(04-01-2021 11:03 PM)shocker3 Wrote: (03-28-2021 11:10 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote: Honest question, is it better to win the NIT or lose in the 1st round of the NCAAT? I think my own personal preference would be to win the NIT but I'm curious what others think.
From a pure fans standpoint, I would say winning the NIT. I remember how fun it was in 2011 when Wichita State did it. Seeing your team win on espn for several games in a row and in our case knock off Washington State (with Klay Thompson) and Alabama in New York was great fun.
But unfortunately from the monetary standpoint, the NCAA one and done is much better. Winning the NIT brings in something like $20,000 while losing in the first round of the ncaa tournament is worth something like $1.8 million spread over 6 years.
Definitely agree - winning the NIT is much better than a one and done, despite the lack of financial reward.
For one thing, teams that advance in the NIT gain extremely valuable tournament experience that can help teams in tournament play over the next 2-3 seasons.
In addition, winning the NIT carries much more long-term prestige than being ejected in the round of 32, and is thus more similar in value to advancing to the NCAA sweet sixteen.
Head Coaches have gotten their contracts renewed after winning NIT championships, but not so much by winning one NCAA tournament game and advancing to the round of 32.
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While some may consider the NIT to be a second-rate tournament, winning a NIT championship typically requires winning 5 games in a row against 20+ win teams, and is thus a difficult and remarkably rare accomplishment.
Only 1 out of 7 D1 colleges and universities have won a NIT championship, and only 20 - now including Memphis - have won two or more NIT championships.
Neither Louisville nor Connecticut has advanced to the final round of the NIT more than once. Most AAC schools have never won a NIT championship, including Cincinnati (the only AAC team to win two NCAA championships), and less than half have advanced to the NIT semifinals (Memphis, Tulsa (1981 & 2001 NIT championships), Temple (1938 & 1969 NIT championships), Wichita (2011 NIT championship), and Houston (1977 semi-finalist).
Memphis has now won more NIT championships than UCLA, North Carolina, Duke, Syracuse, Michigan State, Louisville, Connecticut, and Indiana have.
https://www.coachesdatabase.com/list-nit-champions/
Some college basketball "blue bloods" (including Duke, Syracuse, and Michigan State) have never won a NIT championship, despite the fact that, from 1938 to the mid-1950s, the NIT was widely considered to be, initially, more prestigious and for many years, approximately as prestigious as the NCAA.
The NIT was still so prestigious in 1970 that Marquette chose to play in the NIT, rather than accepting an invitation to play in the NCAA - - and never regretted that decision.
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Moreover, a NIT championship is something people remember in a way that they might not remember a sweet sixteen appearance.
For example, many Temple basketball fans know that the Owls won the 1938 and 1969 NIT championships, but couldn't necessarily recall - without checking - which years Temple teams advanced to the NCAA elite eight.
There's something very memorable about a NIT championship. It's for the history books. It's something you never forget.
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