Penn State Basketball’s NIT bubble rooting interests
By Evan Smith
Penn State Basketball is sitting on a crowded NIT bubble after falling to Wisconsin in the B1G Tournament
After the heartbreaking loss to Wisconsin, Penn State Basketball Head Coach Jim Ferry made it clear he wants his team to keep playing.
“We will absolutely play in the NIT,” Ferry told reporters following Thursday’s 75-74 loss. “if we get invited we’d be more than happy.”
Now, the cynics among Penn State Basketball fans may wonder if he’s actually had conversations with the administration about participation, or this was his way of putting pressure on them to accept if a bid comes. And frankly, what could be more #PennStateBasketballStory than the Head Coach saying they will play and the administration overruling him?
We reached out to the two major “NIT Bracketologists” (yes, they exist) to ask their thoughts on Penn State’s NIT odds after last night’s brutal loss. DRatings had Penn State as the 11 seed before the Wisconsin loss and gave us this nugget of information:
After further thought, I think that Penn State is in and Indiana is out of the NIT.
— DRatings.com (@DRatings) March 12, 2021
The NIT will want Big Ten representation and Penn State is the best team left. Bad record, but strong my computer analytic standards.
Best guess: 3-seed. https://t.co/eBuk9pn5Ir
Keep in mind the “3 seed” they are referring to could be anywhere between the 9 and 12 seed overall. Initially, they stated Penn State Basketball had a 50-50 chance, but it’s great to hear those odds went up with a deeper look into the information. They’re now telling us that after the loss, they aren’t moving Penn State down at all. And The Barking Crow’s aptly named “Joe Stunardi” had Penn State as the two seed prior to the loss:
Would assume so. Unless there's an announcement that definitively says otherwise. Certainly deserving by the usually indicative numbers, aside from that overall W-L. So the question is how much weight that carries, and our model, like us, isn't all that well-equipped to know.
— Joe Stunardi (@joestunardi) March 12, 2021
Joe actually gave us a lot more information as we discussed if Penn State could buck the trend of a sub .500 team being selected to the NIT. Remember, it’s not a rule that teams must be .500 and it will be the wild wild west with no automatic qualifiers, a smaller field and teams potentially opting out.
I HIGHLY encourage you to follow both of these accounts on twitter (@DRatings and @JoeStunardi, tell em VBR sent you) and we will continue to provide updates throughout the weekend as they update their NIT brackets.
Both have been very gracious in answering our questions and we are grateful for their NIT services. Of particular interest will be how much Penn State falls after last night’s loss. Remember, Barking Crow had us as the 2 seed and D Ratings as the 11 seed.
So, how we root to ensure #PSUforNIT?