With the Ivy League announcing yesterday that it will have no winter sports this year, the college basketball world is once again talking about Harvard’s NIT streak. Here are the facts:
- Harvard made both the 2018 and 2019 NIT’s, one of only two teams to do so (the other is Nebraska).
- Harvard finished the 2019-20 season in second place in the Ivy League, meaning they had no chance of an automatic bid. They were also not good enough to be in the conversation for an at-large bid, meaning their streak was poised to end. Until the season was canceled.
In other words, there’s already been some debate over whether Harvard’s streak really is still intact. Personally, I say yes, because Wikipedia will make it look that way when we turn back to these years from the future. Now, though, there’s a new wrinkle.
You see, Harvard could make the argument, if it makes the 2022 NIT, that it’s made three straight NIT’s there was a possibility of it making. And some will believe Harvard.
Me? No. If Harvard had been on track to make it in 2020, this could at least be entertained. But if there’s a 2021 NIT, Harvard’s streak is over.
Now. If there isn’t a 2021 NIT…
