Read the opposing arguments from Babe Ruthless and Bleacher Fan.
The NCAA Tournament begins today. On behalf of The Sports Debates, I truly hope you enjoy an event that is madness, and I also hope you manage to find time to do a little work (but not too much) over the next two days. In the meantime, we had an interesting debate yesterday surrounding the NCAA Tournament and the NIT, which actually started Tuesday night, in you missed it. Is it better to have a quick exit in the Big Dance or an extended run in the NIT? Obviously, it’s better for the program overall to make the NCAA Tournament. That falls under the “duh” category. But then wins and losses come into play.
Bleacher Fan gave us a flashback to April of last year when he compared the situations of Wake Forest and Utah to Penn State. The Demon Deacons and the Utes were sitting at the house being couch potatoes with the rest of America while the Nittany Lions were playing for an NIT championship at Madison Square Garden. An analogy was then made to lottery tickets, something that was near and dear to my heart upon the grand event of my 18th birthday.
Babe Ruthless comes right out and calls the NIT the loser’s bracket. Sure, there are some talented teams in the NIT but the majority of the teams with the “fortune” of playing in the NIT aren’t very good. The NIT is second rate and, according to Babe Ruthless, it’s like receiving a “glorified participation trophy.” In a twist, Babe used my introduction to prove his point that teams like Baylor and Notre Dame parlayed strong NIT runs into NCAA tournament berths the following season. The goal was not to get back to the NIT. It was to take it a step further. Basically, Babe feels strongly that it is essentially better to be a loser in a winner’s bracket than a winner in a loser’s bracket.
I, the judge, am awarding this victory to Babe Ruthless. Having been fans of teams that have made it to both the NCAA tournament and the NIT (a.k.a. “Not In Tournament”), I understand the joy of being invited to the dance and the agony of having the bubble popped. I also understand that there is something to be said for making a strong run in the NIT. It gives the seniors more games to play and gives the fans more chances to watch their team in action.
Let me ask you this: Before Bleacher Fan mentioned that Penn State won the NIT last year, did you actually know that? I couldn’t recall it. Yet, I can recall that in last season’s NCAA tournament Cleveland State knocked off Wake Forest. I can also tell you, and I am sure Sports Geek can as well, that tenth seeded Michigan knocked off seventh seeded Clemson in the first round (Editor’s note: Sports Geek does recall that.). While I am sure the loss left a bitter taste in the mouths of all Clemson players, I feel that once they looked back on it they had a better feeling on how their season went… better than they would have if they had made a deep run in the NIT.
I am not convinced a deep run by Virginia Tech or Mississippi State in the NIT this season would erase the disappointment of not being selected for the NCAA, even if they knew going in they would lose in the first round. Congrats to Babe Ruthless!
Posted by Loyal Homer 
