(02-19-2014 01:30 AM)Campbell4President Wrote: I have a feeling that it is going to be Ohio or Buffalo winning the MAC Tourney which means my Rockets would be in the NIT. I know I'm probably the only Rocket fan that would feel this way but unless my team is good enough to make it to at least the Sweet 16, I wouldn't mind seeing them play in the NIT especially if they could buy home games the way they did with the ladies a few years back (but I don't know how the NIT works with home games, etc.). I'd prefer a chance to win the NIT over a first round loss of the NCAA tournament.
I understand where you are likely coming from (probably the women's success in the 2010 WNIT) and I don't want to rain on your NIT parade, but:
1) With UT being one of the host sites for the 1st & 2nd rounds of the Women's NCAA Tournament this year, I seriously doubt that Savage will be hosting any NIT games this year, even if a team gets in.
2) The women's were able to play all six WNIT games at Savage in 2010 because they rank higher in attendance than most other teams playing in the WNIT and therefore the UT administration was in a favorable position to out bid most other schools (even big names) for the home court advantage. The men do NOT have that luxury. For example this year, although the UT women are only playing about .500 ball, they currently rank 25th in the country in average attendance per game, yet the men with a record of 21-4 do not even come close to ranking in the top 100 teams in the country in average home attendance.
I remember a few years ago the men did get a 1st round NIT game against South Alabama at Savage but I don't think they would be ever be likely to get a second round game at Savage because the bidding would probably be too tough.
I feel the same way about the men this year as I felt about the women last year-------namely they have a reasonably good chance of winning the MAC Tournament this year (probably 50/50) and most teams are not often in that position, so I am going to be disappointed if they don't succeed.
I personally don't have another 33 years to wait around for the program to win another MBB MAC Tournament and future opportunities are never promised so they need to answer the call this year because the opportunity to win it all does exist this year.