In the first post in this thread, St. Bonaventure is listed among the teams that declined a NIT offer. Today, people associated with St. Bonaventure claim they did not turn down an invitation. Here’s St. Bonaventure’s Director of Athletics statement which I think is supposed to clear things up.
To me, this statement is very similar to me saying I didn’t turn down a date for Saturday with Margot Robbie. I simply called her Tuesday afternoon and left a message that with my knee acting up and the weather forecast for the weekend—- she might want to consider other options for Saturday. 😁
Edit: And here’s a reaction from a Bonnie’s fan to Manhertz’ statement:
Bonaventure fans wanted the NIT - badly - I married a Bonaventure grad they are livid
One of the starters for Alabama this year was once the MAAC Rookie of the Year, Aaron Estrada. He was the ROTY for the 2020 season. He’s gone from St. Peter’s to Oregon to Hofstra and is now one game away from the Final Four. Alabama plays Clemson on Saturday for the West Regional championship.
And in the NIT, Georgia will play Seton Hall in one Final Four game at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The leading scorer for Georgia this season was a MAAC first team all conference selection in ‘23, Niagara’s Noah Thomasson.
One of the starters for Alabama this year was once the MAAC Rookie of the Year, Aaron Estrada. He was the ROTY for the 2020 season. He’s gone from St. Peter’s to Oregon to Hofstra and is now one game away from the Final Four. Alabama plays Clemson on Saturday for the West Regional championship.
And in the NIT, Georgia will play Seton Hall in one Final Four game, The leading scorer for Georgia this season was a MAAC first team all conference selection in ‘23, Niagara’s Noah Thomasson.
These are just two examples of how many good players there are out there playing in mid to low power conferences such as the MAAC and why so many are tempted to use the portal to sign up with a power conference school to compete at the highest level of college ball possible, especially if their NIL money offers dwarf what might have been available if they had stayed put. Estrada BTW is more than just a starter for the Crimson Tide: he is one of their stars. Same thing at Hofstra too before this year when I think he won POY in the CAA a couple times. Anyway when you see success like this, while so many seem to think that Leach and Goodine are making a mistake in declaring for the portal, if either or both of them turn out to have similar success, their gamble certainly would have been well worth the effort.
One of the starters for Alabama this year was once the MAAC Rookie of the Year, Aaron Estrada. He was the ROTY for the 2020 season. He’s gone from St. Peter’s to Oregon to Hofstra and is now one game away from the Final Four. Alabama plays Clemson on Saturday for the West Regional championship.
And in the NIT, Georgia will play Seton Hall in one Final Four game at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The leading scorer for Georgia this season was a MAAC first team all conference selection in ‘23, Niagara’s Noah Thomasson.
He’s gone from St. Peter’s to Oregon to Hofstra where he was two time CAA POY and is now one game away from the Final Four. He scored 19 pts in last nights win
Was not aware that the NIT is part of ESPN’s contract with the NCAA which runs through 2032. So even if the NCAA expands the number of teams in March Madness, there’ll still be a NIT for the next 8 years.
From an article in the Athletic which explores the future of the NIT with 17 schools opting not to play in it this year, Indiana State selling out its NIT games this year, the decision this year of the NCAA to not guarantee every conference’s regular season champion a bid to the NIT, etc.
…Despite this year’s turmoil, the NIT isn’t going anywhere. At least not anytime soon. The tournament is part of the NCAA’s $920 million television contract with ESPN that runs through 2032 and includes the women’s NCAA Tournament as well as the newly formed Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT). A 32-team field, chosen by the WBIT selection committee, is down to Illinois versus Villanova for the championship Wednesday at Hinkle…
… It’s worth noting that this change in process, made by the NCAA, comes amid talk of expanding the NCAA Tournament, which has sparked considerable resistance from fans, media and even coaches. There were also reports last fall of a potential 16-team consolation tournament organized by Fox and featuring exclusively power conference programs, notably from leagues where Fox has TV rights (Big Ten, Big 12, Big East). Nothing is finalized on that front, but it’s still a possibility and one that would be a direct competitor to the NIT. “We’re operating the NIT in a very different competitive marketplace than we were five years ago. We have to be mindful of that,” Gavitt acknowledged. “We have to be flexible and open-minded about how we select, seed and bracket the tournament.” As far as a course correction, Gavitt told The Athletic it was too early to say definitively whether changes would be coming again for next season, but that “anything is on the table.”
