This year the NIT almost looks more exciting to me than the NCAA tournament, given all the cool teams that got left out of the Big Dance.
Cases in point: the two hottest teams in the country, both spurred by coaching decisions
- Ohio State, who came to life with new coach Jake Diebler, going on a 6-2 run that included a win over 1-seed Purdue
- St. John's, who came to life after Rick Pitino gave them a tongue lashing, winning six in a row before falling to 1-seed UConn
Seriously, the Red Storm needed to beat the overall top seed to get a bid? How stupid is that. The Committee needs to explicitly take recent play into account and add teams like these two, I was hoping at least one of them might make it but nope, can't have a fun tournament. And no, that doesn't mean I favor some ridiculous expansion scheme that will destroy the tournament.
Both teams are on an incredible tear (playing top 10 basketball lately), and both should still be motivated for the NIT despite not making the NCAA, since there was a time that both teams considered their NCAA odds to be zero (after St. John's lost 8 of 10 and their coach ranted at them, and after Ohio State lost 9 of 11 and their coach got fired).
Can't see them play in the Big Dance but you can follow them in the NIT.
UPDATE: St. John's refused the bid. We can't have any fun, can we? I guess I take the Buckeyes to win it.
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