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The NCAA selection committee may have tried to make up for the fact that the number of A5 at-large teams increased from 26 in 2018 and 2019 to 29 in 2021, it by cutting the number of A5 teams down from 16 in 2018 and 9 in 2019 to only 5 in 2021.

Two of the 5 invited A5 teams (Duke & Louisville) did not accept. Duke (13-11) had a disappointing season and hasn't accepted a NIT invitation since 1981, but both Duke and Louisville may have rejected the NIT invitation in a gesture of protest, since they had a stronger record than that of least one team in the NCAA field -- Michigan State.

Among these teams, Louisville has by far the most compelling case as to why they should have received a NCAA bid; but notably, St. Louis also has a very compelling case:

..Team:..........W-L.......NET:........Q1/Q2 %:...SOR (Strength of Record):

Louisville.......13-7........56...........7-6 (.538).......35

St. Louis........14-6........43...........4-4 (.500).......61

Duke.............13-11......49...........7-9 (.438).......65

MSU..............15-12......70..........9-12 (.429)......37

If Louisville had received the NCAA bid that went to MSU, and had Duke and MSU accepted their NIT bids, they would have been among the 1 seeds in the NIT - alongside Memphis or Mississippi - but behind the top seed, which - if had been based on the merits - would have been St. Louis.


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The 3 other teams that turned down NIT bids were Seton Hall, St. John's, and Xavier. They, like Louisville, might have been protesting the fact that they didn't receive NCAA bids, but if that was their intent, to paraphrase Shakespeare:

"Methinks (they) doth protest too much..."

...because the truth is that their rankings and records would have been very comparable with those of some of the NIT 2 and 3 seeds:

St. John's.......16-11......69...........7-9 (.438).......55

Seton Hall......14-13......57..........8-12 (.400)......58

Xavier............13-8.......61...........6-7 (.462).......56

SMU...............11-5.......65..........4-7 (.363)........51

Boise St..........18-8.......50.........4-7 (.363).........69

St. Mary's.......14-9.......62..........4-8 (.333).........64

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Perhaps it was a public relations decision by their conference, but if so, it might backfire, because history has proven that playing in the NIT tends to pay dividends for a program over the next 2-3 seasons, and that's why these A5 teams - and 16 A5 conference teams in 2018, and 9 A5 conference teams in 2019 - accepted their NIT invitations:

NC State (ACC), Mississipi (SEC), Mississippi St. (SEC),

If Xavier, Seton Hall, and St. John's thought that they were simply "too good" to play in the NIT, their rankings and records indicate that they were mistaken, and considering the records of some of the teams they might have faced, some of them might not have advanced past the first round of the tourney:

Seed/Team:.....W-L.....NET:........Q1/Q2 %:...SOR (Strength of Record):

1 Saint Louis....14-6.....43..........4-4 (.500).........61

1 Mississippi....16-11.....53.........7-9 (.438).........63

1 Memphis.......16-8.....52..........4-7 (.363).........71

1 CSU.............11-5......65.........3-6 (.333).........51

2 Boise St........18-8......50.........4-7 (.363).........69

2 St. Mary's......14-9.....62..........4-8 (.333).........64

2 Davidson.......12-8.....58..........4-6 (.400).........83

2 Richmond......12-8.....68..........5-4 (.556).........74

3 SMU..............11-5.....65..........4-7 (.363)........51

3 W. Kentucky...20-7.....81..........4-4 (.500)........53

3 Toledo............21-8.....67........3-4 (.429).........88

3 NC St............13-10....73........4-9 (.308).........62

4 LA Tech..........20-7.....76.........2-4 (.333).........77

4 Dayton...........14-9.....80..........4-4 (.500)........78

4 Mississippi St..15-14....82.........7-12 (.368)........82

4 Buffalo...........15-8.....79.........1-4 (.250)........116

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Memphis (vs. Dayton) and SMU (vs. Boise St.) both have tough first round games in the NIT's Sweet Sixteen, and if they both advance to the NIT's Elite Eight, they will play each other in the second round.

Although the Flyers have not played consistently well this season, they've amassed an impressive (6-6) Q1/Q2 record and have been tough to beat when playing at their best. They've beaten (#23) St. Bonaventure, Davidson, Mississippi, and Mississippi State, have swept (#43) St. Louis this season, and only lost to (#37) VCU by 5 in their most recent (A-10) tourney game.

The winner will face SMU or 18-8 Boise St.

The (18-8) Broncos only went 5-5 during the last stretch of the season, but 4 of those 5 losses were away games @ (16-10; #5 MWC) Nevada and @ (#18; 23-4) SDSU, while two of those wins were victories over NCAA team (#39) Utah State. They also won a tough away game @ (#20; 20-6) BYU.