With the new format of choosing 16 at large teams not bound to regular season champs who do not win their tourneys, can PITT can get back in the picture with a win over Clemson, which would make them 11-10 (7-9) with some solid quad 1 and 2 wins? Their BPI would probably be 70s and same with NET. Figure a win in first round of acc tourney and loss in second leaves them at 12-11. There are certainly worse teams..:
Can PITT sneak into NIT with win over Clemson?
- Thread starter Pitt2006
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IMHO, the NIT would likely require an overall over 0.500 record in place after the ACC Tourney is complete. An upset win over Clemson would help but it really depends more on the ACC Tourney performance.
Either a Clemson win + 2-1 ACCT = 13-11 (9-10 all ACC games) or Clemson loss + 3-1 ACCT (9-11 all ACC games) = 13-12 might put Pitt in the NIT field. A Clemson win plus 1-1 ACCT = 12-11 (8-12 all ACC games) might be NIT "bubble" if there is such a thing.
Just my opinion, however.
Either a Clemson win + 2-1 ACCT = 13-11 (9-10 all ACC games) or Clemson loss + 3-1 ACCT (9-11 all ACC games) = 13-12 might put Pitt in the NIT field. A Clemson win plus 1-1 ACCT = 12-11 (8-12 all ACC games) might be NIT "bubble" if there is such a thing.
Just my opinion, however.
Competitiveness in most losses plus being 4-5 vs Sagarin's top 50 says something to those who might look deeply into Pitt's resume despite so many ACC losses. But W-L optics probably will play a much bigger role in selecting teams for the NIT.
If the NIt is just putting together a television event -they might want Champagnie in the field. Heck - maybe a Champagnie twins 1st round match up .
Would probably need to win the next 2 and hope a sh!t-ton of teams opt out.
I mean half the NIT field is the "First 4 Out" and "Next 4 Out" so like bubble teams.
I would imagine a number of teams would opt out. I can’t see Duke wanting to go play in Denton, Texas.
Plus I believe there will be like 10 alternate teams to the NCAA to back fill teams that can’t participate due to Covid? Dont know the logistics, but I would imagine it would be hard to play in the NIT and be and alternate to the NCAA. I don’t think first 8 teams out will play in the NIT.
i hope so
mediocre basketball in a pandemic is better than no basketball
mediocre basketball in a pandemic is better than no basketball
Do we think the NIT moves sites now that Texas has lifted all mask mandates and is wide open? Seems the exact opposite of what the ncaa has tried to do all season
Yes, Duke will opt out but there would have to be around 30 teams that would have to agree to opt out. Even if Pitt wins the next 2 (which they have roughly a 10% chance to do), they are VERY far from the NIT.
I do think Pitt should enter the CBI if there is one just to get the young guys more games. Why not? Im having my team play up until the last possible date. Kids want to play
It would take a lot of opt outs and, even if that occurred, I can’t see Pitt wanting to take part.
It’s been a long year for these guys with all the COVID measures they had to abide by in order to keep the season on track. I think everyone would be best suited by regrouping and getting ready for what will hopefully be a relatively normal 21-22 season
It’s been a long year for these guys with all the COVID measures they had to abide by in order to keep the season on track. I think everyone would be best suited by regrouping and getting ready for what will hopefully be a relatively normal 21-22 season
They announced a month or so ago there would be no CBI again this year.
Agree with you Pitt is a real longshot to be considered for the NIT, just way too many teams ahead of them. There are definitely going to be some opt outs, probably not nearly enough for Pitt’s purposes.
Two weeks ago I would have definitely agreed with this. But now that we have a roster that has so many inexperienced freshmen playing big minutes, I think there’s some value in additional game minutes against a quality opponent. I’d still lean towards an opt out, but I’m not as sure now as I was a little while ago.
I think Pitt should absolutely play in the NIT if they get a chance. Play Jeffress, Collier and even Max some over Brown. Get as many minutes, shots etc for all these guys. Let Drumgoole go out and play 8 consecutive minutes and see if he gives you something. Find out what you have in EVERYONE in a meaningless tournament and adjust your expectations, training, recruiting accordingly.
I'd say yes because they also would have a chance to win a couple in the ACC tournament.
Developmentally it makes sense but I just don’t see the upside, especially if it’s watered down to the point Pitt gets an invite, of dragging on the demands on the kids any longer. They will have had 3 games at the end of this year and, conceivably, a normal exhibition/non-con schedule next year to give guys looks. I’d be happy with that and not try to lengthen this year longer than necessary
Yeah, it’s hard for us who aren’t having to abide by all of the protocols to really know what it’s like and how much these guys might just want to reset - kind of like all of the football bowl opt outs. It’s easy to want to watch them a few more times in the NIT when we aren’t getting pipe cleaners jammed up our nose 4x a week.
For Pitt to make the NIT team with little to no opt outs, they need to beat Clemson and make the ACCCG. Chances of doing this are well less than 1%
If they beat Clemson and lose in the ACC Semis, they would have a prayer at an NIT bid but it would still take 10 or so opt outs.
If they beat Clemson and then win 2 in the ACCT, they probably need 20-30 opt outs. Just not going to happen
Beat Clemson and win 2-3 in the ACCT. Need a bunch of opt-outs, that's for sure. I'd say it's very unlikely they play in the NIT.
Who are all these 20-30 teams? And what metric is most important? There are 49 teams ahead of Pitt in the NET rankings who have more quad 1 and 2 wins than Pitt. Most will go to NCAA tourney. A win over Clemson gets them to 6 quad 1 and 2 wins. Maybe it is perception do the losing streak, but it doesn’t negate that Pitt had some legit wins this year. A win against nc state would have really helped though.
IMO teams and players would be much more likely to want to play in the NIT compared to bowl games.
For starters, bowl game are during winter break when regular students are home. So playing in a bowl game meant staying on campus with those protocols for a meaningless game.
The NIT is in the middle of the semester, especially this year with no spring break at most schools. They are going to be tested either way for any workouts they have after the season ends, might as well go to somewhere like Dallas or NYC if possible and play a few more games.
For starters, bowl game are during winter break when regular students are home. So playing in a bowl game meant staying on campus with those protocols for a meaningless game.
The NIT is in the middle of the semester, especially this year with no spring break at most schools. They are going to be tested either way for any workouts they have after the season ends, might as well go to somewhere like Dallas or NYC if possible and play a few more games.
To beat Clemson, a bad team in the 1st Round, an average team in the 2nd Round, and then 2 NCAAT teams all right in a row? Its got to be way less than 1%. I mean the chances of winning at Clemson are probably around 20%. So you factor in 4 ACCT wins on top of that. You're probably at about 1/10 of 1 percent.
I don't want to be a Debbie Downer but I don't think they should play even with an invite. This season has been brutal in many ways. I'm sure they will be happy to shift focus to next year.
I don't think the first four out teams can/will play in the NIT. The plan is for the NCAA to have the first four out teams on standby to replace any teams that don't meet covid protocols before the tournament starts. The first round of the tournament is on Friday and Saturday. The first round of the NIT runs from Thursday to Saturday. Certainly a first four out team wouldn't commit to the NIT and fly down to Texas on Thursday or Friday and then find out Friday afternoon that if they would have just stuck around in Indiana until then they would have had an NCAA game on Saturday afternoon.
Maybe but still, assuming few opt-outs, your 16 NIT teams would basically all be teams who have been on or near the bubble until very late in the season.
Sagarin’s computer has us as the #75 team in the country with a 4-5 record vs teams in his top 50 (4-3 vs teams ranked #26-#50). Would that put us within the top 50 at large teams? Very possibly, if Sagarin’s computer was the measure used.
There are only 11 or 12 (I lost count) different conferences with a member ranked above us. Using them as the auto qualifiers that would put us around 63rd on the at large pecking order.
I do agree with your take on how likely it is for us to get into the NIT.
Don't agree about the CBI though. It just isn't for P-5 teams anymore.
From a good friend down there. Texas has never really closed. While the mask mandate has been lifted, a lot of businesses are still restricting capacity and requiring masks.
Edit: rest of my comment got cut off. I can’t foresee them changing locations this soon to the event. I just don’t think logistically they could do it.
The upside is more games on TV hopefully that I want to watch. That's all I care about. Plus "demands"? their season is probably at least 6-7 games shorter than it usually is already, and some of these guys getting minutes now have been riding the bench all year, I think they will be fresh and ready to play if given the chance.
Whether they’ve been abiding by them or not, these guys have had to operate under pretty strict Covid protocols all season. Asking college kids to continue to operate under those guidelines to squeeze in an extra game or two in a meaningless vanity tournament seems a bit pointless in this environment
I bet some of them would disagree, especially guys getting a chance to play more. And to me NO GAMES ARE MEANINGLESS, I remember loving winning the CBI, if you love the game, it doesn't have to be the Final 4 for you to care.
As I have said before, if we get to the point where it might matter ask the players. If they want to play you play. If they don't want to play then you don't.
That cbi took a lot of grit to win.I remember the game Patterson had against Butler.It kind of was the spring board to the good career he had at Pitt.
That was a fun tournament. Beat the GOAT Mike Young in the 1st Round, sort of a "name brand" program in Princeton in the 2nd, great OT win vs Butler who ended our dreams the year before, and a good 3 game series vs Washington State. I still wear my CBI Championship with pride and use my Zebra Pen everyday
