Going to the NIT Isn't the Worst Thing in the World

Teams that slid off the bubble (or had their bubbles aggressively violated by an incompetent selection committee, as some would have you believe) spent much of today bitching and crying about being excluded from the tournament. And that's fine ... it's to be expected, it happens every year, and yes, it's true that some teams did get unfairly railroaded.

But don't let it linger too long, alright? The NIT can be a valuable thing for a young basketball team, and if a team goes in there all mopey and plays with extended lower lips, they're missing an opportunity to grow their team.

I'll use West Virginia as an example, because I think they fit the profile pretty well. They're a young team, with just two seniors that play significant minutes, and the backups for those two guys are already in place. Making a deep run into the NIT would be way more valuable to this team than would be getting bounced in the first or second round of the NCAA. It's all about getting that tournament experience. One-and-done is a different feeling.

Remember a couple of years ago when the NIT filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the NCAA, because they mandated that if a team was invited to the NCAA Tournament, they had to accept? One of the guys who testified on behalf of the NIT was Bob Knight, who said he could envision circumstances where he'd rather his team played in the NIT than the NCAA. If there's no realistic chance of making a deep NCAA run, why not get a few more games of tournament experience?

And I know you'd like to think that your bubble team was going to make a run to the Final Four, but, and I'm sorry to have the be the one to tell you this, they weren't. If you were on the bubble to begin with, it's overwhelmingly unlikely that you'd even sniff the Final Four. Yes, there are cinderella teams every year. No, it wasn't going to be you.

So my advice to players and coaches would be to take a day or two, mope and weep, and then prepare for the NIT like it is the big dance. Lemons, lemonade ... that whole thing.