NIT or Bust?

Oatmeal Savage

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Regardless of how the transfer portal shakes out or how players develop in the offseason, there has to be a level of performance that cools Ben’s hot seat. Last place won’t do it. NCAA Tourney would be great, but that’s a big jump. Would making the postseason NIT be necessary?

Here’s the Big Ten numbers (14 teams total) in the NCAA and NIT for the last few years:

2019 NCAA: 8 NIT: 2
2020 COVID
2021 NCAA: 9 NIT: 0
2022 NCAA: 8 NIT: 0
2023 NCAA: 8 NIT: 3

So, between 8-11 teams make those two post season tournaments. Eighth place seems like quite the leap. Tenth, should be reasonable.

The upcoming season is the last year without UCLA and USC, so the numbers will likely look different in 2025.
 

Right now saying the addition of UCLA and USC will change the BB numbers is an understatement.
If both are as good in 2025 as they are today the whole BIG pecking order in BB will change and ADs will be making judgments about their HC's ability to compete in the new pecking order.
 

Regardless of how the transfer portal shakes out or how players develop in the offseason, there has to be a level of performance that cools Ben’s hot seat. Last place won’t do it. NCAA Tourney would be great, but that’s a big jump. Would making the postseason NIT be necessary?

Here’s the Big Ten numbers (14 teams total) in the NCAA and NIT for the last few years:

2019 NCAA: 8 NIT: 2
2020 COVID
2021 NCAA: 9 NIT: 0
2022 NCAA: 8 NIT: 0
2023 NCAA: 8 NIT: 3

So, between 8-11 teams make those two post season tournaments. Eighth place seems like quite the leap. Tenth, should be reasonable.

The upcoming season is the last year without UCLA and USC, so the numbers will likely look different in 2025.

I think he has to have at least a winning season in Year 3. The only reservation I have to stating that the NIT should be the minimum is that making the NIT usually is dependent upon the number of automatic qualifiers. This year and last year weren't too bad (11 this season and I think 10 last season) but I've seen that number go up to 15 or more. Some of those automatic qualifiers really shouldn't be there and that can squeeze out more deserving teams.
 

Regardless of how the transfer portal shakes out or how players develop in the offseason, there has to be a level of performance that cools Ben’s hot seat. Last place won’t do it. NCAA Tourney would be great, but that’s a big jump. Would making the postseason NIT be necessary?

Here’s the Big Ten numbers (14 teams total) in the NCAA and NIT for the last few years:

2019 NCAA: 8 NIT: 2
2020 COVID
2021 NCAA: 9 NIT: 0
2022 NCAA: 8 NIT: 0
2023 NCAA: 8 NIT: 3

So, between 8-11 teams make those two post season tournaments. Eighth place seems like quite the leap. Tenth, should be reasonable.

The upcoming season is the last year without UCLA and USC, so the numbers will likely look different in 2025.
I see no hope for off season improvement
None last year.
What will make this different?
Someone tell me ?
 





I see no hope for off season improvement
None last year.
What will make this different?
Someone tell me ?
Thought for the Lion King:
It means no worries
For the rest of your days
It's our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata
 

If he misses NIT, it seems like it would be almost indefensible to keep him. In Three years, you have to at least make the lower tournament one time. NCAA tournament feels like a big jump, but that's only because of how low the bar has gotten with how bad his first two years were. I don't know that I lower my year three bar just because he also came up short on my year 1 and year 2 bars.

Does a coach deserve to keep his job if he has two disastrous years followed by a year as bad as the year that was so bad we fired Pitino? Or two disastrous years followed by a year as bad as the year that was so bad we fired Tubby?
 



One year ago, this thread didn't generate much discussion. But regardless of how it went down, they ended up in the NIT. A followup to the original:

MN finished 9th

2024 NCAA: 6 NIT: 4 3

Edit: I originally counted up 4 Big Ten teams in the NIT, but I was wrong and it was only 3.
 
Last edited:

One year ago, this thread didn't generate much discussion. But regardless of how it went down, they ended up in the NIT. A followup to the original:

MN finished 9th

2024 NCAA: 6 NIT: 4

I'm glad you bumped it then! Four conference teams didn't make either tournament and we weren't one of them for the first time in five years.
 




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