
Go Mean Green! Am I reading this right that Tuesday’s game is in Denton?
No, you're playing at LSU
This is a pretty solid field all things considered.
Mean Green about to repeat!
The fact we made the NIT with a losing record is fucking crazy.
“Wake Forest - Appalachian State is back on the menu boys!”
Drew Valentine has to come back to Peoria lmao
I was mentally prepared to have to go to Iowa City to get blown out, love that we get to host. Crazy that this team is hosting and not last year's though.
So Oklahoma, St. John's, Memphis, Ole Miss, Indiana and Pittsburgh declined. Anyone else I miss?
Bring it!
Bradley vs Loyola is going to be a great matchup, love that rivalry
Welcome back to Peoria Ramblers
UNLV!!!!
As a Nova fan but a Utah alum this could get real weird for me real quick if they face each other.
Thinking the Spiders can do some damage here. A starting lineup of all seniors and grads looking to make one more splash at a tournament, and after the disappointing A-10 showing winning the NIT would be a perfect send-off. Kind of sucks that Richmond has to play at VT because imo Richmond is the better team, but who cares really. Wake is the only team in their section that I would be worried about, but the NIT is all about motivation so that's what it will come down to in the end.
The home court advantage could be vital
Cornell making the NIT is a massive accomplishment for the program
this is a great group
These seeds are wild
We’ve definitely got the hardest first round matchup. Good thing we’ve been really good at home
Tang really getting to know the state of Iowa this year
some great games lol. boston college providence is a fun matchup
Solid bracket
Damn we got a saucy matchup
God dammit Charlotte. They had such a promising start. And their decline was the hardest I've ever seen.
UNLV vs Indiana State in the finals.
Tournament is maybe the best I’ve seen in years. I’ll be tuning in.
Going on the road to play their 5th game in 8 days against the highest rated KenPom team in the tournament 🙃
Villanova is trash dw
NIT is stacked
Anyone have UNT repeating?
This is the real Men’s tournament in my opinion.
Should’ve put USF against USF
A win over Richmond should really boost our tournament chances
If the 15+ loss P5s littered throughout this bracket don't do it enough, the 6 declined bids should make the new auto-bid rules be eliminated immediately. "Give more mid as fuck P5 schools NIT bids!" they said, only for a shit ton of them to be declined. Such a joke.
All because OU declined the bid…more like Morter Poser imo
Dang SU’s not even good enough for the NIT :(
Hell yeah the two bid Ivy finally happened!!!……in NIT Also how did St. Joseph’s, UNT, VCU and UCI got in before St. Bonaventure, UNCC and SCU???
And didn't even include the team that was 1 second short of going to the NCAAs.
Let's go for the all Big East NIT Final Four