NIT/CBI/CIT Projections
NIT (And CBI/CIT)-ology: February 24
by Chris Dobbertean on Feb 24, 2010 6:00 PM EST
in NIT/CBI/CIT Projections
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If you think picking 34 at-large teams for the NCAA Tournament is difficult this season, picking another 64 for the NIT, CBI, and CollegeInsider.com Tournament isn't going to be much of a picnic either.
North Carolina is still in the NIT field and Arizona sneaks in as well. Keep in mind that while there is no rule stating a team has to have a record above .500 to be selected, no team with a losing mark has yet to be chosen. With that in mind, I've kept that principle in place until the NIT Selection Committee says otherwise.
The CBI could have a semifinal round featuring Boston College, UCLA, Michigan and Arkansas. If UNC loses a few more games, they could trump the Razorbacks in the South region.
After the jump, I'll have the projections for college basketball's other three postseason tournaments.
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NIT (and CBI/CIT)- ology: February 9
by Chris Dobbertean on Feb 9, 2010 6:00 PM EST
in NIT/CBI/CIT Projections
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After taking a couple of weeks off, I'm back with more in-depth bracketology, my projections for the NIT, CBI, and College Insider Tournament fields.
NIT
Stillwater Regional
(1) Oklahoma State vs. (8) Illinois State
(4) North Carolina vs. (5) Seton Hall
(3) Washington vs. (6) Alabama
(2) Connecticut vs. (7) Tulsa
Cincinnati Regional
(1) Cincinnati vs. (8) St. Louis
(4) Wichita State vs. (5) Arizona State
(3) San Diego State vs. (6) Boston College
(2) Northwestern vs. (7) William & Mary
Starkville Regional
(1) Mississippi State vs. (8) Louisiana Tech
(4) Miami vs. (5) Texas Tech
(3) Marquette vs. (6) Minnesota
(2) VCU vs. (7) Washington State
South Bend Regional
(1) Notre Dame vs. (8) Western Carolina
(4) Oklahoma vs. (5) South Carolina
(3) Virginia vs. (6) Providence
(2) Old Dominion vs. (7) Memphis
Conference Breakdown
6: Big East
4: ACC
3: Big 12, Colonial, Pac-10, SEC
2: Big Ten, Conference USA, Missouri Valley
1: Atlantic 10, Mountain West, Southern, WAC
After the jump, I'll take a look at the CBI and CIT.
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NIT/CBI/CIT-ology: January 19
by Chris Dobbertean on Jan 19, 2010 7:00 PM EST
in NIT/CBI/CIT Projections
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Well, I've been at this since the 2005-06 season, but this is the first time I've gone beyond the NCAA field with my bracket projections. I figure after four years, it's time to take a look at the other men's postseason tournaments, which now number three.
The most well-known of the three is the National Invitation Tournament, which wraps up at New York's Madison Square Garden just before the Final Four. The NCAA took over the NIT starting with the 2006 event. Since then, it's become almost a mini-NCAA Tourney with a selection committee and an actual seeding process, including automatic bids.
The other two, the College Basketball Invitational (or CBI) and the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (aka the CIT) are pretty recent additions to the basketball postseason. The CBI has been held twice previously, while the CIT is entering its second season. These events started up partially as a response to the reduction of the NIT field from 40 to 32 teams in 2007. The The CIT has the additional goal of providing more postseason opportunities to schools outside of the major conferences.
Before you say four postseason tournaments is too much, let me throw some numbers at you.
- There are currently 347 schools who are full or transitional Division I members, of these only 129 or 37 percent will make the postseason with four tournaments.
- In what we used to call Division I-A football, 72 of the 120 teams will get to play in bowl games after the 2010 season (if new bowls in New York City and Dallas are approved). That's 60 percent.
- If you add the division formerly known as I-AA, who will send 24 of 124 teams to the postseason after 2010 (20 to the playoffs, two to the Gridiron Classic, two to the SWAC Championship), 96 of the 224 Division I football teams will play in the postseason. That's still a bit more than 39 percent, 2 percent more than basketball.
Now,. the biggest changes to these three fields will come during Championship Weeks, thanks to NIT auto bids. Regular season conference winners who lose in their conference tournaments get a guaranteed spot in the NIT, where they'll likely bump the teams on lines 7 and 8 of a NIT projection into another tournament.
But that isn't a concern for another six weeks or so. For now, here's how I see the three fields on Tuesday, January 19th. I'll update these on Tuesdays until we get closer to Selection Sunday.
NIT
Not surprisingly, the First Four Out from my Monday bracket are the top seeds in my first-ever NIT projection, and the Next Four Out make up the 2 line.
Naturally, these eight teams have the best chance of making their way out of the field of 32 over the next month and a half, but teams like Notre Dame, Michigan, Washington, and Cal, could move up as well. However, in the Huskies and Golden Bears' cases, they may need to rely on the Pac-10's NCAA auto bid at this point.
Old Dominion, currently in a four-way tie atop the CAA is another squad who could slide up based on what happens in their conference.
Western Kentucky is the team in the bottom half of the field with the best chance to move up. Had the Hilltoppers beaten Middle Tennessee Monday night, they would have been in position to jump into next week's NCAA projection as the Sun Belt leader. Now, they'll have to win at Troy and beat those same Blue Raiders at home and hope Arkansas State loses at least once in South Florida at the end of the week.
Semifinal Pairings
Champaign Region vs. Miami Region
Louisville Region vs. Evanston Region
Champaign Region
(1) Illinois vs. (8) Missouri State
(4) Old Dominion vs. (5) Texas Tech
(3) Maryland vs. (6) Tulsa
(2) Marquette vs. (7) South Carolina
Miami Region
(1) Miami vs. (8) Western Kentucky
(4) St. John's vs. (5) Iowa State
(3) Notre Dame vs. (6) Memphis
(2) Oklahoma State vs. (7) Charlotte
Louisville Region
(1) Louisville vs. (8) Utah State
(4) Washington vs. (5) Alabama
(3) Michigan vs. (6) VCU
(2) San Diego State vs. (7) Nebraska
Evanston Region
(1) Northwestern vs. (8) Harvard
(4) Oklahoma vs. (5) Seton Hall
(3) California vs. (6) NC State
(2) Florida vs. (7) Wichita State
Bids by League
Big East (5), Big 12 (5), ACC (3), Big Ten (3), SEC (3), Colonial (2), Conference USA (2), Missouri Valley (2), Pacific-10 (2), Atlantic 10, Ivy, Mountain West, Sun Belt, and WAC (1 each)
After the jump, I'll look at the CBI and CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
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