Well, well, well. Here we are. It’s Virtual Conference Tournament results time.
If you’re stumbling upon this and you don’t know what’s going on, let’s back up. There’s this thing called the Coronavirus…
But actually, if you want to know what this is, here’s what’s happening:
- The NIT is canceled.
- We love the NIT.
- We’re conducting a Virtual NIT, the schedule and methodology of which you can find here.
Now, without further ado, how we got here:
As of Wednesday night, we were all in the same universe. Rudy Gobert was rubbing mic’s. The Ivy League had canceled its tournament. A deep sense of foreboding filled the land.
At about 6:00 AM EDT Thursday morning, though, this virtual universe split off from the real one. And in this virtual universe, we found an antidote to the Coronavirus. I won’t say who found it, but it was either me or Tim Miles (that guy rules), and it definitely wasn’t me.
Unfortunately for society, the antidote was only proven to work on 18-26 year-old males (I think this covers our bases—no 17-year-old players on NIT-relevant teams, right?). Really stinks that it didn’t work on females, because running a Virtual WNIT would have been fun (we wanted to do this, but we don’t have the data to do it—sorry). Still, it was great to have the antidote, because there are enough 17-26 year-old males in the world that they could keep the things where folks really need to physically interact humming while others socially distance themselves. Men’s college basketball was able to proceed as planned, but with rec league refs and coaches video calling in to the bench (also, Fred Hoiberg was still at home recovering from the flu, but Nebraska wasn’t making the NIT anyway). Not ideal, but reassuring enough that all leagues proceeded with their tournaments, and the Ivy League even called theirs back on.
Of course, some tournaments had already completed. Their results were unchanged. Here are the results of those tournaments that were unchanged, in case you want a refresher:
Atlantic Sun: Liberty won, no NIT automatic bid
Big South: Winthrop won, Radford received NIT auto-bid
Colonial Athletic Association: Hofstra won, no NIT auto-bid
Horizon League: Northern Kentucky won, Wright State received NIT auto-bid
Missouri Valley: Bradley won, Northern Iowa eligible for NIT auto-bid
Mountain West: Utah State won, San Diego State technically eligible for NIT auto-bid but won’t receive it
Northeast: Robert Morris won, no NIT auto-bid
Ohio Valley: Belmont won, no NIT auto-bid
Patriot League: Boston University won, Colgate received NIT auto-bid
Southern Conference: East Tennessee State won, no NIT auto-bid
Summit League: North Dakota State won, no NIT auto-bid
West Coast: Gonzaga won, no NIT auto-bid
As you could math out, twelve tournaments complete, three NIT automatic bids locked in, one potential automatic bid on its way through Northern Iowa, twenty tournaments to go.
Here’s what happened in those twenty tournaments:
America East
When we left the A-East, they had one game left—their championship, on Saturday, March 14th (hey, that’s today!). Vermont was hosting Hartford. Exciting stuff.
As many expected, the Catamounts rolled to victory. No last-second heroics. No NIT automatic bid snatched. Just a good, clean game Vermont won by 15.
Big Sky
We left the Big Sky after its first round (which, as we noted at the time, took place aggressively early in the day). Well-rested after their night off, the first round winners played teams with byes on Thursday. The rest did not help.
All four favorites—Eastern Washington, Northern Colorado, Montana, and Portland State—won, though Sacramento State put a big scare into regular season champion EWU. EWU led in the high single digits for most of the game, but struggled to put the Hornets away, leading to two big Bryce Fowler threes making it a one-point game with thirty seconds remaining. EWU survived, but it wasn’t pretty.
On Friday, in the semifinals, what seemed inevitable finally happened: EWU went down, with Portland State dealing the death blow. In the process, Eastern Washington University became the fourth team to lock up an automatic bid to the NIT.
Nothing that exciting from there. Montana finally beat Northern Colorado, having lost to them the previous two times, but with no NIT bids at stake, few tuned in. Then, in the championship, the Griz (that’s Montana) made quick work of the Vikings (that’s Portland State). Onward.
Big West
The Big West had arguably the biggest off-court drama of the tournament, with a bomb threat delaying the semifinals. It turned out to be a misunderstanding, and no one was charged, but many were shaken, especially with 18-26 year-old males in charge of performing so many crucial tasks they were unaccustomed to performing.
In the first round, on Thursday, chalk did not prevail. Sure, tournament favorite UC-Irvine won, and fourth-place Hawaii beat fifth-place UC-Davis, but Cal State-Northridge went down at the hands of Fullerton, and Joe Kelly’s alma mater, UC-Riverside, held UC-Santa Barbara to 38 points in their own upset win. With the reseeding, this meant UC-Irvine played Fullerton in the semi’s (once they happened), and Hawaii matched up with UCR.
After a wild 24 hours, normalcy was restored on Friday evening. The Anteaters beat the Titans. The Rainbow Warriors beat the Highlanders. And on Saturday, UC-Irvine defeated Hawaii to miss out on an NIT berth for the second straight year.
Conference USA
More chalk here. The higher-seeded team won every game, including the ones that took place in the real universe on Wednesday. North Texas beat Western Kentucky by eight in the championship, and we didn’t even get that many clips of Big Red on the feed. No auto-bid.
Ivy League
Hey, remember this one?
The Ivy League actually got pretty dramatic. In addition to the hectic nature of the thing, being called back on at the last minute, the games were wild. Yale took three overtimes to beat Penn on Saturday. Harvard needed a fifteen-point comeback over the final five minutes to advance past Princeton that same day. And on Sunday, with the selection committees waiting earnestly for the result, a scuffle between Harvard and Yale resulted in four ejections and a ten-minute delay, after which Yale held off the Crimson to win the Ivy League and leave another NIT slot unoccupied by an automatic bid.
MAC
Nothing that exciting in Cleveland. To the surprise of few, Toledo beat Bowling Green in the quarterfinals. Akron, Ball State, and Northern Illinois also advanced, and in the semifinals, it was Ball State defeating Toledo to end the Rockets’ hopes of salvaging a season that began with such promise. On the other side of the bracket, Akron beat NIU, setting up an Akron/Ball State clash for the MAC title.
Now, there’s something you should know about Akron’s first two games.
Loren Cristian Jackson dominated them.
Dude scored 40+ points in each. Made thirteen threes against Ohio in the quarter’s.
Against Ball State, he couldn’t knock anything down.
As a whole, Akron entered halftime only three of eighteen on three-point attempts, reminding many (myself included) of their disastrous performance against Bowling Green back towards the end of February. They were NIT-bound with a loss, and trailing by nine, that loss looked likely.
But they came back.
And not because of Loren Cristian Jackson.
No, while the heart of the Zips performed admirably, he wasn’t the one sinking shots. That was Channel Banks, who hit four threes in the first eight minutes of the second half to give Akron the lead, and a crucial one with 1:26 on the clock to put them up by four, a lead they successfully iced. Akron was not, in fact, NIT-bound. We wept.
MAAC
Yes! This one. Love this league.
In Atlantic City, things are often lit (I would imagine—have never been, personally). And this tournament was no exception.
The MAAC, when we left it, had finished half its quarterfinals, because those quarterfinals were split over two days. Siena and St. Peter’s were safely through to the semi’s, but their opponents were yet to be determined.
Let’s take it game by game from here:
Quarterfinal 3: Rider vs. Niagara
Ok this wasn’t all that exciting, but the Broncs defeated the Purple Eagles, and who doesn’t want to hear those names?
Quarterfinal 4: Monmouth vs. Quinnipiac
Also not that exciting, but the Hawks did beat the Bobcats, and it’s hard to get more charming than a disappointed bobcat stomping around all mad and stuff.
Semifinal 1: Siena vs. Monmouth
More Hawks, which we don’t love because of the lack of originality, but they did beat the Saints, giving us another NIT auto-bid! We heartily welcomed Siena, and we made a lot of bad jokes about sainthood (just bad in that they weren’t funny—none were particularly offensive).
Semifinal 2: St. Peter’s vs. Rider
Ever seen a Peacock fight a Bronc? Me neither. But in this virtual universe, they at least played basketball. And Rider won.
Championship: Rider vs. Monmouth
Fans of the *other* tournament were saved from (or robbed of) a Bench Mob montage from whatever that one year was, as Monmouth laid down quietly at the feet of the Broncs. Rider 82, Monmouth 65.
MEAC
This one also had the split-up quarterfinals, but its nicknames weren’t nearly as fun. On Thursday, Norfolk State and Bethune-Cookman advanced, as was expected, to the semifinals. There, they met North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central, respectively.
Now, you’ll remember that NCCU was angling for an NIT automatic bid. Well, they got it, folks. Down they went against Bethune-Cookman, bringing our total number of automatic bids in this non-sequential narrative to six, with UNI possibly the seventh.
In the championship, NC A&T beat Bethune-Cookman, leaving the league as champions (unless they don’t leave until after next year—didn’t check).
Southland
You know Stephen F. Austin?
They’re coming with us.
Notable Duke-killer SFA finished their pre-postseason season with an even bigger prize than a bunch of highlights on SportsCenter: an NIT automatic bid. The Lumberjacks defeated Sam Houston State in the semi’s (after Sam Houston State defeated Northwestern State in the quarter’s), but couldn’t hold onto the ball against Nicholls State (who’d beaten Lamar in the quarter’s and Abilene Christian in the semi’s), coughing up 20 turnovers in a debacle in Katy (turns out Katy’s just a Houston suburb—I had it much closer to Austin in my mind, but I was thinking of Kyle, which is in between here and San Marcos on I-35).
Lumberjacks. Ours.
SWAC
Remember Snacks? The manager from Jackson State?
Unfortunately, he won’t be doing anything relevant in this Virtual NIT, unless you count *managing his team to victory in the semifinals over Prairie View A&M and thereby sending Prairie View A&M to the NIT!!!!!!!!!*
Yes, Jackson State beat Prairie View A&M on Friday. They then beat Texas Southern on Saturday. Won the whole SWAC. Great stuff.
Sun Belt
Yes, yes. The Fun Belt.
Never has that league more lived up to its name than in these two thrilling days of virtual basketball in New Orleans. As expected, Arkansas-Little Rock and Georgia Southern played a game to remember in the semifinal on the top half of the bracket. 25 lead changes! On the other half, it was Texas State rolling to a triumphant showing against South Alabama, as was also expected. Finally, in the championship game on Saturday, more expectations were met: Texas State held off Arkansas-Little Rock by four, sending the Trojans to the NIT with an automatic bid to tell their kids about.
WAC
Ever heard someone make the joke that this league is WACk?
Hopefully not.
Because it would not have applied to this tournament.
New Mexico State, the prohibitive favorite, marched straight through Chicago State, Grand Canyon, and “cinderella” (the odds were really close on both their “upsets”) Utah Valley to win the WAC title. No automatic bid from this one.
If you are a WAC fan who has somehow found their way here and really want to know the one game not implied by that set of results above, Utah Valley beat UTRGV in the semi’s.
Timeout
Ok, that ends the tournaments where we were likely to get an NIT automatic bid. UNI remains pending, and Cincinnati could theoretically get one, but we’ve got nine definitely coming: Arkansas-Little Rock, Colgate, Eastern Washington, North Carolina Central, Prairie View A&M, Radford, Siena, Stephen F. Austin, and Wright State.
What a crew.
Now, the rest of the story:
Atlantic-10
Whoa, boy. Lot of games left here.
In the tournament’s second round, we didn’t get much excitement. St. Bonaventure beat George Mason. Duquesne beat Fordham. Davidson beat La Salle. VCU beat UMass, which was surprising to some, just because of how messy VCU’s season had gotten, but wasn’t really a stunner, especially since it was fairly close.
In the quarterfinals, we also didn’t get much excitement. Well, actually, Davidson did beat Richmond. That was really exciting. Put the Spiders firmly on the bubble. They might be ours (we’ll see). But besides that, business as usual: Dayton rocked VCU. Rhode Island held off Duquesne. Saint Louis handled St. Bonaventure with relative ease.
Now, Saturday.
Saturday was exciting.
In the first game, it was Billikens vs. Flyers. Folks had been sleeping on the Billikens. Folks woke up. For the second time this year, SLU took Dayton to overtime. For the first, they took them to a second overtime. Only after Hasahn French fouled out on a controversial whistle under the Flyers’ basket did Dayton pull away, and even then, it took ten straight made free throws over the final minute and a half. Thrilling stuff.
In the second, also thrilling. No overtime, but Davidson made shots they had no business making. Fatts Russell went off for URI. At times, it felt like neither team could miss, but in the end, one could—Russell’s three-point attempt rimmed out at the buzzer. Wildcats 82. Rams 80.
You can guess how the championship went. With bubble teams holding dearly to the possibility of Davidson bid-thieving their way into the other tournament’s bracket, thereby helping the bubble teams’ own NIT cases, Davidson went out and lost by 25.
Dayton was really good this year.
American
Wow. That was a great tournament back in the A-10, eh?
Well, get ready for this one.
Not quite as good.
But still pretty fun.
Remember when Penny Hardaway said Memphis was going to win the national title?
Remember that.
This is one of the tournaments that happened solely in the virtual universe. No real games were played. We start with a clean bracket.
On the first day, UConn and Memphis, two teams trying to hold onto NIT spots and help their seeding, did the expected: UConn beat Tulane. Memphis beat ECU. Further down the standings, favorites were not so lucky. UCF fell apart at the end against South Florida, and SMU laid a real egg against Temple (not a “real egg” as in a literal egg, just like—“man, that game was a real bummer”—you know, that use of “real”).
On the second day, UConn and Memphis rolled on. The Huskies upset Wichita State, getting many to call into doubt their NIT prospects. The Tigers defeated Tulsa, which wasn’t that much of a surprise, but did kind of get folks’ attention, especially in contrast with the 80-40 Tulsa win against Memphis back in January. Atop the bracket, Cincinnati and Houston took care of business, but the people said there was something stirring in Fort Worth, and they weren’t wrong.
On Saturday, Cincinnati and UConn played one for the ages. Real ugly game (see, there’s the use of “real” I was talking about), but still one for the ages. Memorably ugly. 46-45 final ugly.
Cincinnati won.
Also on Saturday, Memphis really took it to Houston. It was surprising. We all thought Houston was kind of good. We were wrong. Or maybe we were right, and this was just an exception? Whatever the case, Memphis took Houston to pound town. And Memphis was the one doing the pounding.
Finally, Sunday.
The Memphis/Cincinnati championship game drew a lot of attention because it, like the A-10, featured a potential bid thief in Memphis. No one knew for sure what would happen to either loser, but it sure felt like Memphis wasn’t getting into that other tournament as an at-large bid.
We never found out.
Because Memphis beat Cincinnati, not handily, but soundly. 77-69. Solid game all around.
Timeout
Ok, ok. We’ve got nine automatic bids, maybe a tenth in Northern Iowa. Memphis is in the other tournament. They aren’t ours to hang out with anymore (take that, Penny Hardaway’s guarantee!). But now, the real bubble work’s going to go down, because these are the Power Six:
SEC
We’re going in increasing order of conference quality here, and the SEC was just kind of bad this year. Which is great. It means they’ll probably put a lot of teams in the Virtual NIT field when it’s announced tomorrow. But it also means they go first out of these six leagues.
When we left the SEC, Arkansas and Georgia had just defeated Vanderbilt and Mississippi. There were only twelve left. Just like the good old days.
On Thursday, Arkansas and Georgia kept doing the winning, this time claiming South Carolina and Florida as their victims. It made Florida fans pretty nervous. I can tell you that much.
That same day, Mizzou and Alabama beat Texas A&M and Tennessee. It provoked a pretty outrageous reaction from Vols fans online, but I think they’ll be safe tomorrow. We’ll see, I guess.
Friday, Alabama kept the cinderella story going, knocking off top-seeded Kentucky (told you the SEC wasn’t that good). For Arkansas and Georgia, though (and Mizzou), there was no such magic. Auburn pummeled Missouri. LSU took down Arkansas by two. Mississippi State dispatched Georgia by nine.
Saturday, the question in Nashville revolved around Alabama, who now had a somewhat favorable matchup against Mississippi State. Would Nate Oats’s Crimson Tide run and gun their way to the title game? The answer, we learned, was yes. Alabama 91. Mississippi State 90. On the other side, Auburn wrecked LSU. Just dominated them. Not pretty at all.
Finally, on Sunday, with Alabama getting the bid thief treatment, Auburn came in and did what they did on the gridiron this year: won the Iron Bowl by outscoring their opponent in a points-heavy game. The Auburn Tigers: Your 2020 SEC champions. The Alabama Crimson Tide: Still alive for the NIT.
Pac-12
Let me begin this by saying that we did not rig any of these games. We took them just as our computer gave them to us. And if you want proof of this, think about it this way—would we really be audacious enough to rig UCLA losing in the quarterfinals, when having them lose in the semi’s would have done just as much to justify us putting them in the NIT?
Yes, UCLA lost to Cal in the tournament’s round of eight. In other excitement, Arizona lost to USC, and Oregon beat Oregon State, and in non-excitement, Arizona State cleaned up against Wazzu.
In the semifinals on Friday, with few watching, chalk reigned supreme. Oregon dealt swiftly and neatly with USC. Arizona State did to Cal what a confused dog does to a steak they’ve just been nonchalantly gifted without explanation.
Finally, in the championship game on Saturday, Payton Pritchard took no prisoners. Video Bobby Hurley’s head was in his hands on the bench. Not a lot of fun for the Sun Devils.
ACC
The ACC.
Not its best year.
After getting to a point where it thought it had four bids neatly wrapped up, the ACC watched in horror as Notre Dame eviscerated Virginia in a game in which UVA could not buy a bucket. “Is this a bubble team?” some asked. Tony Bennett smiled sneakily to himself. Earlier in the day, Clemson had taken down Florida State, so the chaos narrative got a lot of play as NC State prepared to take on Duke. Once the game started, it got no play, but before the game, again: plenty of play. Duke 90. NC State 62.
Oh, and Louisville beat Syracuse.
In the semifinals, Duke avenged that weird loss to Clemson, and Louisville avenged nothing but really took it to Notre Dame.
In the championship, which was actually a great game, disappointing-ACC aside, Duke emerged victorious over Louisville. Maybe next year, Chris Mack.
Big 12
I know. I’ve been wondering too. Managed not to look until now.
Did Texas beat Texas Tech, breathing continued life into Shaka Smart’s career in Austin?
Yes!!!
They did it!!!!
Texas won!!!
Rarely have I been so excited to look at a spreadsheet, but sure enough, the Texas Longhorns defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders in their Big 12 Tournament opener. We’ll find out later if this means they miss the NIT, but good luck firing Shaka now, guys. Your president’s got a lot on his plate just now and Smart just beat Tech in a virtual simulation that eight or nine people will read about. Extend that man.
In other action, Kansas, Baylor, and West Virginia all won their quarterfinal games. Then, Kansas and Baylor won in the semi’s. Then, Kansas won the championship. But boy did Baylor make it close.
Big East
We didn’t know how to honor the first half of St. John’s/Creighton from Thursday morning, but thankfully, we didn’t have to worry about it much, because St. John’s won in the simulation too. Bummer, Creighton.
That same day, in another upset, Marquette took down Seton Hall. In a non-upset that was still noteworthy, Butler beat Providence. And in a game that was not at all an upset and was actually quite boring, Villanova took something out on DePaul.
In the semifinals, the excitement continued. St. John’s beat Marquette. The non-excitement also continued, though, and Villanova beat Butler in a thoroughly boring game. Good stuff all around.
As you would have guessed, Villanova won the Big East, having somehow managed to play no team seeded higher than fifth. More importantly, they warmed up the virtual Garden for the Virtual NIT Final Four, coming later this week.
Big Ten
The final Conference Tournament. Sorry, though. We aren’t done after this. We’re going to give you the seed list from the virtual selection committee for the virtual other tournament, then set the stage for the Virtual NIT Selection Show tomorrow. So don’t close out of this window when you’re done with the Big Ten.
Thank you.
Ok, Big Ten:
Minnesota gave Iowa everything they could muster. Daniel Oturu scored 35. But in the end, Iowa got too big a performance from Joe Toussaint, who hit five threes in his eighteen minutes to get the Hawkeyes back on the winning path, setting Minnesota on uneasy ground for the Virtual NIT Selection Show as a sub-.500 team with an otherwise worthy résumé.
Elsewhere in the day, Indiana beat Penn State; Purdue beat Ohio State; and Michigan put Rutgers in a trash can, set that trash can on fire, and rolled that trash can down the biggest hill in Indianapolis. Lots of “does Rutgers really look like a NC*A T****ament team?” talk from the pundits.
In the quarterfinals, Purdue kept their winning ways going, stunning Michigan State. Indiana did the same, upsetting Maryland to throw that side of the bracket into a frenzy. Wisconsin took care of business against Michigan at the bracket’s upper end, and in the Iowa/Illinois rematch, we didn’t get anything we wanted. Iowa won, and there was no physical altercation (just mild jawing).
Joe Toussaint’s wild Big Ten Tournament continued in the semifinals as Wisconsin, true to form, really effin’ frustrated their fan base with an incompetent performance at an inopportune time. Toussaint was open again and again, and hit shots again and again, and Brad Davison played what some called his worst game in a Wisconsin uniform while Luka Garza tore things up inside. Then, in Purdue/Indiana round three, it was finally the Hoosiers’ turn to win one, sending Indiana to a very much unexpected Big Ten title game.
Thus, Sunday rolled around, and the final game before the other tournament’s selection show was, indeed, Iowa vs. Indiana somehow. And in a twist of fate that made Archie Miller’s outburst at Joe Lunardi via press-conference-Lunardi-wasn’t-attending look even wilder in hindsight, Indiana won.
Timeout
Wow. That was a lot. Ok, let’s set the bubble picture:
Going into the other tournament’s selection show, we were keeping our eye on the following bubbly teams, many of whom would be ending up in the NIT:
Purdue. Rutgers. Wichita State. Florida. Oklahoma. Cincinnati. Xavier. Providence. Richmond. Texas. Arkansas. Alabama. Saint Louis. Rhode Island. Stanford. North Carolina State. Texas Tech. Pretty much it. But man, that’s a lot. Real uncertain times here. Also, we should note that the media was making a big fuss over Virginia, but we thought that was kind of silly. Straw man deal. They weren’t NIT-worthy, no matter how much Tony Bennett thought he’d played us all.
The Other Tournament’s Selection Show
We’re going to make this dramatic for you, because you’ve waited for this. But remember: This isn’t how our model would’ve ordered the teams, given the results. This is just how the Selection Committee ordered them in this one particular simulation.
We’ll start by going in order, then take a break around the bubble to offer commentary, then put in all the automatic bids, then circle back to the bubble. Sorry to bore you with all this talk about the other tournament. It’s just how we get the 1-seeds for the NIT, and how we get the field from which the NIT Selection Committee also picked in this same simulation (again, we’ll be sharing that virtual committee’s bracket with you in our Virtual NIT Selection Show tomorrow), so we kind of had to do it.
1-Seeds
Kansas
Baylor
Gonzaga
Dayton
2-Seeds
Villanova
Duke
San Diego State
Auburn
3-Seeds
Creighton
Michigan State
Oregon
Seton Hall
4-Seeds
Florida State
Louisville
Maryland
West Virginia
5-Seeds
Kentucky
LSU
Ohio State
Wisconsin
6-Seeds
Indiana
Arizona
Iowa
Illinois
7-Seeds
Butler
BYU
Michigan
Penn State
8-Seeds
Houston
USC
Marquette
Colorado
9-Seeds
Cincinnati
Memphis
Wichita State
Xavier
Ok, now we’ll break. Xavier and Wichita State missed the cut. Waiting on 15 of the other teams we’ve listed, plus Virginia and Saint Mary’s and Arizona State, for nine spots.
12-Seeds
Utah State
Akron (Alas, what could have been)
Yale
Liberty
13-Seeds
North Texas
Vermont
Belmont
New Mexico State
14-Seeds
Bradley
Hofstra
Texas State
North Dakota State
15-Seeds
UC-Irvine
Montana
Winthrop
Northern Kentucky
16-Seeds
Nicholls State
Boston University
Rider
Robert Morris
North Carolina A&T
Jackson State
Ok, now back to the bubble.
10-Seeds
Saint Mary’s
Saint Louis
East Tennessee State
Arizona State
Wow! Saint Louis. Bummer for them.
Down to six spots. Still haven’t heard Virginia, Purdue, Rutgers, Florida, Oklahoma, Providence, Richmond, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Rhode Island, Stanford, North Carolina State, or Texas Tech.
11-Seeds, Not First Four
Florida
Virginia
Ok, there’s Virginia. Wow. Almost did it. Also, Florida couldn’t pull it off.
11-Seeds: First Four Game #1
Providence
Purdue
No real surprises here. Historic number of losses for Purdue to miss the NIT, though. That’s tough.
11-Seeds: First Four Game #2, the First Team
Arkansas
Ah, that makes sense. Good finish, had some bad injury luck. Dang. Thought they might be in the NIT.
Now the show’s doing something weird and telling us the first four teams out. They’re our NIT 1-Seeds, so we pay attention to this. In order, they’re Texas Tech, Rhode Island, Alabama, and Richmond. We’re kind of stunned. Texas Tech made it. This leaves Rutgers, Oklahoma, Texas, Stanford, NC State, and Mississippi State as possibilities, unless we get a real wildcard. We hold our breath. They announce the final team in.
Oklahoma
Wow.
Mayhem.
Texas did it.
But they won’t get a 1-seed.
NIT Selection Show Preview
So here’s what we know: The 1-seeds are Texas Tech, Rhode Island, Alabama, and Richmond. There are ten automatic bids, because Northern Iowa got one. So that leaves 18 open spots, and we’re pretty confident Rutgers, Texas, Stanford, and NC State are taking four of those, making the number fourteen for the rest of the country. From there, here are the possibilities, in the order our model puts them:
Mississippi State – just no real reason to doubt.
St. John’s – strong finish, solid season.
Oklahoma State – came on strong in February.
Notre Dame – again, solidly in, only the one horrific loss.
UConn – they’ve done enough.
(gap left intentionally because now we start to not be so sure)
Minnesota – the sub-.500 thing…
Clemson – some pretty bad losses is all, but they’re probably in
Tennessee – just not entirely confident
South Carolina – again, not sure
(another gap because now we really don’t know)
Georgetown – sub.-500, plus some injuries…
Furman – tough final impression
Syracuse – just not a lot of good wins
UCLA – really bad in non-conference, and that Cal loss hurts
Tulsa – weak non-conference schedule, but great year besides that
(we’d doubt it with these guys but our numbers say one or two will probably get in)
Oregon State – the win over Utah was great, but have they done enough?
Davidson – pretty solid ending to the season, and Saint Louis got all that love
Georgia – went on a nice little run in Nashville
VCU – solid, apart from the injuries and their performance after January
Utah – hard to imagine them getting in with Oregon State out, but maybe both?
UNC-Greensboro – maybe they’ll get a lot of love again
And there you have it. That’s what we’re watching going into tomorrow. Keep an eye out tomorrow afternoon for the Selection Show, and for instructions on how to join the bracket pool. Thrilling times in this virtual universe.
