If you don’t usually do so, please watch the NIT this year.
I realize the March to Madness is all about the NCAA Tournament, and college basketball analysts talk ad nauseam about the NCAA Tournament worthiness of Team A-Z.
But I can promise you that some of the best teams in the nation will be playing in the NIT. That includes Iona, Oral Roberts, Middle Tennessee and possibly Drexel.
These teams were vanquished in their respective conference tournaments and likely will not receive at-large bids. Don’t feel too bad for those teams because they knew what they had to do — win their tourney’s automatic bid — and couldn’t get it done against upset-minded conference rivals. The bottom line is that if they had the résumés to compete with the Seton Halls and Xaviers of the world, they would. But they don’t, and any analysis of why they don’t — can’t get games against the big boys, even on the road — isn’t useful right now.
Yes it’s true, the Gaels, Golden Eagles, Blue Raiders and Dragons might not belong in the NCAA Tournament this year. But that doesn’t mean they’re not some of the best teams in the country. In fact, it wouldn’t shock me if at least two of those teams bounces back and makes a run to Madison Square Garden to play in the NIT’s Final Four.
Meanwhile, here are the latest bracket projections for the teams that will be competing for the Final Four played in New Orleans. Check out other bracket predictions at the Bracket Project.
