With the NCAA tournament kicking off, one tournament which fades into the shadows is the NIT, a tournament of the collection of teams who were unlucky to miss March Madness.
What is it?
The NIT, also known as the National Invitation Tournament is full of all the bubble teams who fell short of the NCAA tournament. In the NIT, 32 competitive teams compete in single elimination bracket format, and at this point, the first round has concluded. In the tournament, 16 teams are given ranked seeds and 16 are unseeded, creating entertainment for the viewer with the feeling of an underdog. Despite this, often times the games see the unranked team take down the seeded one often times in dominant fashion.
Current Tournament Status
At this point in the tournament, the NIT's "sweet sixteen" has been decided and couldn't be better. Out of the 16 games, six of them had an unseeded team prevail, the notable games being VCU's eight point victory over one-seed Villanova and Boston College's five point shocker over three-seeded Providence. Now, the round of 16 will take place over the weekend of March 23rd, and where these teams will go is a complete mystery.
Predictions
There are three teams I believe can make a deep run in this tournament: Boston College, Seton Hall and Indiana State. Boston College, coming from the highly competitive ACC, made a late season push and lost barely to Virginia, who was the three seed in the ACC tourney, and I believe their fast pace and hunger can win them some big games.
Seton Hall, coming from the Big East, is an extremely experienced and also hungry team. Being one of the first four out, this squad is foaming at the mouth for a chance at a trophy, and this year, the NIT is definitely a strong possibility.
Indiana State, also one of the first four out, is one of those one-seeds in this tournament you just cannot count out. After a nine-point decisive victory over SMU, the sycamores are ready to show that they should have made the tournament, and how they will do is something to watch for.
Tyler Rath
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