Post-season bids- is Illinois State an NIT team?

[tornado]

It is shaping up once again that the entire state of Illinois might get shut out and have no representative in the NCAA Tournament
Of course any team might be the upset winner in their tourney but we're talking longshot...

Illinois- might have the best chance - they have win a bunch to get off the bubble
ISU- very longshot but have to win the tourney, 17-11
SIU- nope 10-19
Bradley- nope 8-21
NIU- nope 10-15
Loyola- nope 16-12
WIU- nope 8-17
Chicago State- nope 6-22
DePaul - started off looking good but not now 6-9 in Big East
UIC- nope 7-22
EIU- nope 16-12 - but could have a remote chance of tourney upset
SIUE- nope 12-14
Northwestern- nope 13-14

[Da Coach]

Illinois State has now won 3 games in a row matching their longest winning streak of the season. Those 3 wins have been over relatively bad teams Bradley, Loyola, and SIU, so ISU's RPI has only improved slightly to 88. That is still a little too low to expect an NIT at-large bid. Rarely does a mid-major get in with an RPI much over 70. So ISU's chances appear to come down to winning at Evansville Saturday, and winning at least a couple games in the MVC Tournament.

Current MVC RPI's

http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2015/conference/Missouri%20Valley

[tornado]

...Illinois- might have the best chance - they have win a bunch to get off the bubble..

one twitter comment I saw last night after the sloppy Iowa-Illinois game where the announcers repeatedly touted both teams as locks for at-large bids...

"if these two teams are at-large teams, then it makes the strongest argument yet
for shrinking the NCAA Tourney back to 48 or 32 teams"

[Da Coach]

Speaking of seeding...
It'll never happen, but I'd like to see the NCAA seed teams 1 through 64, then separate them into regionals, instead of setting up the regionals first, then seeding 1-16 in each regional.

The best example I could cite of how this is a bit unfair is the 1985-86 Bradley team. They had the unfortunate fate of getting matched with Louisville (the eventual champion) in the 2nd round, when with a different seeding, that team might have been a Sweet 16 or a final 8 team.

[Da Coach]

Illinois State moved a little closer to possibly being an NIT at-large team. Their road win at Evansville boosts their record to 19-11 and 11-7 in the MVC. They are tied with Indiana State for 3rd, but since they lost both games to the Sycamores, they will get the 4th seed in the MVCT.

Their RPI rose slightly to 80 currently. They will play Evansville (locked in at the 5th seed) again in the Friday games in St. Louis. If they win, they'll play the winner of the Wichita State vs. 8/9 game. I think there is maybe a 50% chance that going 1-1 in the tournament might get them an NIT bid.

[Da Coach]

The NCAA, which owns the NIT, has announced a change in the way they select the #1 seeded teams in the NIT. They will now award #1 seeds to the "First Four Out" of the NCAA Tournament.

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/04/first-four-out-to-receive-one-seeds-in-postseason-nit/

That may seem like it should have been logical, but since the NCAA started seeding the NIT, the actual #1 seeds have not always been the same as the list of First Four Out of the NCAA.

This year's NIT will also test two possible rules changes the NCAA is considering-
A 30 second shot clock, instead of 35 second and a block-charge arc of 4 feet from under the basket, instead of the current 3 feet.
The CBI Tournament will also be allowed to incorporate the two new rule changes.

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/04/first-four-out-to-receive-one-seeds-in-postseason-nit/

[CubbieBear]

Illinois State has now won 3 games in a row matching their longest winning streak of the season. Those 3 wins have been over relatively bad teams Bradley, Loyola, and SIU, so ISU's RPI has only improved slightly to 88. That is still a little too low to expect an NIT at-large bid. Rarely does a mid-major get in with an RPI much over 70. So ISU's chances appear to come down to winning at Evansville Saturday, and winning at least a couple games in the MVC Tournament.

ISU now has an RPI of 77 and IF they beat Evansville for a 3rd time tomorrow they will have 20 wins--and even if they lose to Wichita State--I would guess the NIT will give them an invite. If they lose to Evansville-- the Valley will not have a team in the NIT.

[ollienanyes]

maybe now?

Well, ISU red is in the championship game. If they lose to the Loyola-UNI winner....they might be in the NIT.

[tornado]

congrats to ISU
..could we see all All-Illinois Final??
Go Loyola!

[Tommy]

Rooting for Loyola to win the tournament now, but would be ok with ISU, as well. Would be great to send 3 MVC teams to the tourney!

[Da Coach]

ISU got the quality win they needed, and their RPI jumped up to 63 after the win over Wichita State. They are now an NIT team if they lose to UNI.

http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2015/conference/Missouri%20Valley

[Da Coach]

It looks like ISU isn't going to have to worry about whether they'll get an NIT bid. They are clobbering UNI.

[tornado]

ISU - good talent - bad shot selection and strong tendency to play street ball

...but they do have talent

[Vent]

ISU - good talent - bad shot selection and strong tendency to play street ball

...but they do have talent

It must be nice to have bad shot selection and a strong tendency to play street ball. If it wasn't for those things, they'd dominate the MVC. They beat the #8 team in the country yesterday and played with the #11 team in the country today, in the championship game of the MVC tournament. I also believe they only have an RPI in the to top 70.

[ollienanyes]

ISU red has talent but no more talent than, say UNI has. It took them some time to jell as a team and learn how to play with each other.

Now, as far as I am concerned, they really are the Valley's second best team. Wichita, to be frank, is overrated this year. On offense they are basically Baker and not much else. I'd be surprised if they win their NCAA game.

UNI: possibly a Sweet 16 run.

The good news is that ISU might be poised to make some noise in the NIT; I can see them winning 2-3 games in that tournament.