[NU Sports] NIT field

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> (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

True - but there seems to be a curious amount of long-travel games (Gtown @ Baylor, UNLV @ Kentucky, UAB @ Evil Empire - second round games of S.Carolina @ St. Marys or New Mexico @ Evil Empire) which doesn't make sense because ...

* Travel costs for a tourney that has struggled to make much of a profit in the past

* Ratings and interest for more regional games and rivalries/stories

* Less travel time between rounds ... from an organization that says a football playoff would hurt academics but a cross-country trip followed by another two days later is fine???

> 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

Not so much the travel, but the TV interest. I'd have gotten the sports package to see us play in Rupp Arena for the first time in who knows when or to see all that purple in the Little Apple. Tulsa? Hmmm ... Miami and Providence? Yawn. Illinois St. vs. NU in Evanston or downstate (Bloomington, right?) ... YES!!!

> Also, South Carolina got put in its quarter of the bracket
> (it's not really the "West," there's no

I know there are no names, but when you have San Diego St. and St. Marys as the top seeds, you can pretty much call it the Pacific Time Zone bracket.:) There could be as little as a 1-day turnaround between rounds 2 and 3, so sending the Gamecocks from Columbia to California and then making them play seems excessive.

> 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.).

Quite different when you're going for two games at a site, have no limit on travel budget and have games that will be of interest everywhere (and really, Boise never needs help selling tickets by placing local teams in their bracket - they and Dayton have perhaps been the two most consistent hosts selling out in NCAA history).

> past, and helps make the NIT a legitimate tournament.
> I'm excited to see what happens.

Not sure there - I'd like seeding if it made much sense, but are SDSU, Auburn, Florida and Creighton really the four best teams left ... or the four that people want to see in MSG? Are we really a 5-seed or were we bumped for attendance (hence tainting the seeding process somewhat)? Seems like you still need some kind of regional rivalry flaire to keep costs down and interest up.

But it's the NIT ... no use getting too worked up:) ... just seemed a bit odd to me the way they did it. Hopefully we become road warriors and race to the Big Apple (another reason for K-State ... from the Lil' Apple to the Big One! ... the T-shirts sell themselves!:) ).

GO CATS!!!
-SjT