Five Potential Locations for the 2021 NIT

Word came out yesterday that the NCAA is tentatively planning to hold the entirety of the 2021 edition of its second-best tournament in Indianapolis. Not a bad idea, and not a bad city for their attempt to keep the tournament relevant to the NIT-hungry masses.

But the NIT-hungry masses aren’t hungry for that tournament (whose name we don’t say around here). They’re hungry for the NIT.

And so, five suggestions for NIT locations, if we’re doing it all in one spot this year:

5. New York City

Why not? It’s got gyms. It’s got hotels. They’ve already got Madison Square Garden reserved for a Tuesday and Thursday around the start of April. No, it isn’t the most glamorous location on this list, but it’s ok if we aren’t as glamorous as usual this year.

4. Fargo

To my knowledge, North Dakota State only uses the Fargodome for football.

So far.

Get that thing rigged up for basketball and you’ve got at least two arenas in town. Also, if I know the people of Fargo (and I think I kind of do), they’re going to be more excited about hosting this than anyone else in the world. They will be so happy. It will be the friendliest NIT in history.

3. Maui

Look. The people of Maui are hurting right now. They miss their Maui Jim Maui Invitational. So why not surprise them with something even better?

2. Reno

First off, it’s The Biggest Little City in the World. Second, it’s isolated geographically, making my dramatic entrance to the proceedings all the more dramatic (I’m thinking a herd of goats should be involved). Third, there would be a scandal. You can guarantee there would be a scandal (but not with the goats they’ll behave I promise).

1. Greensboro

But the best of all the options, of course, is Greensboro. Indiana and North Carolina both like to think of themselves as a bit college basketball-crazy. Let them decide it for themselves. And there is no better way to torture Jim Boeheim (assuming he recovers from the coronavirus—if he doesn’t, please remind me to stealth edit this post) than to force him to spend as many as three consecutive weeks in his least favorite city in the world. No Wegmans down here, pal!