Despite winning 20 games in regular season play for the first time in the program's history; the Wildcats were snubbed by the nit.
While this was an historic year in terms of conference champions who lost in conference tournaments and were therefore relegated to an NIT bid; the selection committee decided to award at large bids to
Washington 18-14 3rd seed!
Georgia Tech 19-14 4th seed
Virginia Tech 19-14 3rd seed!
Florida 19-14 2nd Seed!
Alabama 18-14 5th seed
Creighton 18-14 4th seed!
Florida State 19-13 4th seed!
Georgia 18-13, 3rd seed!
The only At large bid awarded a Power Conference team that was below a 4th seed is Alabama, one out of 8!
All 1-4 seeds are guaranteed one home game, 2nd seeds usually have 2 home games. The Wildcats lost their opening round conference tournament game to Michigan in OT. In past seasons, Big 10 teams with .500 records or only 1 more win than loss have received NIT bids and performed well in the tournament. The nit has a chance to make an historic statement about the progress Collins has made in Evanston and catch Northwestern on an upward trajectory and give the Wildcats the back of their hand.
Ohio State with a 20-13 record received a 3rd seed, why they didn't get the 2nd seed that was awarded Florida is hard to understand.
If this tournament has such a hard on for the sec & acc, perhaps the Big 10 should decline future invitations and look to the Vegas 16 as an alternative for teams that do not qualify for the NCAA Tournament.