Once More in the Dome

Orange are in the NIT, for the second straight year. At least they’re still playing. I mean, it’s not like the football team where we couldn’t wait for the season to end. It’s March, and there are still some games on the schedule. One, two or three in the Dome, and maybe even a trip to the Garden. Not that we’re a lock for the NIT final four, even though their selection folks gave us a number one seed. There are twenty-three teams in the NIT field with twenty wins or more. Used to be that twenty wins pretty much guaranteed a spot in the field of 64, but no more. And there are three teams in the NIT field of 32 who beat us during the regular season. But I’m hoping the freshmen are still hungry, and eager to show everyone that they’ll be a force next year. I’d like to see them host the three preliminary games in the Dome before heading to NY.

Selection process was weird this year, however. Last year, Cuse won twenty-two games, with a 10-6 Big East record, and still didn’t get an invitation to dance. Everyone claimed that the committee didn’t want seven teams from the same conference, but wanted more mid-majors, or more even distribution among the big conferences. Or maybe they held it against us that we had been bounced in the first round in 05 and 06. But this year they took eight teams from the Big East, including Nova, which got one of the last at large seats. So does that mean if Cuse had beaten Nova on Wednesday, we would have gotten the bid? I’d like to think so, but we really don’t know. After all, Nova got the last Big East bid both of the last two years, so was it a change in selection philosophy, or does Cuse just get shafted?

I’ve been reconciled to an NIT bid for the last few weeks. And when you put things in perspective – we really have a freshman team, with only two sophomores; and it’s a seven man team at that – and when you consider how demanding that conference schedule is – there was little chance we’d go to the NCAAs, and even less hope to go very far, even if we did get a bid. Matt said early in the season, that this year was really the first half of a sixty-five game schedule, culminating next spring. Next year, an NIT bid would be a huge disappointment. Next year, on selection Sunday, the big questions should be what’s our seed, and where do we play the opening round? But for now, I’m pleased that on Tuesday night, I’ll have one more chance to see them in the Dome.