NCAA vs. NIT

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

Does anyone think it may not have been the worst thing in the world to head to the NIT? I'll admit that I was upset about the way we ended our season but to get the chance to play three more games and maybe as many as five has its advantages.

We get more minutes for our young guys and we get to play against some solid teams. The downside would be that you don't have the NCAA tourney type crowds but last night appeared to be great. I hope the team knows how much everyone is behind them and I hope we can keep it going on the road at South Carolina which I think will be packed for this game. On to MSG!

[hoyahoyasaxa]

For a young team, the NIT is not a bad place to go. It gets guys lots of minutes in high-pressure games. Of course, the NCAA is better, but the NIT is not the end of the world.

[showcase]

Have to agree with the above. Didn't West Virginia make a nice NIT run last year? And Syracuse before winning the national championship?

Going deep in the NIT provides the players with valuable experience on how to step it up when the pressure's on and win tournament games.

While the NCAA would have been nice, I think the NIT is just as good, and perhaps even better over the long run.

[nychoya3]

By the same token, two years ago we played SJU in the finals of the NIT. It didn't exactly help either program in the following year. And last year, Rutgers was in the finals of the NIT.

I'm happy to still be playing because I like watching this team play. It's also a chance to perpetuate the good vibes around the program that maybe dissipated a little after the late season swoon. It's no substitute for the NCAAs, but getting to see the Hoyas play is always better than the alternative.

[Gold Coast Hoya]

The NIT is clearly a consolation prize but not a bad first step in GU's return to respectability. I agree that the players get valuable experience and suely would want more next season. The exposure may also help recruiting. GO HOYAS!!!!!

[HoyaNCCT]

There is a long history of teams doing well in the NIT one year and having a successful run into the NCAAs the next year. I have to agree that for the maturation process of these guys, this should prove to be fruitful. However, going forward, I think this year is going to be more developmental for everyone than a first round loss in the NCAA.

[SirSaxa]

nychoya3 said:

By the same token, two years ago we played SJU in the finals of the NIT. It didn't exactly help either program in the following year. And last year, Rutgers was in the finals of the NIT.

Perhaps for teams that are falling apart, that were expected to make the NCAAs, it might not be all positive.

But for a building (or re-building) program like GU, it is a great opportunity to WIN a post season tournament. If we'd made the NCAAs, it would look nice on the resume, but we would be out already.

Lots of teams have done well in the NIT one year, and come back stronger in the NCAAs the next. I am praying for at least one more victory so our kids can get back to MSG!!!

[RBHoya]

As tough of a pill as it is to swallow, the NIT was both where we belonged and the best place for us this year. It's better to make a nice run in the NIT than to get blown away as a lower seed in the tourney (though of course anything can happen). NIT games arent NCAA games, but they are post season games, games that carry national media attention. That means theyre intense and high pressure games, which is good for our guys. When you have young guys, its great to get this extra experience.

If we had a team that featured a lot of seniors in the regular rotation, then there really wouldnt be any way to suggest that the NIT was better for us. However, the team is trying to develop Roy, Jon, Tyler, RayRay, and even Jeff and Brandon (to take it to the next level). In the NIT, we get more games and more PT for these guys. In the short term, not making the NCAA's hurts of course, and I'd of course traded the NIT for an NCAA bid, but in the long term the NIT was probably the best thing (as compared to a first round exit in the NCAA's)

[Big Dog]

I knew this thread was coming. The long-haul? Nobody knows what's going to happen next year. NIT success means nothing from one year to the next. Sometimes teams use them as a springboard, many times they don't.

There is absolutely no arguing that being in the NCAA tournament this year would have been better under all circumstances. Playing on the big stage, getting the Gtown name in the bracket, gaining confidence, and getting the feel for what the real March Madness is all about would all provide vastly more lasting benefits to the Georgetown program than a couple of games against BU and CS-Fullerton. This doesn't even mention the increased alumni attention and excitement that would have resulted, and even the alumni checks that might have poured into Athletic Department coffers with an appearance (not to mention a win or two).

Besides the fact that statements like "the NIT was actually the best for us" just assume that we'd have lost our first round game. If West Virginia could get into the Sweet Sixteen, so could we.

Look, its nice we've had the NIT with its nice soft schedule and two home games against two overmatched teams to give us a chance to watch more of the Hoyas, to see them play together a bit longer, and to ease the pain of the five-game losing streak to end the regular season.

But let's not get carried away. The NCAA tournament would have been better, even if we had gone out in one of the 12:20pm games on Thursday afternoon.

Anything else is the talk of mediocrity.

[FOTP]

Totally agreed. NCAA or bust. It's nice to play a few more games and all, but one game on the biggest stage against the best competition would have been better than 3 or 4 games in the NIT.

I'd love to win the NIT, but I'd much rather be in teh dance and worry about what to do to get back there.

[SFHoya99]

The NCAA is better. That does not mean to say the NIT does not have advantages.

The NCAA has:

- Big time stage/exposure
- Greater sense of accomplishment
- More pressure
- Chance for a really great season (see WVU)

The NIT has:

- Home game in McD
- Greater chance to play more games

[Fan Of The Game]

I'm with Big Dog.

These games are fun, and hopefully we'll play and win these types of games at the beginning of next year. But these aren't the caliber of opponents we want to be playing this late in the year. If anything we get an aritificially inflated feeling that we were better than an 8-8 Big East team and there's not a lot of work left to do. A week ago I couldn't even have told you what conference Cal State Fullerton was in.

If we get to play Maryland, that will be cool. If not I just see it as a fun little thing to do that pads our win total. I don't really count this toward post-season experience.

[FOTP]

One thing I did like was the chance to win a couple games and get that end of the season losing out of our system. WInning is a mindset and we need to get that going for next year.

I still want the NCAAs 10/10 times, but nice to win a couple here.

[KHoyaNYC]

Big said:

I knew this thread was coming. The long-haul? Nobody knows what's going to happen next year. NIT success means nothing from one year to the next. Sometimes teams use them as a springboard, many times they don't.

There is absolutely no arguing that being in the NCAA tournament this year would have been better under all circumstances. Playing on the big stage, getting the Gtown name in the bracket, gaining confidence, and getting the feel for what the real March Madness is all about would all provide vastly more lasting benefits to the Georgetown program than a couple of games against BU and CS-Fullerton. This doesn't even mention the increased alumni attention and excitement that would have resulted, and even the alumni checks that might have poured into Athletic Department coffers with an appearance (not to mention a win or two).

Besides the fact that statements like "the NIT was actually the best for us" just assume that we'd have lost our first round game. If West Virginia could get into the Sweet Sixteen, so could we.

Look, its nice we've had the NIT with its nice soft schedule and two home games against two overmatched teams to give us a chance to watch more of the Hoyas, to see them play together a bit longer, and to ease the pain of the five-game losing streak to end the regular season.

But let's not get carried away. The NCAA tournament would have been better, even if we had gone out in one of the 12:20pm games on Thursday afternoon.

Anything else is the talk of mediocrity.

Well put Big Dog. The best thing for this team would have been an NCAA berth even if we got our doors blown off in the first round. An extra few games against BU and CSF is nice, and certainly not a negative, but it pales in comparison to the NCAA Tourney.

[SaxaCD]

I agree that in a lot of ways the NCAA would have been better -- mostly because it gives the kids experience on the biggest stage. But saying anything else isn't necessarily mediocrity at all. We're in a new system now, and there is some merit to saying that a deep run, along with a chance to right the ship, might yield more benefits than losing 7 of the last 8 games (if the first round was a loss in NCAAs). The psychological impact on guys like Brandon and Ashanti to go through that 2 years in a row might have been a hard hangover to shake next year.

NCAAs are always better, but for a fresh start, with a new coach and system, and the ability to bounce back against teams we SHOULD be playing instead of some of the patsies in the pre-season, shouldn't be discounted or sniffed at.

[coachmcguirk]

Any suggestion that we could have fared just as well as WVA in the dance is nuts -- the team that beat Wake last weekend would have beaten GU by 20 points. Same is true of Nova.

OK, NCAA is a Titelist, NIT is a range ball. But the latter still flies if you hit it right.

[SirSaxa]

I disagree with you guys. And this is not "talk of mediocrity". I sure hope that feeling isn't projected to our team.

Coming into this season we had no business dreaming of an NIT berth, let alone an NCAA one. We had a shot at the big tournament, but we fell short due to our late season slump -- we didn't miss out because of any committees.

But we still made the NIT. It isn't the NCAA. But it is still quite an accomplishment -- considering our starting point.

True, we haven't beaten anyone great... but BU did beat Michigan this year, and Vermont, and played better than we did vs. BC.

And most importantly, we have a chance to win this tournament. Dissing the BU and CSF wins is not allowing for the possibility of additional victories and getting back to MSG. How can you argue that we might have won some NCAA games, and not consider our next few games?

As for the future? Do I want to see us in the NIT? OF course not. I am expecting us to make the NCAA next season to start a long run of consecutive appreances by T3, just like Pops.

But for this year, I think it is great we are in the NIT. The team should be proud. And we should back them all the way to the Title.

Anything else is talk of dissing a team that deserves to feel some pride in their accomplishments.

[wildhoya]

Any suggestion that we could have fared just as well as WVA in the dance is nuts -- the team that beat Wake last weekend would have beaten GU by 20 points

Having seen the WVU/GU game live, I disagree, coach.

Indeed, perhaps WVU's run reflects how close GU was getting to jelling for a March run this year. GU gained some decent experience, though. Maybe that will be utilized tomorrow against USC and hopefully in NYC.

Hoya Saxa

[SaxaCD]

I think one game getting our doors blown off would be the only scenario where the NCAA might have been worse. I think we shook off that terrible stretch that took us off the bubble, though, and I don't think we would have been blown out, no matter the opponent.

[GIGAFAN99]

Which is better, the NCAA or NIT? The discussion is much ado about nothing. Both are postseason, so the team gets to play more games. The NCAA is better of course because the best teams are in that tournament.

But let's not act like the NIT serves no purpose just like we shouldn't act like it's better than the NCAAs. The NIT is exactly what it is; where you go when you fall short of the NCAAs.

For major conference teams, the importance of the NCAAs in development is overrated. UConn won the whole thing last year, got a #2 seed and tanked. WVU made the NIT quarters, got a #7 seed and is still playing. These teams already see great competition game in and game out so the developmental aspect of the NCAAs versus the NIT is overstated.

Also, the college game changes so quickly that there are about a million variables more important than where you played in the post-season the previous year. In 2003, 'Cuse gained one Carmelo Anthony and in 2004 we lost one Mike Sweetney. That's why the former team won it all and the latter went under .500. Maryland made the 2nd round last year and returned almost everyone. This year infighting and chemistry problems sent the Terps to the NIT.

Let's not make a big deal of whether this is a "better" scenario than the NCAAs. We're playing and that's what matters right now. There's no way to predict what this means for next year's post-season because so much of that is game-by-game. It's just a chance to win a few more and get rid of the taste of the 5-game skid to end the season.