My son asked me today if we had any chance of an NIT bid. I told him, no. But, while the chances are likely less than one percent, I guess you can’t definitively say they are “zero”. That may explain why we haven’t announced our acceptance of a CBI bid like some schools have. We may have told them we will formally accept after we don’t get an NIT bid. There are probably other teams who told them the same thing. Maybe the NIT has told us we have not been eliminated from consideration. I just don’t see it happening.

Northern Colorado 19-13 (12-6), out of the Big Sky Conference, has accepted a bid to the CBI. Add them, along with Evansville and UC-San Diego, as teams invited to the CBI. I assume we have an invite as well. Not sure why we haven't announced, unless we are actually holding out hope for an NIT bid (Again, I don't believe we have a chance to be invited there).

Just more evidence that the folks at the NCAA are idiots and all they care about is making money. Chris Beard (Ole Miss) and Penny Hardaway (Memphis) have already announced that their teams will not accept NIT bids. Probably a few others may do the same. Power 5 schools could care less about going to the NIT. Conference champions from mid to low major conferences, like us, would be thrilled. Since the NCAA now runs the NIT, you would think they might try to sanction teams that turn down an invitation. Of course, they will do nothing and probably no longer have the power to do anything, regardless.

(03-16-2024 09:30 AM)mjs Wrote:  Just more evidence that the folks at the NCAA are idiots and all they care about is making money. Chris Beard (Ole Miss) and Penny Hardaway (Memphis) have already announced that their teams will not accept NIT bids. Probably a few others may do the same. Power 5 schools could care less about going to the NIT. Conference champions from mid to low major conferences, like us, would be thrilled. Since the NCAA now runs the NIT, you would think they might try to sanction teams that turn down an invitation. Of course, they will do nothing and probably no longer have the power to do anything, regardless.

Well I mean, this may have been the exact reason why were holding out on the CBI. P5 schools (just like football) are NCAA tournament or bust these days. So, not all of them are willing to play in it. So this opens up spots for Mid-Majors to slip in.

(03-16-2024 10:34 AM)TrojanTeen2 Wrote:  

(03-16-2024 09:30 AM)mjs Wrote:  Just more evidence that the folks at the NCAA are idiots and all they care about is making money. Chris Beard (Ole Miss) and Penny Hardaway (Memphis) have already announced that their teams will not accept NIT bids. Probably a few others may do the same. Power 5 schools could care less about going to the NIT. Conference champions from mid to low major conferences, like us, would be thrilled. Since the NCAA now runs the NIT, you would think they might try to sanction teams that turn down an invitation. Of course, they will do nothing and probably no longer have the power to do anything, regardless.

Well I mean, this may have been the exact reason why were holding out on the CBI. P5 schools (just like football) are NCAA tournament or bust these days. So, not all of them are willing to play in it. So this opens up spots for Mid-Majors to slip in.

It seems very unlikely, but who knows. Pisses me off that some programs believe they are "too good" to go to the NIT. Over the years, not many teams have turned down an NIT bid. I know UNC did last year. I could see Duke and Kansas (maybe a couple of others) believing they are "too good", but Ole Miss and Memphis, give me a break.

(03-16-2024 11:49 AM)mjs Wrote:  

(03-16-2024 10:34 AM)TrojanTeen2 Wrote:  

(03-16-2024 09:30 AM)mjs Wrote:  Just more evidence that the folks at the NCAA are idiots and all they care about is making money. Chris Beard (Ole Miss) and Penny Hardaway (Memphis) have already announced that their teams will not accept NIT bids. Probably a few others may do the same. Power 5 schools could care less about going to the NIT. Conference champions from mid to low major conferences, like us, would be thrilled. Since the NCAA now runs the NIT, you would think they might try to sanction teams that turn down an invitation. Of course, they will do nothing and probably no longer have the power to do anything, regardless.

Well I mean, this may have been the exact reason why were holding out on the CBI. P5 schools (just like football) are NCAA tournament or bust these days. So, not all of them are willing to play in it. So this opens up spots for Mid-Majors to slip in.

It seems very unlikely, but who knows. Pisses me off that some programs believe they are "too good" to go to the NIT. Over the years, not many teams have turned down an NIT bid. I know UNC did last year. I could see Duke and Kansas (maybe a couple of others) believing they are "too good", but Ole Miss and Memphis, give me a break.

Indiana has also said they will decline an NIT bid. Historically a great program, but not so much lately.

I have always viewed the NIT as a very good event. Because of the automatic bids, only the best 45 teams, or so, make the NCAA tournament. By inviting mid/low major conference champions, who do not win their tournaments, they gave it some of the NCAA tournament's charm and excitement- the opportunity for the little guy to upset Goliath (even if that Goliath was having an average to down season). They have now taken that away. My argument was that small schools are thrilled to make the NIT, while the big schools really couldn't care less. Ironically, after trying to eliminate the little guy, a number of the "big boys" have already said we are not coming (i.e. Ole Miss, Memphis, and Indiana) and there may be more to come. Serves the NIT right for messing with a formula that created some excitement for us fans of smaller programs.

Since Ole Miss will decline it's bid, the NIT will still take the 2 "best" teams in the SEC not in the NCAA tournament. That means LSU and Georgia (17-16, 6-12) will get in and host games. What a joke.

Wish the NIT still had auto-bids for conference regular season champs. I'd love to have played in the NIT with LR, High Point, EKU, USF, Richmond, and a handful of P6s to round out the field. Mid-majors have been done dirty because they've been the darlings and stories of the past decade of the NCAA tournaments

(03-17-2024 12:55 PM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  Wish the NIT still had auto-bids for conference regular season champs. I'd love to have played in the NIT with LR, High Point, EKU, USF, Richmond, and a handful of P6s to round out the field. Mid-majors have been done dirty because they've been the darlings and stories of the past decade of the NCAA tournaments

You would have gotten as conference champ under the old system. But, in a strange way the new criteria ending up helping you "squeeze in" since several power schools who had automatic bids turned them down. Congrats.

One sportswriters opinion-

For the past however many years, the NIT has granted auto-bids to regular season champions that fall in their conference tournament and don't get at large bids. This year they've gone away from this concept in favor of more mediocre high major conference teams having bad years.

Toledo had a great season by their standards. Won the MAC regular season outright. Same for High Point! Eastern Kentucky, Little Rock, Central Connecticut, Norfolk State, Quinnipiac, Sam Houston, and Eastern Washington were all 1 seeds that didn't make it to Selection Sunday. Instead of rewarding great seasons for these programs we want to watch more LSU? Xavier? Georgia? Minnesota? SMU? Virginia Tech? Those teams were awful compared to the expectations that those programs should have. I'm not saying we can't have any high majors in the NIT but we should stop rewarding mediocrity in the search for more money.

Here then is where I plead to our regular readers and anyone that stumbles across this article. Please, if you love March Madness and watching upsets by low and mid majors, do not watch this season's NIT tournament. Do not give this awful despotic tournament your TV ratings. Join me and the Indiana Hoosiers in avoiding the NIT this year. It's a small sacrifice and a way for you to make a stand against the enshittification of college athletics. #BoycottTheNIT

Lol mjs, I can't tell you the last time I watched an NIT game. And I won't watch the cbi either.

(03-19-2024 09:46 AM)ez272 Wrote:  Lol mjs, I can't tell you the last time I watched an NIT game. And I won't watch the cbi either.

I'm actually more excited about the CBI, than the NCAA. I really have no one to root for or root against (with the hogs out). My sons' are graduates of UNC and Kansas, so I'll root for them when they get to the final rounds, but it's hard for me to root against underdogs in the early rounds. I still love college basketball, so I'll probably watch most NCAA tournament games like I usually do. But, I am more interested in watching my team play. I know most don't care about the CBI (or NIT), but I'd be thrilled to see the Trojans win and hang a CBI banner at the Jack. How many postseason championships has LR won? I guess they did win the Jr. College Championship a century or so ago. Can't quite remember that one. There are some "bad" teams in the CBI, but the teams we are matched up against appear to be teams who finished near or at the top of their low-major conferences just like us. We won't be praying for a 1 in a 100 upset (like a 16 seed in the NCAA tournament), but will actually have a good chance of winning games if we play our best. Should be fun.

Oh, I actually have liked watching NIT games, as well, but I might #BoycottTheNIT this year.

I will watch LR in the cbi if they make it to and espn game.

(03-19-2024 05:46 PM)ez272 Wrote:  I will watch LR in the cbi if they make it to and espn game.

Good to hear. I figured you would.