Casey Alexander will forever be an NIT legend, having led Lipscomb’s unforgettable, but ultimately doomed, quest for the 2019 title. He coached the Bisons to victory in the game of the millennium. He was peripherally responsible for Jay Cutler attending the NIT Championship. He did it all while looking like a basketball wearing a human being costume.
Yes, the beginning of Casey Alexander’s NIT story is well-written. The first chapter is seared into the tome. What becomes of the rest of it is yet to be determined.
Alexander left Lipscomb after the championship game defeat, heading two miles up 12th Avenue to his alma mater. The rumor mill (my own speculation) says Alexander would be happy to remain there forever, which we can only interpret as meaning he wants to do what Rick Byrd couldn’t quite do: Win so many NIT’s we all walk around perpetually experiencing chills.
He’s in prime position to take his first crack this year, with his Bruins the overwhelming Ohio Valley Conference regular season favorite. The trick will, of course, be losing in the OVC Tournament, something that should be more difficult this year than it was last year for Byrd’s squad, who thought they had an NIT bid locked up, courtesy of Ja Morant, only to hear their name called on the wrong Selection Show that Sunday. Morant is gone. Murray State is not what they were. The league’s second tier has crumbled, with Jacksonville State and Austin Peay both notably regressing. Eastern Illinois showed some life the other night, but all told, it will be difficult for Belmont to lose in either the OVC semifinals or OVC championship.
Even so, Belmont and Alexander (hey, that sounds like a Simon & Garfunkel tribute band!) are in a relatively strong position. They’re not “likely” to make the NIT, but they’re almost as likely as anyone. Better still, they’re in a position where they needn’t worry much about their regular season play. There’s no risk of them leapfrogging the NIT—losses to Illinois State, Eastern Washington, and Saint Louis have nearly assured them of that. For the next two and a half months, all they really need to do is feast upon the smorgasbord of inferior Ohio Valley opponents.
Ideally, Belmont would obliterate every OVC foe in their path. Because you know what that would mean? If Alexander did pull the rabbit out of his hat and land Belmont in the NIT, we’d be assured of having a much better OVC team than that other tournament.
