N.I.T. possibilities...

There are a few websites out there that project NIT bids. This one has us as a six seed playing South Florida in the first round. http://bracketproject.50webs.com/nit.html

There are a few other sites that do not have us making the cut and heading to a pay-to-play tourney (CBI or CIT). An invitation to one of those tournaments could mean another game at the Chiles Center.

Nice site. I really hope we can get an NIT bid.

I'd love for us to make the NIT, but hosting would be swell, too.

Rev had a tweet yesterday about Nik starting shooting and should be on target for the post season... Bah a few weeks later than I would like, but it would be nice if the Pilots can get a couple more good games in and give him a nice send off...

Yeah, I'd rather see us in the NIT even if we don't get to host. All of our seniors deserve a nice sendoff. Nik, among others, will be very missed...

So ... when do we find out about this? Is there an NIT selection show that I need to watch tonight?

NIT:
www.nit.org

CBI:
http://www.gazellegroup.com/events/cbi/index_main.htm

CIT:
http://www.collegeinsider.com/tournament/

Open each one in a new tab. Hit F5 until the brackets come up.

From the Bracket Project:

North Carolina State moves into the bracket after another win in the ACC tournament. I'm not sure what I'll do if Miami pulls off the upset over Duke. I took a second look at Portland and my perception about them has changed. I've replaced them with Northeastern.

Hope not!!
LINK

up7587 wrote:From the Bracket Project:

North Carolina State moves into the bracket after another win in the ACC tournament. I'm not sure what I'll do if Miami pulls off the upset over Duke. I took a second look at Portland and my perception about them has changed. I've replaced them with Northeastern.

Hope not!!
LINK

If NC State gets picked ahead of us, I'll be upset. Going 5-12 in a weak ACC is ridiculous.

Well this sucks...hopefully we can host a game in one of the other tournaments.

I'm pretty bummed out too . Hopefully the Pilots get a good draw in one of the other tourneys....


MesaPilot1

Fantastic book, BTW.

I realize that the selection process is completely different (NCAA vs. NIT) but there was so much emphasis put on Minnesota's win over Butler in November...essentially catapulting them into the NCAA field and the NIT totally neglected the fact that we beat down the Gophs the night before.

Nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts...

We're in the CIT again ... and on the road.

http://www.oregonlive.com/pilots/index.ssf/2010/03/pilots_basketball_portland_wil.html

Obviously NIT would be much better but....YEA! I'll probably be the only Portland fan there again....hopefully we can ya know WIN this time!

Rob's Jacket wrote:

Fantastic book, BTW.

Was required reading for some class I took at UP. Intro philosophy I think?

Rob's Jacket wrote:We're in the CIT again ... and on the road.

http://www.oregonlive.com/pilots/index.ssf/2010/03/pilots_basketball_portland_wil.html

Tough match-up. Northern Colorado is 24-7, and 12-1 at home.

Too bad we couldn't buy a home game like OSU, the only team with a losing record in the CBI.

Update: OSU is the only team playing in any of the postseason tournaments with a losing record! The closest other team is North Carolina, at 16-16. UNC "earned" their NIT bid by going 4-12 down the stretch.

I can't say I'm excited, but, hey...maybe we're putting ourselves onto the map for when the NCAA tourney expands to having 90-something teams. LMU also made this tourney. Here's the field:

http://www.collegeinsider.com/tournament/2010_teams.html

The NIT became lost to us when several of the smaller conference regular season champions (e.g. Quinnipiac) lost their conference championships. The NIT has an agreement to automatically accept regular season champs that lose in their conference tourneys. And there were several of these teams that took up a potential UP space. I would be discouraged, except I think we might have finally reached the point where we have a competitive program on a yearly basis.

Last year I have to say I was extremely excited to make this tournament... this year not as much but it is still pretty good that we are in post season play 2 years in a row. What kills me is LMU having a home game when we have to travel to play what seems to be one of the tougher opponents.

ekrauss wrote:The NIT became lost to us when several of the smaller conference regular season champions (e.g. Quinnipiac) lost their conference championships. The NIT has an agreement to automatically accept regular season champs that lose in their conference tourneys. And there were several of these teams that took up a potential UP space. I would be discouraged, except I think we might have finally reached the point where we have a competitive program on a yearly basis.

You also have to remember that the NIT basically has no criteria for entrance other than being a school that potentially brings in the green stuff by having fans that travel well. RPI and record are almost irrelevant.

Well, anytime a tourney that gets little brother status to the NCAAs has the opportunity to tap into the UNC/UConn fan bases, regardless of how their season went, they are clearly going to do it... They are going to take those big schools over an "NIT Bubble team" like UP any day of the week for the exposure alone.