The world of the haves and the have nots in college athletics ebbs and flows in any given year, and this time of year the hope for Cinderella trying on the glass slipper in March Madness is what keeps fans up at night. However this year, perhaps more than ever, Cinderella seems to have gone home early, as only Dayton from the Atlantic 10 remains in The NCAA Sweet 16 as the lone survivor not tied to major college football. The little guys it seems, have gone home early this year. Still that doesn’t mean that the NCAA Tournament is any less interesting, fun or compelling to watch. It also doesn’t mean that March madness ends with the regionals going on this weekend.
For someone cruising the dial on a Monday night, a hoops fan might have wandered on to the mayhem going on in Moody Coliseum on the campus of SMU. A raucous crowd was there to cheer on Larry Brown’s SMU Mustangs against a young SEC team from LSU, playing in the second round of the NIT. The game had all the feel of an NCAA matchup, and for these schools even more at stake perhaps; something to prove as teams that missed the field of 64. Brown’s squad especially is playing for pride, to return the coach to New York perhaps next week for another trip to Madison Square Garden. The NIT after all has value.
Now the second tournament is not without its issues. While it provides those who win regular season conference championships but miss out on their tournament title a guarantee of playing on, like a Robert Morris, it also has its failures. Because of the quick turnaround for arena space and TV time, a first round matchup by the Colonials at St. John’s drew barely 1,000 people, and took some creative camera work to keep the focus on the court and not on the acres of empty seats in Carnessecca Arena. However that issue appears to be less so this year, as a very balanced top 100 in college hoops, combined with some strong local support in places like SMU and Clemson, have turned the NIT into a better consolation trip than perhaps in years past.
However what keeps many coaches and administrators up at night is what happens when you are a good mid-major or even a rebuilding school in a major conference and the Big Dance, or even the little dance, the NIT, don’t come calling. The answer for some is to go and try another tournament or another… two to choose from ….The College Basketball Invitational and the CollegeInsider.com.
Unlike the CBI, which has the value of TV (CBS College Network) and a unique but curious best 2 of 3 final and seems to focus on bigger name schools willing to burn a pretty hefty fee to play on (and drew criticism from several schools who chose not to fork up the extra dollars this year, Indiana being one), the CIT is a play for mid-majors only at a much smaller fee with a traditional one and done format, and has actually gained more mainstream traction than originally thought possible by many critics who through post season hoops was already NCAA or nothing. The 32 schools invited to the CIT bracket seem to be excited to be playing on, with a chance to build toward the NCAA or other success in future years. Schools like Columbia for example, have found a way to draw fans (over 2,500 packed Levein Gym to see a win vs. Eastern Michigan) and get a chance to take on archrival Yale in the semifinals of the CIT, an extra perk for a pair of schools not used to post-season play and looking to build a program to match up with Harvard, which has been not just the kings of Ivy hoops but a national power to be reckoned with as well.
There is probably more room, at least in the short term for the CBI and the CIT than in recent years. The power shift to the larger conferences has made a long advance into March for mid-major schools more difficult, while the issue of players leaving schools early at large schools has created more parity overall than ever before. Good schools with sold seasons, often young programs, still will get squeezed out of NCAA play, and need a place to build brand and legacy. These three tournaments to varying degrees help do that.
In the end, the CBI and the CIT have a ways to go to see if that are totally viable for casual fans and brands. Can they build equity, increase their content potential and add sponsors who can’t crash The Big Dance? Maybe. Can they bring in some revenue for the home school in these troubled times through ticket sales and sponsor value? Great. Can they find a way to decrease costs to get away from the pay for play stigma? Perhaps. If the games save the jobs of some deserving and pressured coaches and gives the athletes one more shot at glory, great. Nether, nor will the NIT ever replace the dollars or bright lights of the NCAA Tournament, but if they can continue to sustain and enhance their reputations maybe they can carve their own necessary and meaningful niche in the complex web of big time college hoops.
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