I hate having to do this. I hate having to point out how good NIT teams are. But here we are.
NIT teams are better than this year’s Kentucky team. Teams projected to finish five games under .500 with best wins against teams like Arkansas are not NIT caliber. I know, I know. I’ve gotten excited about Kentucky in the NIT too. I thought they were going to win yesterday. I was ready to fire off a “Kentucky and Louisville playing each other on one of their home courts in the NIT is a non-zero possibility” post. But they didn’t win. They lost. And we’ve got to acknowledge that Kentucky is not, at the moment, projected to land in the NIT, or anywhere all that close to the NIT. So please. Stop spreading misinformation.
Other NIT notes of note:
- Northwestern, we hardly knew ye. Wildcats take down Ohio State. Still not favored in any of their next 15 games, but not feeling great about them being in the bracketology on Tuesday. NIT moments pass in the blink of an eye, guys. Cherish them.
- Does LSU…like us? Like, like like us? The Tigers struggled to keep Nicholls State off the scoreboard yesterday. And I would just like to point out to Will Wade that paying recruits isn’t original or even that effective. You can pay off opponents. That’s the next level. I mean you’re already paying Nicholls State legally to play this game. Find a guy to make your team look better!
- DePaul’s playing only its second game of the year today, but they’re right into the fire. It’s hard to see the Blue Demons getting a strong enough résumé without the eye-padding of nonconference play, but they’re also a bit of an unknown, and beating Providence on the road would be a nice little indicator that they won’t go quietly (keep an eye on DePaul as a team that could force the issue on whether sub-.500 records are disqualifying for NIT at-large bids).
- The Missouri Valley opens today, so for all you MVC/NIT fans: The best way for this league to get two or three NIT bids is stratification, but the second-best way is having Loyola not win the regular season title. Get someone else an auto-bid and then have Loyola land in the field as an at-large when Arch Madness does its thing.
