South Carolina might make the NIT: Here's how
South Carolina basketball fans thought that Wednesday’s loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks in the SEC Tournament’s first round was the end of the road for the Gamecocks on the hardwood. The offseason autopsy might have to wait a little while longer.
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Because of new rules established last offseason, the SEC and ACC now receive two automatic bids to the NIT (and the top-12 conferences after the SEC and ACC each receive one automatic bid). Those bids go to the top teams in each league that did not make the NCAA Tournament field. For the SEC and ACC, that means two teams left out of the Big Dance still get a chance to play on if they accept their invitation. All of these “exempt” teams will host the first round of the NIT, as well.
Because of the historic strength of this year’s Southeastern Conference, the league might earn a record 13 or 14 NCAA Tournament invitations. South Carolina and LSU are the only teams in the league firmly out of tourney consideration.
Right now, Auburn, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Missouri, and Ole Miss feel like locks to make the field. Mississippi State is pretty close to a lock, too. Georgia, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, and Arkansas also have to feel pretty good about their chances. Texas entered the SEC Tournament more on the bubble, but the Longhorns already have picked up two wins in Nashville. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently has all 14 of those teams in the current 68-team field.
If that stands, by rule, South Carolina will receive an automatic invitation.
In fact, even if just 13 SEC squads go dancing, the Gamecocks might earn an NIT bid as they’ve passed LSU in some of the rankings that form the composite that determines the top-two remaining teams in the league; per the NCAA’s website, “The top teams from each conference will be determined based on the average of the teams’ ESPN Basketball Power Index (BPI), Kevin Pauga Index (KPI), NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), Ken Pomeroy Rating (KenPom), Strength of Record (SOR), Bart Torvik ranking, and Wins Above Bubble (WAB) ranking.”
The Gamecocks went to three NIT finals in five seasons from the 2001-2002 season to the 2005-2006 campaign. They won back-to-back NIT titles in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006.
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It is important to note that the Gamecocks do not have to accept the NIT bid. Invitations can be declined, and lots of programs have done so in recent years. There are pros and cons to accepting or declining the invitation. GamecockCentral will have more on those later.
For now, though, barring a large number of “bid stealers” from smaller conferences sneaking into the NCAA Tournament and kicking out an SEC team or two, South Carolina seems to be in line for one of the automatic bids to the NIT.
Buckle up, South Carolina basketball fans: there might be more men’s basketball in Columbia after all.
Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament is this Sunday evening. After the CBS-broadcasted show at 6:00 p.m., the NIT will announce its 32-team field.
