My 2nd annual NIT Bubble Watch is online at the below link. Sun Belt fans are welcome to check it out and make their comments (you don't have to be registered to post). It's a tough call for me to figure out who from the Sun Belt might make the NIT. You only had 1 NIT team last year and while I think 3 teams will be in the running this year (Middle Tennessee State, Arkansas-Little Rock and New Orleans), it wouldn't shock me if just 1 makes it again this year. I think MTSU has the best bet of the three.
Anyway congrats to ULL and be sure to check out the nation's only NIT Bubble Watch!
<a href='http://server4.ipshosting.com/~sammythe/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=25&t=836&st=0#entry2867' target='_blank'>NIT Bubble Watch at sammytheowl.com</a>
If an SBC team makes it it better be UNO. None of us are deserving (at all!), so if they're gonna invite one just to have one from the Belt, it should be the league runner-up.
Hey you're preaching to the choir here. I realize you guys played as well as anybody in the Sun Belt down the stretch.
Unfortunately the NIT committee doesn't care about what is right or justified. All they care about is putting fannies in the seats. There is a rule in place that an NIT team can't go on the road for the 1st 3 or 4 rounds. So every potential NIT team must be prepared to host a game. For that reason and that reason alone, they'll quite often slight a 2nd place team from a conference and pick another one right below it if they feel like they'll draw more folks to a home game. It's why we were slighted over Hawaii last year and possibly why we'll get screwed again this year.
Another consideration is nearby teams to match you up with. Auburn might be about it for UNO this year and there are plenty of other teams close enough to Alabama from other conferences that could meet the Tigers instead.
I still think Middle Tennessee has a shot. I think they had a nice NIT run two years ago. Ark.-Little Rock might also be a candidate, especially if UTEP or Rice get in.
Good luck to you - I think all of my locks from last year made it. I did miss about 2 or 3 NIT teams that weren't on my bubble list but I believe they were all west coast teams I had overlooked.