Time to start taking these seriously. First, the following 10 teams are NCAA bubble teams, and NIT locks:
BYU (21-8)
Stanford (18-10)
Texas (17-12)
Texas A&M (20-8)
Kansas St (15-15)
Pittsburgh (18-11)
Miami (18-11)
Old Dominion (22-6)
Illinois (18-11)
UConn (17-11)
The following teams are not NCAA bubble teams, but in my opinion are NIT locks:
Rhode Island (19-7)
Clemson (16-12)
Seton Hall (16-12)
UMass (17-12)
St Mary's (20-8)
15 spots are accounted for. In most years, 8-10 NIT bids are used up by automatic qualifiers (regular season conference champions that do not make the NCAAs). This means at this point, there are 7-9 remaining NIT spots available.
My best estimation of the 7 teams above the cutline:
Memphis (17-12)
Minnesota (16-12)
Oregon St (16-11)
Arizona St (15-13)
George Washington (18-11)
UTEP (19-9)
Richmond (17-12)
The next 2 in limbo:
Green Bay (21-7)
Buffalo (19-9)
The following 8 teams would then be out in a scenario where 8 autobids are taken. As of today, with 0 autobids spoken for, these teams are currently projected in the NIT, but are in obvious trouble:
Wyoming (19-8)
Alabama (16-12)
Yale (19-8)
Toledo (19-10)
Illinois St (18-11)
California (16-12)
Bowling Green (19-7)
Florida St (15-15)
FYI: teams who are currently under .500, who, if they got to .500, could be interesting:
Florida (14-15), Michigan (13-14), South Carolina (13-14). I doubt any make it, but they'd at least be in play.
Finally, a bracket, just because. Geography is a critical aspect, so I took several liberties with seeding compared to the list above. There are some isolated travel oddities (with 4 A-10 and Pac-12 teams in the field of 32, things get squirrely when trying to keep everyon close to home, so some are going to have to travel cross-country).
EAST
1) Pittsburgh (18-11) vs. 8) Bowling Green (19-7)
4) Rhode Island (19-7) vs. 5) Seton Hall (16-12)
3) UConn (17-11) vs. 6) Buffalo (19-9)
2) Old Dominion (22-6) vs. 7) Yale (19-8)
SOUTH
1) Texas (17-12) vs. 8) Florida St (15-15)
4) UMass (17-12) vs. 5) Memphis (17-12)
3) Miami (18-11) vs. 6) Richmond (17-12)
2) Texas A&M (20-8) vs. 7) Toledo (19-10)
MIDWEST
1) Kansas St (15-15) vs. 8) Illinois St (18-11)
4) Oregon St (16-11) vs. 5) UTEP (19-9)
3) St Mary's (20-8) vs. 6) Arizona St (15-13)
2) Illinois (18-11) vs. 7) Green Bay (21-7)
WEST
1) BYU (21-8) vs. 8) California (16-12)
4) Minnesota (16-12) vs. 5) George Washington (18-11)
3) Clemson (16-12) vs. 6) Alabama (16-12)
2) Stanford (18-10) vs. 7) Wyoming (19-8)
1 comment:
Maybe Penn State after their showing in the Big 10 tournament?
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