Auto-bids are handed out to teams which win their league during the regular season but don’t win the conference tournament. Notable examples this season are the Belmont Bruins from the Ohio Valley Conference, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies from the Horizon League, and the Monmouth Hawks of the MAAC.
Teams like Illinois State and Dayton also have NIT auto-bids, but both could end up as at-large selections for the big dance.
NIT at-large contenders from the mid-major ranks include teams like the BYU Cougars (22-11) and Valparaiso Crusaders (24-8). Those two teams met in last year’s NIT Final Four. Mid-major leagues like the Colonial Athletic Association, West Coast Conference, Atlantic-10 and Mountain West could each send multiple teams to the NIT. But, as is the case with the NCAA Tournament, middling power conference teams will end up with more at-large berths than they probably deserve.
The Mid-MajorsEarly Thoughts On The NIT Bracket--NYC Buckets
Includes: Valparaiso, UNC Asheville, San Francisco, New Mexico St.
The Horizon, Big South and West Coast conference tournaments have all already finished, so there’s nothing left for Valpo, UNCA and USF to do except wait. Valparaiso is 4-3 against the Top 100, but will be without Alec Peters—who was injured late in the season. The Crusaders lost an ugly game, 43-41 in the Horizon League tournament without him. How the committee decides to handle Peters’s injury will determine Valpo’s NIT fate, which makes them potentially the toughest team to project in the bracket.
The automatic bids forced some cuts around the bubble and I ultimately had to drop Valparaiso and Davidson out of the bracket. The Davidson cut was relatively easy. The Wildcats just have too many losses to be considered a serious NIT at-large contender. On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with Valparaiso’s profile, except that the Crusaders will be without Alec Peters in the NIT and their worst loss came against Milwaukee when Peters was injured. I asked the NCAA how the NIT selection committee might deal with the Peters injury and Jeff Williams from the NCAA had this to say: “Just like the NCAA Committee, the NIT Committee has a great deal of metrics, data and information that it reviews in selecting the teams it invites. Along with the data and metrics the committee uses it also can consider the availability of student-athletes for the Tournament. Each committee member can take that under consideration during the voting process.”State teams await NCAA placement on Selection Sunday--NWI Times
Drew’s former team, Valparaiso, won’t be hoping for a NCAA tournament berth on Sunday. Instead, there is outside hope that the Crusaders (24-8) could grab one of the last at-large bids in the NIT. Valparaiso was one of the first four teams out of the NCAA tournament last year and went on to appear in the NIT title game.
The biggest question surrounding Valparaiso is what the NIT selection committee will do in regards to Alec Peters’ injury. The Horizon League Player of the Year is out for the season after undergoing foot surgery on Friday. The Crusaders are 1-2 without Peters this season, including a 43-41 loss to Milwaukee in last week’s Horizon League quarterfinals.
“Their resume suggests that they should be in the field,” NIT Bracketologist John Templon said. “(If Peters were healthy) they wouldn’t be quite a lock, but they’d be close to it. They’d be much closer to off the bubble. I just don’t know how the committee is going to treat them without Peters.”
IndianapolisD-1 BP68--Basketball Predictions
7) Michigan
10) WICHITA STATE
2) Kentucky
15) NORTHERN KENTUCKY
15. FLORIDA GULF COAST (ATLANTIC SUN)Bracketology: March 12, 2017--A Daily Dose of Hoops
15. NORTHERN KENTUCKY (HORIZON)
15. TEXAS SOUTHERN (SWAC)
15. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (SUMMIT)
Midwest RegionalNew Bracketology – 3/11/17 – 2Pm--College Hoops Daily
Tulsa: (1) Kansas vs. (16) New Orleans/(16) UC Davis
Tulsa: (8) Dayton vs. (9) Seton Hall
Buffalo: (5) Virginia vs. (12) UNC Wilmington
Buffalo: (4) West Virginia vs. (13) East Tennessee State
Orlando: (6) Creighton vs. (11) Wake Forest
Orlando: (3) Florida State vs. (14) Northern Kentucky
Indianapolis: (7) Saint Mary's vs. (10) Michigan State
Indianapolis: (2) Louisville vs. (15) North Dakota
15 SEEDS: Northern Kentucky; Iona; Texas Southern; UC Irvine.After winning nine games last season, just how did NKU make March Madness?--Cincinnati Enquirer
Doc: Tristate, meet Drew McDonald and the Norse--Cincinnati Enquirer
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