Joe's early brackets

[PT71]

Don't you ever wonder two things? Did Steele ever ask Jonas Hayes; "what do you think" or, "suggestions?" Then, #2, if he did, did he ever put them into practice? Over the years he has had several assistant coaches...did he simply dismiss their input, off hand? Realizing there is only one head coach, you still gotta believe that many good HC's, invite critical input from assistants. In fact, in many high level programs, you may see an assistant talking during a timeout, or certainly providing input to the HC and the players...

[kyzrex]

Oh please did you happen to watch the NIT? It was clearly the coaching pre-tourney, not the players.

Did you happen to see who won the NIT the year before? And how they ended up last year?

The NIT field really isn’t that good. Winning it is often nothing but false gold. It’s fun, but at best it’s a consolation prize. I suggest not overvaluing it. Just enjoy it and move on.

[muskieman]

Oh please did you happen to watch the NIT? It was clearly the coaching pre-tourney, not the players.

Did you happen to see who won the NIT the year before? And how they ended up last year?

The NIT field really isn’t that good. Winning it is often nothing but false gold. It’s fun, but at best it’s a consolation prize. I suggest not overvaluing it. Just enjoy it and move on.

didn't Memphis win the NIT in 2021? They played in the NCAA this year and were beaten by a #1 seed Gonzaga in the Round of 32.

[pdxmuskie]

That is a fair seeding given the lack of prior success, a new player filling the PG spot and a coaching change.

Assuming the new players make a significant impact, X should be much better than a 7 seed.

[kyzrex]

Oh please did you happen to watch the NIT? It was clearly the coaching pre-tourney, not the players.

Did you happen to see who won the NIT the year before? And how they ended up last year?

The NIT field really isn’t that good. Winning it is often nothing but false gold. It’s fun, but at best it’s a consolation prize. I suggest not overvaluing it. Just enjoy it and move on.

didn't Memphis win the NIT in 2021? They played in the NCAA this year and were beaten by a #1 seed Gonzaga in the Round of 32.

Yes, that’s exactly what happened. That means that they went to the tourney and won 1 game….exactly what a 7 seed would do if the results followed the seeding. That’s one of the reasons that I said that if X is a 7 seed in the tourney next year, I would be very satisfied. If you go back and look at the NIT champs over the last half a dozen years, none of them followed it up with a deep NCAA tourney run the next year. None of them (other than possibly Memphis) is really a BB powerhouse. I just don’t put much value on an NIT championship and certainly don’t think that it guarantees any sort of future success.

[pdxmuskie]

Generally I'd agree that winning the NIT doesn't necessarily mean much but it is a potentially different situation when the coach is fired and the team goes on to win the NIT. Winning the NIT could be an indication that the team was held back by the coach and they are capable of much more.

Additionally, it is better to win the NIT than lose in the NIT. Always fun to see your team conclude a season playing well and winning.

[gym from delhi]

Whatever their input Clipboard Travis didn’t implement it