[NU Sports] NIT field

[Eric West]

The NIT has changed its ways the past two or three years (since the NCAA 
basically took it over), but I think it's for the better. #5 seeds are 
pretty far down on the "close-to-home" ladder, and I think Tulsa is a 
much fairer first-round matchup for NU than, say, Notre Dame or 
Creighton. Personally, I wouldn't have been more likely to travel to 
Lexington or Manhattan to see our team play, so I have to disagree that 
Tulsa causes "reduced" interest. I'm guessing they will sell plenty of 
tickets in Oklahoma, something the NIT committee couldn't assume about 
NU -- which is why they wouldn't bump us up to a #4 seed just so we 
could host Illinois State. (Not that I agree that we should have had a 
#5 seed, but that's another topic.)

Also, South Carolina got put in its quarter of the bracket (it's not 
really the "West," there's no such thing) because every other quarter 
already had an SEC team in it. It actually makes quite a bit of sense, 
if you think about it, and the NCAA tournament has numerous examples 
that are similar (Xavier to Boise, Syracuse to Miami, etc.).

I don't think we should make assumptions about travel costs; do we know 
for sure that the NCAA doesn't subsidize part of the NIT now that it's 
running the show? Either way, I think it's a vast improvement on the 
past, and helps make the NIT a legitimate tournament. I'm excited to see 
what happens.


Eric West
e-west at northwestern.edu


SjT (Stephen J. Truog) wrote:
> Not sure I like how the NIT field is set these days. I think the seedings are a good idea, but they seem to be going the opposite way of the NCAA in terms of keeping teams as close to home as possible.
>
> It hurts interest in the games with regional rivalries that often are not on the schedule between bigger and smaller league schools. And it's gotta hurt in travel - especially given the short span between NIT rounds. This isn't the NCAA where the schools have a lot of money to cover costs -- is this taking a bite out of NU's athletic budget to head to Oklahoma and then possibly Alabama (as opposed to Iowa and Indiana?).
>
> And it's not just NU (I can see making a lower seed travel), but placing New Mexico as #3 in what could be called their "east" regional and South Carolina as #3 in the "west"?? Doesn't make much sense.
>
> Just a shame to see the opportunity to have NU-KSU in a 4/5 game of purple passion or NU-UK in another battle of Wildcats at 4/5 and get some interest in a Big Ten-SEC game in Rupp Arena. But Tulsa? Yawn.
>
> Doesn't make much basketball or financial sense for all that needless travel and to reduce interest in the games by the fans and viewers.
>
> Still, gotta seize the moment!
> GO CATS!!! BEAT THE HURRICANE!
> -SjT
>