2018 NIT Tourney(if anyone still cares)

[tabascojet]

Easy fix. Take every league not named P12, SEC, ACC, B10, B12, BE, A10, MWC, AAC and MVC and have their regular season champ ( plus a few at larges ) play in the NIT instead of conference tourneys. 8 wuarterfinalists get an NCAA bid and after that you're just playing for a better seed

any reg season conf champ that doesnt make ncaa is already auto qualified for the nit.....

 

[JohnU]

NIT's problem is that by the time it's ready to go, the fans are weary of basketball. You need stimulation to keep the interest alive. Playing for a title that doesn't mean anything is hardly worth it.
But 2 years ago, I saw Valparaiso go to the final game -- and since I live 3 blocks from campus, I got to see a couple of NIT games. Quite exciting when you realize that's the best it's gonna get.
If the NIT wants to make itself relevant, it needs to become a useful part of the NCAA tournament. Find a way to make this a value to teams that participate. If that means incorporating it into the main event, then do that and stop boasting that it's a loser's tournament. Most of the teams in the NIT could win a first-round game in the NCAAs and we all know it.

 

[rmilia1]

any reg season conf champ that doesnt make ncaa is already auto qualified for the nit.....

I know that. In my proposal only the 8 best low major conference champs make the NCAA thus freeing up spots for better teams. The others would still be eligible for at large bids.

The problem with the NIT is it's meaningless. Only fans of the teams in it care and many of them don't care either. It's really an extension of the regular season where it's largely irrelevant to all but a few teams. MY solution fixes both. It's makes the regular season far far more valuable AND makes the NIT huge ( since itd be replacing conference tourneys for most leagues ). Also it'd make the NCAA tourney better as you'd be getting the best teams every year instead of autobids from one bid leagues who got hot for 3 days but otherwise had shitty years AND you free up 14 at large bids for better teams.

 

[tabascojet]

The problem with the NIT is it's meaningless. Only fans of the teams in it care and many of them don't care either. It's really an extension of the regular season where it's largely irrelevant to all but a few teams.

like bowl games.....and they do just fine because its about tv dollars as is the nit

 

[rmilia1]

like bowl games.....and they do just fine because its about tv dollars as is the nit

Sure but you'd get just as much TV money doing it this way and it'd be a better more exciting product that actually means something

 

[JohnU]

I know that. In my proposal only the 8 best low major conference champs make the NCAA thus freeing up spots for better teams. The others would still be eligible for at large bids.

The problem with the NIT is it's meaningless. Only fans of the teams in it care and many of them don't care either. It's really an extension of the regular season where it's largely irrelevant to all but a few teams. MY solution fixes both. It's makes the regular season far far more valuable AND makes the NIT huge ( since itd be replacing conference tourneys for most leagues ). Also it'd make the NCAA tourney better as you'd be getting the best teams every year instead of autobids from one bid leagues who got hot for 3 days but otherwise had shitty years AND you free up 14 at large bids for better teams.

I think your point about the NIT being meaningless is spot on and there is zero reason for the NCAA to kick this thing to the curb. A tweak here and there and you make sure all the good mid and low major teams get a chance, even if remote, of at least advancing through a tournament that matters. The NCAA has simply walked all over a great resource. I don't know all the solutions but there are a lot of ways to make a second-tier tournament practical without actually watering down the main tournament.

 

[rmilia1]

I think your point about the NIT being meaningless is spot on and there is zero reason for the NCAA to kick this thing to the curb. A tweak here and there and you make sure all the good mid and low major teams get a chance, even if remote, of at least advancing through a tournament that matters. The NCAA has simply walked all over a great resource. I don't know all the solutions but there are a lot of ways to make a second-tier tournament practical without actually watering down the main tournament.

That's what I like about this idea. It places value on the NIT but it also makes the NCAA a better product by guaranteeing the trams who make it are good teams not just teams who played well for 3 or 4 days

 

[rmilia1]

People are always reluctant to change especially since all of us love the tourney so much but change doesn't mean it's going to be worse. The tourney is going to be awesome no matter what so the real question is do you want to place more value on the regular season and make the NIT fun and exciting again?