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NC State Basketball

TRI-PARTISAN: NIT Bid Could Pay Off For Pack

March 19, 2019
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Each week I submit a Tri-Partisan column to WRALSportsFan.com, and here is this week's feature where I discuss why NC State was snubbed but playing well in the NIT can greatly benefit the program.



WRALSportsFan: NIT Bid Could Pay Off For Pack

As everyone knows by now, NC State didn't make the 2019 NCAA Tournament. With a NCAA selection committee featuring ADs from across the country, being awarded an at-large bid is as subjective as it can be.

There are no specific metrics in place for selection. We were led to believe that the new NET ranking system would be just that, given it was created by the NCAA specifically for selection purposes in place of the RPI, but that wasn't true.

Just ask NC State.

The Wolfpack had a NET of 33, the highest ranking for a team left out of the NCAA field. No surprise that Pack fans, and AD Debbie Yow, were upset by the news. Yow voiced her displeasure in a statement released shortly after the brackets were presented to the public.

“Based on the metrics [cited] above that the NCAA indicated they would use to evaluate team performance, we are disappointed for our athletes, coaches and fans that our total body of work was not rewarded with selection to the NCAA tournament,” Yow said.

Selection committee chair Bernard Muir referenced NC State's lack of quality wins as a reason for the Pack's omission, but other teams chosen didn't have the wins the Wolfpack secured.

Statistically, Yow is correct. NC State had a high NET while performing well in the KenPom, BPI, and Sagarin metrics, also used by the selection committee. Everyone associated with the program has a right to be upset because they were snubbed.

NC State was quickly pegged to play in the NIT, the frowned upon consolation prize for bursted bubble squads, but Wolfpack fans weren't happy. Some even suggested the team decline the bid while others speculated about boycotting all NIT games.

While there was likely no chance of State declining the bid, Kevin Keatts did the right thing in accepting because this is an opportunity which could really benefit the program. Keatts referenced earlier in the season that he felt his team was still a year away, and that year could be next season. Folks often forget this team returned just three players from last year's roster.

Keatts and his staff did an outstanding job of re-tooling the roster to where the Pack competed for a spot in the Big Dance. It could be a lot worse right now (see what's going on in Winston-Salem). READ FULL STORY HERE: LINK

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TRI-PARTISAN: NIT Bid Could Pay Off For Pack

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