Do you remember yesterday, fellow NIT fan?
I’m sure you do.
It was a great day.
Though a bit rainy here in Austin.
Hopefully it was sunnier wherever you were.
Yesterday, we talked about the NEC Tournament. I’d link to our preview, but there isn’t much to see. The conference is the only one in the country with exactly a 0.0% likelihood of sending a team to the NIT.
But while the NEC is alone, for now, in its complete and total NIT irrelevance, there’s another league in the same neighborhood.
The WCC.
The WCC is no stranger to NIT participation. Between BYU’s proud string of NIT appearances, the often-charitable inclusion of Saint Mary’s, and San Diego’s surprise bid last year, the NIT has seen its fair share of years stocked with WCC talent.
This year looks to be no such year.
There are only three teams in the WCC with any chance of making an NIT appearance, according to our model. Pacific, who won’t play until Saturday, checks in at 0.4%, needing a pair of dominant victories and then the narrowest of losses to BYU to get in the conversation. San Francisco, who first plays tomorrow, sits at 3.8%, needing to follow a similar script to Pacific’s while reminding everyone they only lost by four to a Killian Tillie-less Gonzaga five weeks ago. And as for our dear friend Saint Mary’s, whom you’ll see at 4.0%, it’s probably necessary to be utterly eviscerated Saturday night by someone like Santa Clara while hurling insults at family members of the other tournament’s selection committee through courtside television cameras.
In other words, if you were trying to get to bed early this week, don’t let the WCC stop you.
