The Final NITe: North Texas Did It

Wow. What an evening.

Congratulations to North Texas. You were the best team in this tournament, you were down a starter, your coach was widely acknowledged to be on his way to the Big 12, and you trailed in bad ways in two of your last three games. You never blinked, you kept after the ball, and your playmakers—your nationally undervalued playmakers, let’s get that out there, Tylor Perry did not get enough national attention this year and Kai Huntsberry does all kinds of things on both ends of the court—made the necessary plays.

To UAB: Our condolences. You were a great team throughout this tournament, and when it looked like Jelly Walker was going to catch fire tonight, we were more than ready for it. You guys were every bit as exciting as you were advertised to be, and your program seems to be in a spectacular place, and we’re happy for you.

It really was an NIT Final Four where all parties would have been a thrilling champion.

Anytime the refs become a story, it’s a bummer, and to be clear: The refs did not have their best game. They had a bad game, in fact. It was partially the shot clock issues, but it was a lot more than that, too. They were always a step behind. Lot of late whistles, lot of things missed that happened and seen that did not happen. I’ve never reffed, I don’t know what kinds of things make it more difficult, but it was a tough game for the guys in stripes, and everybody hates it when that happens. I would say: Bad both ways. Just my opinion, though. Go ahead and be a fan.

On the topic of Grant McCasland taking the Texas Tech job: Good for him. He earned it. He built North Texas into something special where previously there was hardly anything. He won North Texas its first NIT title. It’s an unlikely school to do that. It makes me happy that North Texas was so ready with the Ross Hodge deal—it feels like all parties involved, from Texas Tech to North Texas to McCasland to Hodge—worked with each other, and that’s a nice way for things to work out.

Also on that topic: Good for the players for sticking it out. Much like Utah Valley, this wasn’t a distraction for North Texas, or if it was, it didn’t show. They came out, they played their games, they won their games. They were a hell of a team. They’re absolutely a deserving champion.

We’ve got some thank yous to go through, so let’s get after those. We don’t speak on behalf of the NIT or anything, but we do speak on behalf of ourselves, so while some of these treated the NIT right and some of these were simply very kind to us, we’re grateful to them all.

Thank you to North Texas for the invitation to the Sam Houston State game, and for treating the NIT with such enthusiasm. You were all about the NIT, and that’s how it should be. It makes it matter, and the players deserve that.

Thank you to all the teams who gave the NIT their all, a list that includes nearly everyone in the tournament. Special mentions: Wisconsin, you really did send a lot of institutional support, and that made a difference for all of us involved. Michigan, you were the most pressured in the public sphere to decline the invitation after UNC declined, but you didn’t blink, and your guys played hard. There is nobility in that. Rutgers, your fans came ready for the NIT, and we remain happy for Hofstra but it was a shame that you got upset. We don’t mean to single out the Big Ten schools—again, it felt like 31 of the teams in this thing gave it their best—but those all do stand out.

Thank you to the folks at the NCAA who run the NIT. By nature, it’s a bit of a thankless job, but you all make the thing happen, and it’s a special thing. Thank you especially for the media access this week. It made a huge difference in our ability to drum up whatever enthusiasm we account for when it comes to the NIT.

Thank you to Mark Titus for the opportunity to talk NIT on one of the biggest college basketball podcasts out there. Thank you to Ken Pomeroy and all the other celebrities who did our NIT Bracket Challenge. Thank you to PFT Commenter, who jumped on the train last year and was a generous promoter again this season. Support from folks like you whom people trust and respect makes a huge difference for us, and hopefully for the NIT.

Going off of that: Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who make The Barking Crow part of your college basketball world. Thank you for following the NIT with us. Thank you for the comments, the emails, the likes and retweets and all of that. Thank you to those who fought UNC fans on Twitter and those who screenshotted the “I LOVE THE NIT” sign on ESPN. We’ve long said that we have a small but fierce following, and as it’s grown so much this year, we appreciate that the ferocity hasn’t wavered. There is something wildly validating about creating a thing and having people like it. Thank you for letting us into your lives like this.

I’m sure I’m missing others, and that I’ll kick myself in the morning, but to close it out, thank you to Mrs. NIT for always responding with an emphatic “yes” when asked if I should try to fly to New York to appear on a podcast or drive to Denton for a second round game or spend this week in Las Vegas, walking around in a bucket hat asking strangers to take my picture in front of the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. Building this thing is not easy on the family, and it isn’t cheap, and I’d assume it’s a little hard to understand, so thank you for letting me try, and for helping me try.

The show isn’t over. The NIT is done, but college basketball does play on, and I’m not just talking about the WNIT Championship on Saturday in Lawrence which everyone should watch. I’m talking about the other Final Four. It’s happening. It’s happening just down the road from my own backyard.

The other tournament has set foot in Texas, and we—the NIT movement—are not going to let it get away with this act of aggression. In a few hours, I’m going to fly back to Austin, and when I get there, I’m going to do a load of laundry, drop off a check, and get in the car for Houston. Because the people in Houston need to know the truth. The plan right now is to crash some events on Friday and Saturday, stirring up trouble, and to then protest at NRG Stadium on Saturday with a megaphone and some flyers telling people why they need to repent. I would assume that this leads to the downfall of the NCA* *********t and the reinstitution of the NIT as America’s universally accepted premier postseason men’s college basketball tournament. That’s the assumption. We’ll find out when we get there.

Again: Thank you. Again: Bona NIT. And as we like to say around here…

Bark.