The National Invitation Tournament.
That’s what we’re about here, and that’s what’s 25 days away.
Joe updated our projected field just now, and I’ve been told to fill in the gaps (and also to offer some commentary on toNITe, since we’re too late to do our Notes today). Here’s what we’re working with:
Moving In: UNC, Oregon, Texas Tech, Santa Clara, Kennesaw State*, Samford*, Howard*
UNC dropped in, though they’re sitting in the bid-thief slot, which is as exhilarating as it sounds but the exhilaration comes from pure and abject fear. Oregon dropped in, and did so emphatically, so that’s fun for all waterfowl enthusiasts who read these (there are more than you’d think). Texas Tech is back for the first time in forever, finally projected to finish .500, and Santa Clara snuck back in after ending BYU’s era as a factor in the West Coast Conference. Whimper, not a bang.
With Kennesaw State’s upset of Liberty, the home of Milk Monday has a great chance at an NIT automatic bid. Thankfully for fans of fundamental(ism)s, Samford has returned to take Liberty’s place.
Finally, Howard’s the new MEAC favorite. Howard University. Not Howard Mandel.
Moving Out: Kentucky, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Dayton*, UCSB*, Youngstown State*, Norfolk State*
It’s a terrible time for the Ohio River watershed, and I mean the literal geographic area. Kentucky and Cincinnati have played their way out of the projected NIT, and we don’t know when or if they’ll return. Dayton? Gone too, though more on them below. Even Youngstown State got bumped out of an auto-bid spot, deemed too likely to be engulfed by the fires of hell (the NCA* *********t). Talk about a disaster.
Elsewhere, Wisconsin rose out on the back of beating that loser Hunter Dickinson on the night he wore a ski mask because he was going downhill fast. We thank the Badgers for their sacrifice.
First Four Out: Cincinnati, Tulane, Vanderbilt, UNLV
New Orleans! Nashville! Las Vegas! Cincinnati?
Dang.
We were really close to a bachelorette party all-star list at the top of the CBI.
Next Four Out: St. John’s, Syracuse, Saint Louis, San Jose State
It’s the old Big East, in a universe where Dwyane Wade never existed so SLU got the invite instead of Marquette. And also Sepp Blatter got involved with some authoritarians whose kids went to San Jose State. Maybe not the old Big East. Maybe just a couple schools in New York with another catholic school thrown in.
Conference Complications: Drake, Sam Houston State, Dayton, Marshall
All four of these guys would be right on the bubble if we didn’t remove them because they’re their conference tournaments’ favorites. But we did remove them! Because they’re their conference tournaments’ favorites!
Losers: Oklahoma, Ohio State, Nebraska, Villanova, Washington State, Butler
Look, they’ve lost too much, ok?
If any of these six get back to .500, they’re probably in. Especially the first three.
ToNITe
We’ll have our full NIT Fan’s Guides to Saturday and Sunday on, believe it or not, Saturday and Sunday, and we’re also planning to have Notes tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s what’s up this evening:
6:00 PM EST: Eastern Michigan @ Kent State (CBSSN)
Toledo’s right on the Flashes’ back, as the kids from Akron try to stay king in the MAC. Also, Emoni Bates sighting. We assume. It’s possible he’s hurt or something. We haven’t been keeping up with EMU. No apologies.
7:00 PM EST: Dayton @ Loyola (ESPN2)
The Flyers go to Chicago for the first time since that day at the United Center in December where every NIT contender and their uncle did their best imitation of the 2022-23 Chicago Bulls and did it very well (Tulane and Wyoming in the same building—what a day that was). It’s kind of the biggest game ever, considering losing it would make it so tough for Dayton to get an at-large bid in the event they don’t win the A-10.
7:00 PM EST: Yale @ Penn (ESPNews)
7:00 PM EST: Brown @ Princeton (ESPN+)
Ugh. Of course Yale and Penn play on the news station. Damn elites dominating our media.
Ivy League situation: Princeton and Yale are tied, Yale’s beaten Princeton at Yale, Princeton still gets a crack at Yale in Princeton, I don’t know how the tiebreakers are lined up so if you’ve been breathlessly following the Ivy League this year but somehow don’t know all of this already, this is what’s up. Conference champion more likely than not gets an automatic bid. This isn’t the SAT. It’s the NIT. You can’t outsmart us on this one.
7:00 PM EST: Manhattan @ Iona (ESPN3)
7:00 PM EST: Canisius @ Rider (ESPN+)
9:00 PM EST: Quinnipiac @ Siena (ESPNU)
Pitino party!
Iona and Rider are tied at 11–3 in MAACtion. Siena’s one loss behind them. The cake is in the oven.
10:30 PM EST: New Mexico @ San Jose State (CBSSN)
Pitino party part pua?? (Please pretend “pua” means “two” in another language.)
At long last, our Game of the NITe. Featuring Tim Miles and Richard Pitino and played atop the court of the legendary Provident Credit Union Event Center. 4.4 stars on Google for that baby. 385 reviews, too! The last one only gave it three stars, though.
7:00 PM EST: Blackhawks @ Senators (ESPN+)
Sens play too.
