Men's Basketball: La Salle falls victim to new NIT rule

By Adam Bagni
Collegian Staff
March 22, 2006

The La Salle men’s basketball team had hoped Selection Sunday would wield a birth to the National Invitational Tournament. Instead, it resulted in the 14th consecutive season that it missed the playoffs.

Despite finishing third in the Atlantic-10 Conference and winning eight more games than last year (including 10 conference games), two losses in eight days to a mediocre Fordham, combined with an unimpressive RPI of #103, was enough to convince the NIT selection committee that John Giannini’s squad didn’t have what it took to make the cut.

While the Explorers were on the bubble regardless, the main reason it was out of the NIT picture from the get-go was because of the tournament’s new rules. The NCAA, who recently purchased the NIT after a legal dispute, developed a new rule stating that all regular-season conference champions not invited to the NCAA Tournament would receive an automatic birth in the NIT. The rule stipulates that conference champions who do not win their post-season conference tournament (which gives teams an automatic invitation to the NCAA), or do not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, be given a free pass to the NIT field.

As a result, Western Kentucky (Sun Belt), Manhattan (MAAC), Northern Arizona (Big Sky), Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun), Georgia Southern (Southern) and Fairleigh Dickinson (Northeast) all made the tournament this year. While Western Kentucky certainly deserved a spot with an RPI of #55, it’s obvious that the other bids certainly did not. The team’s RPIs were as follows: Manhattan #85, Northern Arizona #117, Lipscomb #143, Fairleigh Dickinson #145, and Georgia Southern #159.

Five of these six automatic NIT-bid teams lost in their first tournament game.

Why some of these teams deserved post-season recognition is beyond my comprehension. However, what is clear to me is that five NIT spots were unfairly taken away from bubble teams, such as La Salle, this season.

bagnia1@lasalle.edu