Nit better than NCAA

[1977Hawkeye]

I read a rumor on another message board, not an Iowa one, that if Izzo won it all this year, he might hang it up. I find that hard to believe, but who knows. Probably more speculation than anything.

If there's any truth to that, then consider me an MSU fan the next few weeks..

Another point as to whether NIT is better than the NCAA or not.. I can see how many threads have been started out here about this year's NIT. No one cares unless their team is playing in it.

 

[HomerChampless]

.. Really find it interesting that some think the NIT was better, I guess winning cures all ill's no matter how meaningless they are.

No, don't think the NIT is better than the NCAA. Neither do I think the NIT is meaningless. Last season's basketball program received more of a shot in the arm from their deep run in the NIT than the one and done they surely would've been handed if they'd been a lowly seed in the NCAA.

 

[HawkeyeMHA]

When we lose the play in game can we still get a spot in the nit?

 

[JHHawk]

Each year, Fran has taken a step upward....so making the NCAA this year was imperative.

Frankly, for pure entertainment purposes, that run last year provided more entertainment than a one game loss in the Dance. Beating UVA at UVA and Maryland in MSG was a lot of fun.

I admit that I have tired of many of the first weekend matchups in the NCAA tourney....lot of mis-matches.
This past weekend, with league tournys, all good matchups. And as we saw last nite in the NIT, #1 seed St. Johns loses their first game....the teams are more equal in the NIT with fewer automatic bids.

I am glad Iowa made it this year....but they left room for yet another upward step next year...a top 8 seed?

 

[kicker22]

I'm fine with the NCAA tournament, it's very fun to watch. It's just not a real good way to determine who the best team is. There are no fluke NBA champions, having to win four, best of seven series eliminates the fluke element.

If you took just the one and two seeds and had them played best of three or five series, you would do a much better job of determining who was actually the best team that year, but it wouldn't be nearly as much fun to watch.

I disagree. While in theory i totally understand what you're getting at, but you're only taking a sample size of 8 teams. What about the teams like Louisville (or possibly MSU now healthy) who were potential top seeds and slipped down to where they are now for whatever reason. I don't think you can justly say the best team won by only inviting 8 teams regardless of how many times they play eachother to see who comes out on top and advances.

IMO the beautiful thing about the NCAA tournament isn't necessarily that the nation's best team won it, but the fact that a team has to win 6 possibly 7 games to be crowned champion. They not be the season's best team but to win it all means that you're playing better basketball at the time to knock off 6 of the top 68 teams in the nation. In my opinion the only way you determine that the "best team" won would be for every team to play every other team in the nation head to head, with no post season and we all know that will never happen.

Even with the NBA/NHL playoff format some teams simply match up better against other opponents.

 

[kicker22]

Each year, Fran has taken a step upward....so making the NCAA this year was imperative.

Frankly, for pure entertainment purposes, that run last year provided more entertainment than a one game loss in the Dance. Beating UVA at UVA and Maryland in MSG was a lot of fun.

I admit that I have tired of many of the first weekend matchups in the NCAA tourney....lot of mis-matches.
This past weekend, with league tournys, all good matchups. And as we saw last nite in the NIT, #1 seed St. Johns loses their first game....the teams are more equal in the NIT with fewer automatic bids.

I am glad Iowa made it this year....but they left room for yet another upward step next year...a top 8 seed?

I don't see anything wrong with this. I'd much rather watch conference finals and semi finals then the opening round of the NCAA tourny.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

I don't see anything wrong with this. I'd much rather watch conference finals and semi finals then the opening round of the NCAA tourny.

Yeah, there are definitely some games that aren't so close in the first round, but you can also potentially have that in later rounds, too.. I've seen some title games that weren't very good games.

The opening round of the tournament (field of 64) is my favorite because of all the madness that takes place. I love watching the little guy take down a higher seed. LOVE IT. That doesn't mean I don't also immensely enjoy the later rounds, though. The NCAA Tournament, for my money, is the best sporting event there is.

 

[kicker22]

Yeah, there are definitely some games that aren't so close in the first round, but you can also potentially have that in later rounds, too.. I've seen some title games that weren't very good games.

The opening round of the tournament (field of 64) is my favorite because of all the madness that takes place. I love watching the little guy take down a higher seed. LOVE IT. That doesn't mean I don't also immensely enjoy the later rounds, though. The NCAA Tournament, for my money, is the best sporting event there is.

I think my favorite day of the tourny is that first weekend. Plenty of basketball all around and usually some great matchups as well.