Would you prefer

[BuzDawg73]

Yes, but you ALWAYS have to believe you can win the first round. If I had a team that thought they were going to be one and done, then I would have a loser mentality team.

Yeah, but the premise of this whole conversation is based on knowing you will be one and done and knowing you will win the NIT. The question is which would you pick.

[Geaux Dawgs]

This is kind of like 'would you rather win the New Mexico Bowl or lose a BCS game'???........and if ANY of you say the New Mexico Bowl, you are lying to yourself.

Comparing The New Mexico Bowl to the CIT is an insult to the New Mexico Bowl too!!!!

[champion110]

Yeah, but the premise of this whole conversation is based on knowing you will be one and done and knowing you will win the NIT. The question is which would you pick.

Then, I can't play the game.......:icon_wink: I will NEVER KNOW that we will be one and done. I can't even think that way. I will always believe we will win.

[BuzDawg73]

Then, I can't play the game.......:icon_wink: I will NEVER KNOW that we will be one and done. I can't even think that way. I will always believe we will win.

Don't be cranky. While the author's premise is logically flawed, and is one of these I have nothing else to do so let's speculate questions, all he is asking is what would be most beneficial for our program in that scenario. So, this does not require you to become a heretic or commit blasphemy, or even develop a split personality. It is more like experiencing the short term effects of being hit with a taser. Besides, I want to hear your opinion.

[faninmonroe]

NCAA everytime.....I wish we had a run of 1 game appearances in the tournamnet about 10 years running....no one except the alums of the schools care about the NIT or cit......the NCAA tournament get you national exposure that is priceless.

[Tech77]

NCAA everytime.....I wish we had a run of 1 game appearances in the tournamnet about 10 years running....no one except the alums of the schools care about the NIT or cit......the NCAA tournament get you national exposure that is priceless.

Yeah, everyone thinks the Missouri Valley is a very strong "mid major" basketball conference. Yet, they had not had a Sweet Sixteen team since Larry Bird and Indiana State in 1979 -- until this year (NIU).

[champion110]

Don't be cranky. While the author's premise is logically flawed, and is one of these I have nothing else to do so let's speculate questions, all he is asking is what would be most beneficial for our program in that scenario. So, this does not require you to become a heretic or commit blasphemy, or even develop a split personality. It is more like experiencing the short term effects of being hit with a taser. Besides, I want to hear your opinion.

Nope, just can't play....

However, if I had the choice, it would still be NCAA first round.

[GatorDawg]

I don't think anyone would say they'd rather not be in the NCAA tournament. The interesting premise to me though is losing in the first round of the NIT or winning the CIT. Sure the NIT has more prestige but in the end no one really cares about it either. So in that case I'd rather being playing later in March as that means you will get more game experience and more exposure (though others saying NIT being on ESPN gives them more exposure). Winning the CIT means you are playing basketball at about the time of the Elite Eight. Losing in the first round of the NIT, you get covered up by all the 1st round upsets of the NCAA tournament.

[BuzDawg73]

Yeah, everyone thinks the Missouri Valley is a very strong "mid major" basketball conference. Yet, they had not had a Sweet Sixteen team since Larry Bird and Indiana State in 1979 -- until this year (NIU).

Both Wichita State and Bradley made the Sweet Sixteen about three years ago.

[detltu]

You can't buy what an invite to the NCAA means to your school -

We have one Sweet 16 appearance and it is still mentioned almost daily on this board 25 years later -

There is no comparisons to being in the dance - financially or otherwise...

And this is my point. If we won the NIT, we would still be talking about it long after it happened. Much more so than that year we made the NCAA and lost in the first round. I would even say that if we won the CIT/CBI it would be talked about more than a year we made the NIT and lost in the first round.

For those of you that can't rap your head around this being a hypothetical, think of it being after the fact and you are comparing two seasons. One we made the NCAA( no conference tournament champs or any thing else implied) and lost in the first round, the other we made the NIT (no regular season champs or anything else implied) and won the whole tournament. Say the records heading into the tournament were the same with equal wins and finishes in the WAC. Not talking about money or what other affects it will have on the program. I am asking purely as a Tech basketball fan which would you find more satisfying or enjoyable.

[champion110]

And this is my point. If we won the NIT, we would still be talking about it long after it happened. Much more so than that year we made the NCAA and lost in the first round. I would even say that if we won the CIT/CBI it would be talked about more than a year we made the NIT and lost in the first round.

For those of you that can't rap your head around this being a hypothetical, think of it being after the fact and you are comparing two seasons. One we made the NCAA( no conference tournament champs or any thing else implied) and lost in the first round, the other we made the NIT (no regular season champs or anything else implied) and won the whole tournament. Say the records heading into the tournament were the same with equal wins and finishes in the WAC. Not talking about money or what other affects it will have on the program. I am asking purely as a Tech basketball fan which would you find more satisfying or enjoyable.

Still NCAA for me. I see the point of the "looking back" angle, but I would still want to reel off a string of NCAA appearances. There really isn't any shame in losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament, unless you get blown out. Lots of good teams and name programs lose in the first round. The only real losers in the 1st round are those that come from very very weak conferences and really don't stand a chance to start with and get blown out by 30 points.

[skilldawg]

I would take the NCAA, even in hindsight looking at a bad loss. However, the most obvious humiliation in sports is the 64-65 play-in game, even if you get to claim it as a tournament win. I would rather loose in the first round of ANY of the the other tournaments than participate in the play-in game.

[Dwayne From Minden]

And this is my point. If we won the NIT, we would still be talking about it long after it happened. Much more so than that year we made the NCAA and lost in the first round. I would even say that if we won the CIT/CBI it would be talked about more than a year we made the NIT and lost in the first round.

For those of you that can't rap your head around this being a hypothetical, think of it being after the fact and you are comparing two seasons. One we made the NCAA( no conference tournament champs or any thing else implied) and lost in the first round, the other we made the NIT (no regular season champs or anything else implied) and won the whole tournament. Say the records heading into the tournament were the same with equal wins and finishes in the WAC. Not talking about money or what other affects it will have on the program. I am asking purely as a Tech basketball fan which would you find more satisfying or enjoyable.

We won the consolation game of the NIT against FLA in NYC in 1986 and how often is that mentioned?

Very seldom...

[Cal&Ken]

We won the consolation game of the NIT against FLA in NYC in 1986 and how often is that mentioned?

Very seldom...

I was at TECH then and didn't remember it-and I didn't miss a home game and went to lots of road games. I guess it wasn't very important to me. I was there for the NCAA game though in Dallas- awesome!!!

[detltu]

We won the consolation game of the NIT against FLA in NYC in 1986 and how often is that mentioned?

Very seldom...

That is why I said won the tournament and not made a deep run.

Winning and coming one win away is a big difference. We also don't talk much about our run at div 1AA titles in 82 and more importantly 84 (football) but I bet we would talk about it a lot more if we won those.

Winning and being one game away is a big difference. Granted being one game away in the NCAA is bigger than winning the NIT. But winning the NIT would be talked about a lot more than being one game away.