As March Madness is here, we now re-up this post, about NIT projections, from March of 2011.
Everyone and their brother (and their sister, nephew, uncle cousin’s former roommate) is currently filling out their bracket right now. And the geekier subgroup of that large group is comprised of those who peruse plenty of college basketball bracket projections in the weeks and months leading up to yesterday.
And a tiny subset of that group are those who made those “bracketologies.”
So that’s common and standard. But what about a NIT bracketology? For the “Not important tournament,” or “not invited tournament,” Yes people actually project those too!
Further down the pecking order are the CBI and CIT. Many, many schools refuse bids to these consolations brackets. (Some seasons just need to end- Iowa Hawkeyes are a good example).
And yes, I found a guy who does projections for these as well- believe it or not!
Here’s one of the best final NIT Bracketology
And there’s even a ” NIT ology”
Notice how he (I’m assuming a he) boasts of getting 31/32 NIT teams right.
Check out this excerpt from Chicago Now’s “a Deeper Look at the CBI and CIT Tournaments”
“There are going to be 40 other teams that play postseason basketball in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) and the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Both are relatively new and both come with some special rules. For instance, the CIT only takes mid-major teams and the Great West Conference champion receives an automatic bid.
Also included is a list of possible teams and a list of teams that have already said “No thanks,” to these pay-for-play opportunities.”
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.