GJGood

The NCAA has done it again. A year after schools like Florida Atlantic and San Diego State made the Final Four and mid-majors like North Texas and Utah Valley went deep into the NIT, the NCAA has taken action to quell any mid-major uprising. In an announcement that it seems they almost tried to keep quiet it was announced that the NIT will no longer give automatic bids to schools that won their conference in the regular season but lost in their conference tourney and were not selected as an at large to the NCAA tournament. Instead they have announced that they are going to give automatic bids and top seeds to the two highest NET ranked schools from each so called “Power Six” conference that we’re not selected to the NCAA tourney. So now there is no longer a guaranteed reward for a season long campaign that earns a regular season championship and it’s all about the conference tournament and the NCAA.... or maybe something like the CBI for a 24 or 25 win MAC regular season champ. I think this is simply wrong. Giving 15-19 (5-15 Big Ten) Ohio State a bid and a favorable seed over a 27 win MAC champ is an absolute travesty. We need as many people complaining about this in as many channels as possible. What are everyone’s thoughts?

After everY team playing just one game, if they made the matchups now I would think the Zips would be headed to Harrisonburg. As big as the Zips road win was, I’d love to get one with the national attention that JMU did.

That was the way it was described when announced last year. What I don’t know is if they would schedule a rematch. If the Zips and Southern Miss are atop their standings come February would they have them meet a second time?

Think I saw Utah Valley head coach Mark Madsen is accepting the job at Cal. Any chance with the sit out a year rule that Aziz ponders another transfer and could come back to be the heir apparent to Enrique or has he burned his bridges here? He was an absolute beast for UVU this year, leading them to the WAC regular season title and the NIT semifinals.

Definitely looks like the talent is there. Not real crazy about the attitude being exhibited. I associate that more with our primary rival. Hopefully there has been growth in terms of maturity since the time this video was taken.

We don’t know, recruiting probably wasn’t heavily impacted unless they saw someone at another school that would transfer to them ... what we do know is that multi-team same venue postseason tournaments generally bring coaches and athletic directors from different institutions to the same place where discussions could take place about scheduling. The biggest complaint all mid-majors have and hear about every year Is how they don’t play anyon and the scheduling difficulties . Well, I would rather play North Alabama, Charlotte, Rice, or Indiana State, maybe even home and home than just a simple one and done in the JAR with Morgan State or Division III Wheeling Jesuit. These tournaments allow discussions to take place that would not likely happen otherwise.

I don’t disagree with that in general but I am not so sure it applies in this specific situation. It could have been good for recruiting and particularly for future scheduling with 15 other teams in the same venue.

He certainly looks the part and I can definitely see why there would be interest Needs to develop a better outside shot but other than that looks pretty strong.

How hard should the Zips pursue Colin White of Ottawa-Glandorf? Seemed like he held his own against Xavier commit Dailyn Swain of Africentric. His offer list isn’t too shabby.

Anybody in particular I should be watching in the state high school basketball tournament, that has been offered or the Zips have shown interest in? Always like to watch with a Zips connection in mind. I know Colin White of Ottawa-Glandorf has been offered by the Zips but he seems to have gotten offers/interest from schools like Ohio State, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Butler, would love to have a legit shot at landing him.

Doesn’t playing those 15 teams outweigh playing nobody at all? We aren’t trying to boost metrics any more once the confidence tourney comes to an end. I feel another three or four games could make for more of a springboard into the 2023-24 season.

OK, I do remember the Mastadons on the road. Was that CiT? UT-Arlington was not only NIT but NIT Second Round, the Zips knocked off 2 seed Houston in the First Round and had the Zips beaten the Mavericks then, despite being the 7 seed out of 8, would have actually hosted the tournament quarterfinal against Cal State-Bakersfield since they were the 8 seed and had also pulled off two upsets.

In the era of the transfer portal any trip to play another winning team is a potential recruiting trip.

I honestly only remember the Zips ever playing in a less than NIT Division 1 tournament one time and that was a home loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay. What other appearances are you referring to?

Totally agree, and with the NCAA and NIT seeming to become more and more about just six or seven conferences the tournaments below the NIT are quickly becoming the only option most of the time. I hope these lower tournaments can eventually get to a point where they are close to the NIT but with with a better selection committee

Oklahoma State’s arena was not available so they agreed to be the road team.

Zips could have really made a run against this field. Nothing against Indiana State but when that is your #1 seed a 22 win Akron team would at least be competitive. Interesting to see that our former coach is playing on in the CBI as well as I remember him saying he didn’t think the Zips should play in one or two of these while he was here

When and how do we hear from Guthrie or Groce about this? I would love to hear the reasoning.

I actually preferred that one to the CBI last year. Something about games being on campus.

OK, I should have asked it as “seeded to be at home in the first round”. Toledo is now a three time defending regular season MAC champ that won 17 straight games until a conference final loss... and I guarantee you they don’t even get a home game in the first round of the NIT.... my guess is that they end up on the road against Cincinnati.... and they deserve to be a 3 seed at worst in the NIT.

When MAC schools get selected by the NIT committee it usually means they deserved to be in the NCAA and NIT-worthy MAC teams have to play in a lower tournament or end their season. Case in point, when is the last time a MAC school had a home NIT game against a “bigger” opponent?... certainly there had to be a top MAC squad better than a middle of the pack “major” conference squad according to the metrics at some point in the last 10-12 years.

As I mentioned in another thread, now that it is a single venue tournament I wonder why the CBI doesn’t make their event a multiple game guarantee event much like the Zips played in the Caymans this season. With 16 teams it would just be one more round but giving teams a certainty of multiple games may make the entrance fee seem more worth the cost and it could do wonders for young player development

I do not disagree. They should be in over any ACC or PAC-12 .500 in conference team... I also think the MAC is strong enough year in and year out that the should be represented in the NIT most years too, although when they get in that tournament they are always vastly underseeded.

I honestly thought that Akron was the better team at the end of the true road game and that result could easily have been different. Last night, though, Akron was not the better team. A lot has to do with officiating. I am not complaining as I think the officials were pretty consistent throughout the game but different crews allow different levels of aggression, call more/less ticky-tack fouls, flops, etc...

I don’t understand why the NCAA uses the First Four in Dayton almost as a second chance for those 11/12 seed at large teams and then also to have an extra 16 seeds..... I wish the Fist Four would stay “as is” for the 11s and 12s but let the 16s go straight into the round of 64 and let those other two first four games be between the top ranked teams that were regular season conference champs that did not make it as an at large directly into the round of 64. Make the First Four a “second chance” reward for a great season over the long haul.