It’s hard to hold onto an NIT spot. Win too much, and the NCAA T*urnament comes swooping in. Lose too much, and you might have to look at the College Basketball Crown, like this is some sort of monarchy. Hold steady, and millions of other college basketball teams are gunning for your spot. This makes it all the more impressive that over the course of this week’s games, only one team lost its NIT position. Our NIT Bracketology is updated, friends. Let’s see what the heck it has to say.
Moving Out: Oregon State
Beavers! We hardly knew ye. And ye didn’t even do anything wrong! But ye were among the last teams in, and now ye are among the first teams out.
Moving In: Penn State
Can’t spell Nittany Lions without N–I–T, and while I usually use that line as a joke (the old, “can’t spell O.J. Simpson without m–u–r–d–e–r”), this time it works. Go ahead. Try it. Try spelling Nittany Lions without using the letters N and I and T. Come back when you’re done, sit quietly in the last row, and try not to let all the hotties reading this see you blush.
Anyway, Penn State beat the piss and the shit out of Nebraska on Wednesday, and that was enough for our model to vault them back into the projected field. The NIT has standards. If you’re going to go 1–7 over an eight-game stretch, you better go the right 1–7.
Last Four In: Butler, Penn State, Rutgers, Minnesota
All of this sets up a massive showdown between Penn State and Minnesota tomorrow. I think that if Penn State loses by exactly two points, both teams get to stay in the field. Anything else? Playing with fire, guys. (Don’t quote me on the exactly two points thing.)
First Four Out: Florida State, Oregon State, Saint Joseph’s, Nevada
For those asking: Yes. You remembered that correctly. Phil Martelli is on the NIT selection committee this year.
NIT Bubble Watch: Where Is It?
Sorry, everybody. No NIT Bubble Watch yet. We think it’ll be here Monday, but we thought it’d be here long before today, and it isn’t here yet. I blame the Manhattan Project for speeding up time.
Anyway, take this weekend to ready yourself. Tell your boss you’re going to need 45 minutes every morning between Monday and Selection Sunday to read about the NIT bubble picture. (Hopefully more like five or ten minutes. I will not survive March if that thing becomes a 45-minute daily read.) It’s convoluted this year, with those ********e** at Fox Sports inserting chaos into Big Ten, Big East, and Big 12 selections, but that’s all the more reason we need NIT Bubble Watch.
Until then? Stay national. Stay invited. And, most importantly, stay tournament.
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