NIT Picking again

I was mostly right about the NIT games last night, the home teams cruised for the most part. UMass had to go to OT to finish off 'Bama but that's not a big surprise, the Tide has some talent even if they didn't have the years they could have.

But there were two home losses that surprised me. Oklahoma State got pretty thoroughly abused at home by Marist; I thought State was going to be pretty good this year but they've stumbled badly. And Drexel couldn't handle the mighty NC State onslaught at home. Now look when the NCAA committee makes their choices and people complain, they're complaining about the intention not the consequence. It wouldn't be right to sit here and say, 'I guess Drexel didn't deserve a spot because they couldn't even beat NC State at home. How would they have handled (say) Louisville on a neutral floor?' We'll never know. Sometimes not getting in is the catalyst to a strong run through the junior league. Perhaps not getting into the tourney was so demoralizing to the Drexel players that they couldn't win even on their home floor to a so-so opponent--this does not mean they didn't deserve to go to the big tourney! But, still… thought they'd do better than one and done.

Fresno State (22-9) at Georgia (18-13), 7 p.m.
Vermont (25-7) at Kansas State (22-11), 8 p.m.
Austin Peay (21-11) at Air Force (23-8), 11 p.m.
Hofstra (22-9) at DePaul (18-13), TBA
ETSU (24-9) at Clemson (21-10), 6 p.m.
South Alabama (20-11) at Syracuse (22-10), 7 p.m.
San Diego State (21-10) at Missouri State (22-10), 10 p.m.
Appalachian State (25-7) at Mississippi (20-12), TBA

Syracuse may well be the favorite for this whole tourney but my gut tells me Kansas State, Missouri State and Appalachian State all have a shot at NIT glory.

In tonight's games I've got a coupla upsets. Fresno State has a long way to travel and I think they'll make the most of it. Georgia is scrappy but not a deep team and I think Fresno can pull off the mild upset. I'll take Austin Peay at Air Force. Air Force stumbled badly down the stretch and went from a top 10 squad to drummed out of the top 64 in a matter of weeks. Hey, those military schools must have a tough time recruiting and I imagine focus on sports waxes and wanes. Will they wax it back for one final tournament? I'm thinking not. For all the talk about Syracuse and Drexel, I thought App. State was the most deserving team that got left out of the big dance. Ol' Miss was one of those disappointing SEC West teams and I bet the Appalachian boys can take 'em. (Secretly, I've got my eyes on Hofstra and ETSU, as well, but I'm just not ballsy enough to go against the home faves)