Penn State Basketball’s NIT Bracketology, plus a Cryptic Jim Ferry Tweet
By Evan Smith
Penn State Basketball is very much alive for the NIT, after bowing out in Round 2 of the B1G Conference Tournament
Penn State Basketball is still IN the NIT Tournament, according to both NIT Bracketologists.
Our first NIT Bracketology report featured nine Friday games, with Penn State Basketball’s rooting interests going 4-5. Remember, Interim Head Coach Jim Ferry said Penn State will play in the NIT if invited.
DRatings has Penn State Basketball dropping one spot as the 12 seed, despite their 11-14 record, after the Nittany Lions were listed as the No. 11 seed Friday.
Certainly Penn State Basketball’s No.1 strength of schedule helps. In their current field, only a single other school (#5 Seton Hall) has a strength of schedule in the top 50 (at #24). Penn State Basketball is the lone member of the B1G Conference in DRatings, as Indiana is currently the “first team out.”
The Barking Crow believes Penn State will be the 3 seed (ironically matching up vs their 14 seed, the aforementioned Indiana Hoosiers). The Barking Crow is significantly higher on the B1G as it also has Minnesota in as a 13 seed.
Who do fans root against to keep #PSUforNIT alive?
As we discussed yesterday, NIT Bracketology is a weird animal. Today’s slate of games include some games where a team could win their conference tournament and thus automatically qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Why is this bad for Penn State? That “bid stealer” would likely knock a bubble team from the NCAA Tournament to the NIT Tournament. Teams listed Nittany Lions fans should root AGAINST and their seeds (if available) will be listed in parentheses with Barking Crow first and D Ratings second:
Cincinnati (NR/NR) — vs Wichita State, today at 3:00 pm on ESPN2
Memphis (NR/5) — vs Houston, today at 5:30 pm on ESPN2
Utah State (play-in NCAA/2 seed NIT) — vs San Diego St, today at 6:00 pm on CBS
Georgetown (12/NR) — vs Creighton, today at 6:30 pm on FOX
Buffalo (NR/13 seed in NCAA) — vs Ohio, today at 7:30 pm on ESPN 2
North Texas (NR/NR) — vs Westerkn Kentucky, today at 9:00 pm on CBS
Oregon State (NR/NR) — vs Colorado, today at 10:30 pm on ESPN
UC Irvine (NR/NR) — vs UC Santa Barbara, today at 11:30 pm on ESPN 2