Which is better? Spanked in Big Dance or 1-1 in NIT?

[K-Roo]

http://www.hoopsjunkie.net/blog718/index.p...out-our-league/On The MAC: What Does Can't State Being Routed Say About Our League?UNLV spanks Can't State 71-58Nothing good, that’s certain.The main problems with the MAC that leave our squads unprepared for Big Dance play are the abyss in quality that are the bottom four or so teams in the league and the lack of atmosphere at gyms throughout the league, no matter where a team is. Combine the two and the result is toxic and leaves our champ unprepared for the NCAA Tournament. According to Ken Pomeroy, the MAC had five teams with RPIs of 200 or worse as opposed to UNLV’s league, the Mountain West, which had only two sides — Wyoming (219) and Colorado State (265) — with RPIs greater then 200. Having nearly half the league with RPIs in the lowest tertile is problematic. Every MAC Athletic Director knows attendance, particularly that of student sections, which are noisier and more disruptive than regular fan sections at other schools, is a problem. No gym in the MAC compares to gyms in the Atlantic 10, Missouri Valley, or Mountain West, when it comes to atmosphere. I’m not saying that Can't State ^&%&%#!!! the bed against UNLV can be blamed entirely on the bottom of the MAC being so abysmal or gyms being quieter than confessionals but it is a factor.

[w00t]

Can't just played a bad game. UNLV would not be consistenly 13 points better than them.And to answer the question, I would rather have gotten our lunch handed to us in the NCAA Tournament than win one in the NIT.

[GJGood]

Can't just played a bad game. UNLV would not be consistenly 13 points better than them.And to answer the question, I would rather have gotten our lunch handed to us in the NCAA Tournament than win one in the NIT.

I agree. Although if we were going to go to the NIT and win one I sure would want it to be over a big name program like Florida State. If the question had been whether it is better to go one and out in the NCAA or make a deep run in the NIT then that would have been much more difficult to answer. I think I might rather have the team make it to Madison Square Garden in the NIT then just play 40 minutes and lose in the NCAA simply because of the added experience for the young players and more opportunities for perspective recruits to watch the Zips in action against good competition. The younger the team is the more important I think NIT wins will be, they are building blocks to the future. This year I would have preferred NCAA if even just one game because the seniors deserved to get there at least once. I wonder, though, if it might be us playing Florida in the NIT semifinals had we just been able to finish against UMass.

[ZippyRulz]

We need a banner in the JAR. Given that we're a one-bid conference, going to the NCAA and giving it our best shot would at least have meant that we won the MAC and are better than So getting to the NCAA should be our primary objective, regardless of a one and done outcome.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Given that we're a one-bid conference

The only thing that prevented the MAC from being a 2-bid conference this year was the Zips' loss to K.e.n.t. in the MAC finals.

[GJGood]

Given that we're a one-bid conference

The only thing that prevented the MAC from being a 2-bid conference this year was the Zips' loss to K.e.n.t. in the MAC finals.

Exactly. Plus there have been a number of years recently where many people have thought the MAC should have had multiple teams in but the committee hasn't seen it that way for whatever reason.I don't think you can simply say that the MAC is a one-bid league when speaking in generalities. The MAC is certainly nothing like the Atlantic Sun, the SWAC, or the Northeast Conference. Those leagues are perennial one bid leagues with no change in the foreseeable future. They are "low majors". The MAC and other "mid-majors" are usually close to getting multiple teams in even if they do only get a single team into the NCAA.It's kind of strange but even though the MAC has had only one NCAA team for a number of consecutive years now, most of those same years they have had three or four teams playing somewhere in the postseason. (We all know 2006-07 should have been another one of those years as well) Most "one-bid" leagues only have automatic bids to rely on to get teams into the postseason. The MAC does get at-larges into the postseason, even if the recent trend is not for it to be for inclusion in the NCAA tournament.

[GoZips88]

Can't just played a bad game. UNLV would not be consistenly 13 points better than them.And to answer the question, I would rather have gotten our lunch handed to us in the NCAA Tournament than win one in the NIT.

I agree. Although if we were going to go to the NIT and win one I sure would want it to be over a big name program like Florida State. If the question had been whether it is better to go one and out in the NCAA or make a deep run in the NIT then that would have been much more difficult to answer. I think I might rather have the team make it to Madison Square Garden in the NIT then just play 40 minutes and lose in the NCAA simply because of the added experience for the young players and more opportunities for perspective recruits to watch the Zips in action against good competition. The younger the team is the more important I think NIT wins will be, they are building blocks to the future. This year I would have preferred NCAA if even just one game because the seniors deserved to get there at least once. I wonder, though, if it might be us playing Florida in the NIT semifinals had we just been able to finish against UMass.

I'm hoping UMass gets it done against Ohio A&M in New York. We gave UMass a game, had them by 10 with 8 minutes to go, had one of their big guys in foul trouble, contained the A-10 Player of the Year pretty well BUT ... as stated above ... were unable to finish (22-5 UMass run to end the game - NOT acceptable )I'd have to say NCAA over NIT with this year's senior-laden team. Going deep in the NIT would be great experience for a younger team like the one we'll have next year. Games against quality opponents would give our underclassmen a lot of good experience that would help us late in the MAC regular season, MAC tourney, and NCAA down the road.

[grice]

One nice bonus for the Zips getting into the NIT was getting two games on national TV. Most of the early round NCAA games are shown on regional TV and can be play at odd times. The down side of the NIT is that the big schools get to play at home.