https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball...las-fort-worth
Because of the reduced field size, all 16 teams will be selected as at-large participants, and there will be no automatic qualifiers for the NIT.
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NIT: 16 teams all in DFW
https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball...las-fort-worth
Because of the reduced field size, all 16 teams will be selected as at-large participants, and there will be no automatic qualifiers for the NIT.
Don't know why they had to cut it down from 32.
Current setup / Wed/Sat: 8 1st round games (2/night); Thurs: 4 Quarterfinals; Sat: 2 semi; Sun: Champ/3rd PlaceFirst-round games will be played Wednesday, March 17, through Saturday, March 20. Quarterfinals also will take place Thursday, March 25. The semifinals and championship will take place Saturday and Sunday, March 27 and 28. 2021 also will feature a third-place game Sunday, March 28
32 Setup: Wed/Sat: 16 1st Round games: Mon/Tues: 8 2nd round games; Thurs: Quarters; Sat: semis; Sun: Champ/3rd Place
That's 16 extra games for ESPN Networks or push to ESPN+.
I do have a feeling a lot of "Power" conference teams will opt out this year.
I'm not so certain. You saw what happened in football? While some programs --even some conferences-- sat at home, and refused to play at first, but most ultimately changed their minds and started seasons late, etc... A lot of programs & conferences --including the Big X and Pac XII weren't going to play at all.........until they finally saw others playing and having fun.Originally Posted by sportdawg
Meanwhile schools like ULL, Coastal Carolina and Liberty took advantage of playing on the big stage in prime time Saturday afternoon TV slots. Others --like Alabama-- never missed a beat, and just went about whipping asses and winning championships. That will happen in college basketball too.
Smart people are always willing to step up and take your place, if it's a better deal for them.
Good
Yeah every conference played during the regular season, but several P5 schools passed on playing in minor bowl games. It is possible IMO major conference teams could pass on the NIT, just maybe not to the level the passed on playing in crappy bowl games. I think winning the NIT is better than winning some pre New Years eve bowl game.I'm not so certain. You saw what happened in football? While some programs --even some conferences-- sat at home, and refused to play at first, but most ultimately changed their minds and started seasons late, etc... A lot of programs & conferences --including the Big X and Pac XII weren't going to play at all.........until they finally saw others playing and having fun.
Meanwhile schools like ULL, Coastal Carolina and Liberty took advantage of playing on the big stage in prime time Saturday afternoon TV slots. Others --like Alabama-- never missed a beat, and just went about whipping asses and winning championships. That will happen in college basketball too.
Smart people are always willing to step up and take your place, if it's a better deal for them.
I would agree for this year.
I agree with this.
We would not have been in this had Duke, Xavier & St. John's not opted out.
Shows the flaws of another biased system.
Duke was always going to opt out. No way were they going to play in the NIT, maybe the same for Louisville. St. John's, Seton Hall and Xavier might have played had the tournament been in NYC with the Final Four in MSG. We did get lucky with the high major teams opting out. Another big break was two Ole Miss starters opting out, one of whom was their best player. Sometimes luck is against you, sometimes for you. It broke in our favor this season.
.....well, wait a second. It's not like everything was all rosy for LA Tech, either. Tech lost the use of Cobe Williams --our star point guard who is the spark plug for everything we do-- this post season. In fact, I would argue that without the "finger injury" to Cobe, LA Tech would have beaten UNT and been dancing in the NCAA Tournament this year. The only reason UNT beat us is because we didn't have our "ball handler" playing in that very important game. Yeah, we got Cobe back on a part-time basis for the NIT Tournament, but he was far from 100%, and his shooting percentages suffered greatly in the NIT.
You're right with Williams we might have beaten UNT and been in the NCAA tournament. That was one of our worst games on the season for sure, 32% shooting. Of course, he did get hurt in that extra game. I wonder if we knew how that would play out if we would have still played that game? One thing I disagree on is his shooting percentage in the NIT. He actually shot above his season average in the NIT, even though he shot the ball less than normal.
Against Colorado St, Williams played 29 minutes, was 0-3 from the free throw line but finished 2 of 4 on 3-pt shots. Go figure. He finished with 6 pts, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block. No doubt, with Williams in the game, we could've beaten UNT. We just didn't have a ball handler against UNT, and you have to have a great ball handler to beat the UNT defensive press.
Konkol put the ball in Crawford's hands for the UNT game and that did not work out well. I don't fault Konkol for trying it, for trying to do something, especially given the big game Crawford had vs. FAU. I can see what Konkol was thinking. But, Crawford enjoyed success against FAU operating from his customary position, not in running the point. I do fault Konkol for the loss to UNT because he never made a change and left Crawford out there to struggle and for us to lose a very winnable game. By halftime it was obvious it wasn't working.
What Williams' injury did reveal is just how good Cobe (and valuable) is, and how important it is to have a second guard who can run the point.
It's the offseason and it's okay to "armchair quarterback," that's what fans do, and is what I HOPE the coaches are doing too. But overall the Dawgs enjoyed a very good season. If we can build from this and do even better then 2021 will be remembered as a launching pad year.
Congrats to Coach Konkol and to the Dawgs for a job well done. (Now...get even better!)
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