NIT or is season over?

[Bradley3342]

Don’t think an at large bid to the big dance is likely but hoping we accept a bid to the NIT and get a couple of more home games for the fans and the players.I don’t think the seniors will ever regret having another chance to continue finishing out their careers on a winning note.

[LittleBrave]

Amen to that - would be a shame to have the season end on such a sour note.
Not sure the incentive to win NIT games outweighs the chance to get to play with each other and for Braves’ fans one more time…or more

[LittleBrave]

Though I can’t put myself in any of the Braves seniors’ shoes, I think the decision is a reflection of how much mental toughness these guys have. I know it’s tough to overcome such disappointment they are going thru right now, but I expect them to eventually raise their chins up and be resilient - to realize that though they fell short of the goal, an opportunity is in front of them to make the most of the season that remains. I certainly wouldn’t want to end my college hoops career after a game like today.

I could understand if the program is accustomed to making the tournament regularly, but we’re not there yet. If we had a group with more Juniors and underclassmen, I could also better understand not accepting the NIT bid, but not a team with so many seniors who are so close knit for a mid major program that hasn’t gone far in the NIT the last 2 seasons. Keep building the blocks of achievement. Would be good for the guys who may return next season like Burch, Atlason, Quan, Meta, and CT (who IMO was a bust this season - certainly didn’t have an impact)

[BUfan17]

With a healthy and senior heavy team, I don't see any reason to decline the NIT. I think it would be a same to turn it down.

[Bradley3342]

Amen to that - would be a shame to have the season end on such a sour note.
Not sure the incentive to win NIT games outweighs the chance to get to play with each other and for Braves’ fans one more time…or more

Sour end for sure LittleBrave. Why end the season like this?

[LittleBrave]

Sour end for sure LittleBrave. Why end the season like this?

Right? I mean, win the first 2 games to get farther than this group has been before and see where that takes ya. At that point you are 1 win away from Final 4 in Indianapolis, and imagine the sea of red for that!

[LittleBrave]

This is probably more from a fan’s vantage point, but would be refreshing to play vs non-MVC teams to see how we truly are stacked vs the other Quad 2 teams, which I’d gather are about the same level as our Braves.

Also, I believe it won’t be long before another expansion of the tourney to 72 or 76 teams, which at that point winning games in the NIT won’t mean as much as now, and I don’t see any power conference teams accepting the invite. To win it at Hinkle to a mid major fan would be a sweet memory.

[battlebasset]

Don’t think an at large bid to the big dance is likely but hoping we accept a bid to the NIT and get a couple of more home games for the fans and the players.I don’t think the seniors will ever regret having another chance to continue finishing out their careers on a winning note.

Agree. And that is a shame, because if it had been the other way around (BU win) we would probably get two MVC bids, with Drake.

As it is, one NCAA and probably only two NIT - BU and UNI.

Selfishly, I want to watch them keep playing. And making it to Indy would be a road trip I would gladly take.

[LittleBrave]

Selfishly, I want to watch them keep playing. And making it to Indy would be a road trip I would gladly take.

I would make the trip from Chicago to Hinkle for SURE!

(I honestly am not confident this team can win 3 straight NIT games. Our rebounding is not consistent enough, and foul discrepancy gives opponents an edge.)

[Bradley8792]

I think playing in the NIT would be great experience for the freshman sophomores on our team.

[battlebasset]

I think playing in the NIT would be great experience for the freshman sophomores on our team.

For that reason alone, I hope they do it.

Those seniors that are thinking "it's over" should think about those that still have time. No different from a guy in business that is planning to retire making sure that those he leaves behind have the benefit of his knowledge, even though he is one foot out the door.

[Tommy]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I think it’s crap we win 26 games in one of the toughest non-PC conferences and have no chance at an NCAA bid, while we’ll no doubt see PC schools with close to .500 win percentages that finished in the lower half of their conference standings go instead.
Add the insult of the new NIT rules that PC schools get auto home games and higher seeds and I understand why mid-majors would tell them to piss off. It’s all become such a clown show, it’s hard to take post season basketball serious anymore, other than our own conference tournament, of course.
Yes, this is mostly sour grapes, but I am tired of getting squeezed out of relevance because we aren’t a PC school with a huge fan base. The collusion between NCAA and PC schools has got to end or it will eventually destroy the mid-majors.

[64NIT]

if it had been the other way around (BU win) we would probably get two MVC bids, with Drake.

Don't be so sure. Indiana State was ranked last year for the first time since Bird. They ran through their Valley schedule, won the MVC regular season title, but lost to Drake in the MVC tourney final and wound up in the NIT. The mid-majors get screwed over every year by the big boys, some of whom have losing records in their conferences. (My opinion only, but I think a requirement for a team to make the Dance is to have a winning record in their conference. It doesn't matter that they have an overall winning record because they filled their non-con with cupcakes and sacrificial lambs looking for a paycheck.)

[Da Coach]

Don't be so sure. Indiana State was ranked last year for the first time since Bird. They ran through their Valley schedule, won the MVC regular season title, but lost to Drake in the MVC tourney final and wound up in the NIT. The mid-majors get screwed over every year by the big boys, some of whom have losing records in their conferences. (My opinion only, but I think a requirement for a team to make the Dance is to have a winning record in their conference. It doesn't matter that they have an overall winning record because they filled their non-con with cupcakes and sacrificial lambs looking for a paycheck.)

Indiana State's NET rank last season (2023-24) was 28, and they did not get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Drake's current NET is 56. So if they had not won the tournament, I doubt they would have gotten an at-large bid. 56 is a worse NET rank than any mid-major has gotten since the NET was started.
Note that Bradley's NET dropped from 76 to 80 after the loss to Drake.

[LittleBrave]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I think it’s crap we win 26 games in one of the toughest non-PC conferences and have no chance at an NCAA bid, while we’ll no doubt see PC schools with close to .500 win percentages that finished in the lower half of their conference standings go instead.

Tommy - I will take a blow at the horse too, buddy. This is the most wins we've had in 39 seasons when we finished 32-3!
We had some tough competition too, and the Valley is right around the #9 ranked conference. It's a shame that we are not even in bubble talk.
The NCAA tourney is actually more watered down now that they are taking the .500 record PC teams (with horrible records vs Quad 1 opponents) ahead of the 25-win mid-majors with a strong resume.

Maybe, just maybe (and I type this mostly with doubt), we will shockingly get an At-Large as we did in 2006 when we didn't really expect that.
The metrics are more against us now than back then and the Valley is weaker - not by a ton, but noticeably. Add the fact that Indy St. got burned last season with a NET of like 27 and BU is in the 70s...I don't see it happening, especially how bad Drake made us look on Sunday.

Take out the losses to Drake, a 30-3 dominator, and this team deserves (IMO) to be an At-Large team, especially as a pretty hot team in the last 10 games.