I love the NIT

I have been watching the ‘other’ NCAA tournament. And it pains me to say that the Cincinnati Bearcats would have been bounced early. I saw Bradley dominate Pitt the other day. Pitt absolutely blasted UC and they did it with ease. Bradley would KILL UC. Wichita St. would beat UC. Every Sweet 16 team beats UC on a neutral court. Every one. Handily.

UC has a 7-man rotation. Barely. Their 7th man is a football player. In NCAA tournament play, the referees call the games tighter. Watch any game – at least 3 guys are in foul trouble by half time. The Bearcats cannot afford to have one guy in foul trouble.

Tournament teams have size. Poor Eric Hicks would have to contest every shot and track down every rebound while banging against large trees and fighting off double teams. Big teams would swallow the Cats.

Long story short, the Bearcats were going down. Deep, battle-tested teams (see Michigan State, North Carolina, Kansas) were plucked from the playoffs. The last strange days of Andy Kennedy would have ended when the bars were still serving green beer on St. Patrick’s Day. But now, thanks to the wonders of the NIT, they live on.

The Bearcats are still playing. They have gotten three more home games out of this deal. The fans get to see the four seniors, and maybe Devan Downey, in person for the last time. It is cold right now in Cincinnati and baseball is two weeks away – basketball is center stage. There is nothing else. Give me bonus basketball.

And the field is good. At least, the names look good. Michigan, Maryland, Louisville. If you did not know what year this is, you could mistake it for the real thing.

And yes, I am reaching. No one cares about the NIT. ESPN.com only gives it one page of coverage that lists the scores and is probably updated by an intern who got a poor review. But I got to go see the Cats last night and despite a crowd of less than 6,000 fueled only by soda pop, the place was loud and alive. The Bearcats are in postseason play and 100 other teams are watching at home. There are basketball games to be played and they are keeping score. That’s better than nothing. That’s probably even better than being dumped in the first round by Northwestern St. (right, Iowa?)