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Zips to play in preseason NIT


ewbrooman1

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Didn't the preseason NIT change their format last year? While I love the opponents the Zips could potentially play I would not be for them playing in a tournament where it is already predetermined that they cannot make the semifinals or finals. When you play in a tournament you should at least have a chance (no matter how remote) of winning that championship. Predetermined semifinalists in an 8 team "tournament" does not sit well with me. It feels too much like discriminatory bias. We get enough of that in football.

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These teams had final RPI of 2, 20, and 55. Great opportunity for the Zips.

That's the most important point. I don't even think of it as being a true tournament when mid-majors like the Zips aren't eligible to play for the tournament championship. The value to the Zips is not being in the tournament but in the strength of the individual teams added to the schedule. Villanova and Arkansas provide the kind of challenging road games against top 25 high-major teams that will help prepare the Zips for the kind of opponent they'd likely meet in the first round of the NCAA tournament while Wisconsin Green Bay is a solid mid-major program to add to the home schedule.

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That's the most important point. I don't even think of it as being a true tournament when mid-majors like the Zips aren't eligible to play for the tournament championship. The value to the Zips is not being in the tournament but in the strength of the individual teams added to the schedule. Villanova and Arkansas provide the kind of challenging road games against top 25 high-major teams that will help prepare the Zips for the kind of opponent they'd likely meet in the first round of the NCAA tournament while Wisconsin Green Bay is a solid mid-major program to add to the home schedule.

I agree that who you play has now become more important than what title you can or can't play for. I just don't like the trend and as long as top mid-majors continue to submit to the discrimination it will continue but I understand they can't afford to turn down the games either. I just don't get what is wrong with the idea of a mid-major EARNING the right to play for a title?

The Zips played in one of these things a few years back and beat Mississippi State (if I recall the opponent correctly) in the first game, only to see MSU win that tournament championship. I remember thinking then how much better the Zips OOC schedule would have been had they advanced to play the teams that their defeated opponent was able to go on and play in the event. At least it sounds as if the Preseason NIT will provide a substantial schedule win or lose. I just don't like the precedent that is being set.

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About a tournament that means nothing?

If we win, it means we're better than the teams we beat. And if the teams we beat are good, that means we're good. And if we're good, we should let as many people know as possible.

And it doesn't "mean nothing". That's because it's in the beginning of the season instead of the end like the CIT. This mas meaning for the NCAA selection committee. It has meaning for momentum going into the rest of the season. And it has meaning for media coverage. You get yourself in the spotlight, and you don't let yourself get out of it.

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Gary Trent and the Bobcats won the preseason NIT in 1994, it was good exposure. How's this for a tournament lineup- @Ohio State, @#14 Virginia, then George Washington and New Mexico State @MSG in NYC. Side note- the rest of Ohio OOC that year was @Kentucky(L), @UC-Irvine(W), @Iowa(L), Wright State(W), @Xavier(L), West Virginia(W), and Duquesne(W). Heck of a lineup.

Looks like a great opportunity for the Zips next year. I think the MAC in on the verge of having a team earn an at-large bid and a strong OOC schedule is a crucial. Good luck.

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If we win, it means we're better than the teams we beat. And if the teams we beat are good, that means we're good. And if we're good, we should let as many people know as possible.

And it doesn't "mean nothing". That's because it's in the beginning of the season instead of the end like the CIT. This mas meaning for the NCAA selection committee. It has meaning for momentum going into the rest of the season. And it has meaning for media coverage. You get yourself in the spotlight, and you don't let yourself get out of it.

My argument is that there isn't much value in being named "winner" of the tournament. The value is in playing and having a chance to beat big name opponents. I'm confident that nobody on this board knows the winner of this last season without looking it up, because all it is is another early season tourney. Come tourney selection time, nobody is going to care that Villanova won the Preseason NIT, but they would care if we had a win over Nova.

I'm pretty sure we have never beaten a top 25 team, so us winning anything would be a complete long shot. Even if we don't win any it would be great experience to prepare us for the tourney if we make it.

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