From: Denver Post
by Irv Moss
The University of Denver basketball team will to wait until Sunday to know if they're going to play in the National Invitation Tournament. After the 68-team NCAA Tournament is finalized, the NIT will select its 32 teams.
If they're not in the NIT field, the Pioneers could be selected to play in the 16-team College Basketball Invitational or the 24-team College Insider.com Post- season Tournament [read entire article].
7 comments:
The CIT is a mid-major tourney of 24 good mid-majors. They try to make the pairings geographic to save money at the start.
The CBI is a 16 team tourney that also includes larger schools as well as mid-majors.
PLaying in either one would be good for the program as a reward for a 22 win season.
If they don’t make it to the NIT even their mothers and girlfriends won’t come to the games.
In college football,.500 teams go to bowl games all the time.
DU is a .709 basketball team this year - 22-9 with several top 50/100wins.
Certainly, they are deserving of a postseason opportunity, NIT or not.
There are 364 D-I teams. DU is in the top 1/3 of them.
We're 121st in the nation - is that really something to cheer about? Should everyone get little plastic trophies that say top third? Perhaps a banner in the rafters?
Top third is a big achievement considering we were second to last 5 years ago when we went 4-25 and the coach went on a mid-season bender and didn't return anyone's calls.
Losing Chase Hallam to injury really hurt DU's postseason this year. With him, I think we'd be dancing right now with an RPI in the top 100.
Now know one is suggesting that DU deserves a trophy - but they do deserve a chance to gain some post-season expereince. A .700 season in D-I is remarkable when you consider where we were, where we are, our academic standards, our unnatractive league, and our lack of tradition.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda. It's time for a coaching change. You would think DU could find someone to at least get them to the NIT. Instead we’ll be watching CU and CU play in March.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda. It's time for a coaching change. You would think DU could find someone to at least get them to the NIT. Instead we’ll be watching CsU and CU play in March.
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