The Louisville Cardinals kick off their NIT run Tuesday night, but the players might not have any desire to play in college basketball’s less exciting tournament. According to the Courier-Journal, players were “emotionally exhausted” from the program’s tumultuous season which featured an escort scandal investigation…
Here is Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim a week ago, after the team was (very reasonably) left out of the NCAA Tournament bracket:
For decades, 20-minute halves containing frequent back-to-back timeouts due to mandatory TV breaks have been a mainstay in American households during the month of March. This year, the NCAA will begin experimenting with ways to do away with this tradition.
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Old Dominion blew a six-point lead with less than a minute remaining in its NIT quarterfinal against Murray State, only to find a miracle heave from Trey Freeman delivering the Monarchs to the semi-finals at Madison Square Garden. ESPN announcer Rich Hollenberg was, well, excited.
The Arkansas Razorbacks' season came to an end last night in the ghost brackets of the NIT, losing on the road to Cal. They weren't without their supporters, though; foul, throwback-wearing supporters in headbands who weren't afraid to flip some birds, at least.
Eastern Michigan beat Norfolk State at home in their first game of the CIT Tournament for the program's first postseason victory in almost 18 years, and fewer than 400 people were there to watch. Glenn Bryant, a senior on the team, was justifiably angry at the turnout.
Despite a handful of good wins, Indiana's garbage non-conference schedule and first-round Big Ten tourney loss made them an NIT bubble team. The NIT said thanks-but-no-thanks to one of the country's storied programs, so the Hoosiers are packing it up.
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Hot on the heels of a fervent nationally-broadcast nosepicker, a BYU fan is running with the nostril-spelunking baton. Last night's NIT bout in Provo between the Cougars and Washington turned out to be a snoozer, but even early on this gentleman was more interested in his own sneezer.
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In the NIT! To an NEC team!
In 13 seasons as the head coach at Northwestern University, an alleged Big Ten basketball program, Bill Carmody’s signature moment might’ve been getting hired in the first place. And that, presumably, is why the school fired him today. Cracker-box facilities, lack of tradition, and academic pressures notwithstanding,…
Here is ageless football-playing machine Ray Lewis giving a bit of a pep talk to the Stanford hoopsters before Tuesday's NIT matchup. The Cardinal then went out and defeated UMass, 74-64.
Last night's NIT clash in Philadelphia between UMass and host Drexel turned out to be the proverbial barnburner, with the Minutemen pulling out a 72-70 victory over the Dragons. Fans who made the trip from Amherst had an especially unique way of celebrating UMass taking the lead late in the game.
And now here's the video of Jackson State's Phillip Williams nutpunching Mississippi State's Dee Bost. By the time the NIT's over, we'll have a whole new section of sopranos for the pope's choir.
Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and the blogosphere to bring you everything you need to know to start your day.
There are three—three!—other postseason tournaments now that are not the NCAA tournament? Why is that again?
Storming The Floor looks at last night's NIT championship game. Before they do, however, we'd like to point something out: We never had any idea that teams cut down the nets after winning the NIT. We suppose it makes sense, but still. All right, to Storming The Floor now.
