A few weeks ago, Northwestern was hardly a factor in our NIT watch. We knew they were decent by, say, Pac-12 or SEC standards, but decent’s different in the Big Ten these days, and even Big Ten decent can result in such a painful-to-the-eyes record that it isn’t enough to get, well, the CBI to come calling. (Is the CBI the one with that rule about teams needing to have winning records? Is that the CIT? Is it neither and did I make it up in my head? Was it the Vegas Sixteen? Was the Vegas Sixteen the name of that tournament I think of as the Vegas Sixteen? Ouch.)
Anyway, it turned out Northwestern was more than Pac-12/SEC decent. They were Big Ten decent. And now they’re on the verge of being declared Big Ten good, with a visit from Ohio State threatening to vault them over our heads into projections for the tournament that we do not name. Even a close loss might not be enough to earn Chris Collins an appearance in Tuesday’s NIT Bracketology. Yikes.
Thankfully, Northwestern doesn’t appear favored, as things stand, to win any of their next 16 games. So we’ve got a good feeling over the long run about their hopes, and about our hopes of making the “The NIT is stronger academically” argument we think could win over some nerds (good) while also winning over some subliminally racist dads (bad).
Other NIT notes of note:
- On Wednesday, Xavier finally hit the brakes on their whatever-you-call-a-runaway-bride’s-car, falling to Creighton in Omaha after a hot start. Xavier’s not back to the altar or anything, but they’ve at least pulled over. They’re thinking about coming back to us. We would take them back. That school likes basketball. We already have a cake.
- Penn State looked at Illinois, the consequences that would result from beating Illinois, and the rewards they would reap from losing to Illinois, and made the choice one would expect them to make, coughing up a commanding first half lead to get back in our good graces. Come here, you pajama-suited mountain cats. Give us a hug. Everything’s gonna be ok.
- Butler beat Providence, stopping us from turning on the Will-this-team-play-in-the-CBI-if-invited? siren.
- Seton Hall imposed their will on Georgetown, and that will is to do whatever improves their chances of making the NIT.
- Northwestern’s win over Indiana didn’t just raise questions about Northwestern’s NIT fitness. It also raised questions about that of Indiana. In the best way possible. The Hoosiers go to Champaign today, looking to raise more questions against a team that might be one of the best in the country and might be mediocre and seems bound to be thoroughly confusing all year, which is exactly the thing you want from the state of Illinois’s flagship institution.
- In the Mountain Time Zone, Boise State dominated New Mexico again and BYU let Weber State hang around, which is how an NIT hopeful should treat a team like Weber State. Flawless, BYU. Flawless.
- Yesterday, Michigan State lost to Wisconsin, further growing our appetite for them. I’m seeing the Spartans currently projected to finish conference play with a losing record. Smells familiar. Familiar like a Christmas cookie.
- Minnesota’s win over Iowa might’ve been too good. On the other hand, while it didn’t “expose” Iowa’s defense (there’s nothing to be exposed), it was a damaging enough loss that we pictured Luka Garza in an NIT quarterfinal for a moment. We would dare them to tailspin, but we don’t want Fran McCaffery’s blood on our hands.
- In as much of a can’t-win game as December affords, Maryland went to bed with the loss against Purdue. Congratulations, Terps.
- Kentucky wants to beat Louisville. Shocker, I know, but we’re talking NIT, alright? Get this: A Kentucky/Louisville quarterfinal, on one team’s home court, is a real possibility. Filing this away for tomorrow’s notes. Be on the lookout.
- In the old friends category, UCF has a chance to declare themselves “feisty,” hosting AAC favorite Houston after beating AAC-team-in-freefall Cincinnati (that siren we talked about with Butler is in a full-on wail for the Bearcats).
- And finally, in Nutter Watch: Wright State’s off to a 2-0 start in the HoLo, hosting Green Bay today in Dayton. The HoLoAuto…the Horizon League’s Automatic Bid streak looks alive. Though now that we think about it, we actually probably want Wright State to not win the regular season title. Because they’re a pretty likely favorite in The Tournament Formerly Known as Motor City Madness™. Go Pack (I know Green Bay isn’t named the Packers and actually has a great name but Go Pack has a good ring to it that the other name lacks).
