NIT not too shabby (using a football comparison)

[Turbine]

Do you know football?

If you do I hope you will recognize that in years when an NCAA basketball tournament invite to the field of 64 is not forthcoming an NIT invite is not too shabby and should be gladly accepted and respected.

Oh yes, the football comparison. It's this; I would go so far as to say an NIT invite should be regarded in equal or higher esteem than many of the bowl games outside the top 12 or 13 bowl games.

First of all there is no doubt the talent level in basketball is far greater across the board as opposed to football. This is evidenced by the fact that you will never see 74-0 blowouts in basketball. Although this is evidence enough, it is not the logic on which this premise is based. The talent level at the bottom of D1 basketball is not nearly as far removed from the best of the best as it is in football.

This is born out in the numbers, if you take the scholarships delved out by the 8 BCS bowl teams you could scholarship 52 basketball teams. Balloon that by the scholarships given out by just the 54 bowl teams every year and you could scholarship all 300 basketball D1 members plus another 53 teams.

Conversely the 3900+ scholarships given out by the 300+ D1 basketball schools would only scholarship 45 football teams.

What does this have to do with the NIT? Well after all the NIT teams are invited you only have the top third of D1 basketball teams going to post season play. By comparison with 27 bowl games you virtually have half (46%) of all D1 teams going to the post season. With over 117 Division-One football teams as compared to the 300+ D1 members in basketball, you can extrapolate that if being among the top 54 (the number of bowl teams) is an enviable position in football, then being in the top 150 should be equally respected in basketball, yet only 105 play in the post season.

I have not seen these numbers extrapolated before, but if one does so then being the last team invited (105th) to the NIT puts you in the top third of D1 basketball and thus more prestigious. If basketball were as lenient as football you would have 138 teams playing in the post season every single year.

The prestige is two-fold, what we are left with in basketball is more talent top to bottom with a smaller percentage benefiting.

While it might be safe to say the NIT is not what it once was, anyone saying going to the NIT is nothing does not know football.

[Turbine]

This year I'm hoping for an NCAA bid.

[UL_Cajuns]

NO NIT this year, I would have been happy with a NIT last year. This team is way better than last years team. They are so well coached and diciplined. I also beleive that we can make the Sweet Sixteen if we are awarded a 10 or 11 seed

[shof]

Turbine,

Nice analysis. When you look at it from the perspective of the percentage of teams going into post-season, the NIT is not so bad. Heck, I'd think our goals each year should be to get into the NIT as a minimum. No post-season in basketball, baseball and softball should be the exception; not the rule. Agree that this year should be an NCAA year for UL; but I wouldn't complain if we went to the NIT should we get tripped up in the SBC tournament. Hopefully the good RPI and SOS would yield UL a home game this time.
Shof

[cajunlove]

Blasphemy!!!! NCAA or BUST!!!!!

Geaux Cajuns!!!!!!!!!

[shof]

Originally posted by cajunlove
Blasphemy!!!! NCAA or BUST!!!!!

Geaux Cajuns!!!!!!!!!

Where was my cranium? You're right. We need to tell the NIT "no thanks" if we don't get in the BIG DANCE.

[cjr3888]

This topic makes me think of the stories my dad told me about the days when the NIT was way bigger than the NCAA