One more win

[LA_Mustang]

would get us in the NIT. I'm pretty confident that finishing 2nd in the conference (not counting Fresno) and at least 2nd in the conference tournament would get us an invite. On the other hand, if we win two more, the dance would do just fine.

[Hoop Fan]

I'd actually be happy with an NIT bid this year. My gut tells me that 18-13 would not be good enough for SMU though. Have you crunched the numbers LA? How many teams are realistically fighting for the last couple NIT spots?

[PX]

We're above 110 in both the RPI and the Sagarin rankings. We arent realistically in the NIT picture. LA is assuming that the NIT is going to take at least one WAC team, but thats not a safe assumption when you look at how the league did this year. Tulsa would make the NIT, if they dont win the tournament, but the rest of the WAC is on the bad side of the NIT bubble.

[JasonB]

It is going to be tough to make the NIT this year. You would think that the NIT would take one team from the WAC, at least. However, both Nevada and Rice have a higher RPI than we do. And Rice has a better overall record.

I think our best hope for the NIT will be to beat Nevada in the next round, and then hope that Rice actually gets upset in the first round. That might get us in. A loss to Nevada tomorrow and we have no chance, unfortunatly.

Last year, the WAC had two teams in the NIT, so you never know. But SMU's RPI is still in the one hundreds, so it is doubtfull...

[PX]

If Hawaii beats Rice, that might put them in contention. They havea better RPI, and the WACs only decent looking non-conference wins over Butler and Kent, and conference wins over Fresno and Tulsa. The drawback for Hawaii is their traveling expenses

[EastStang]

If we beat Nevada, and then lose to Tulsa (which I hope doesn't happen) and if Rice beats Hawaii and loses to Tulsa, it will be between us and Rice for a road game in the NIT. The RPI shifts almost daily, last I looked we were at 122 Rice at 100. If we beat Nevada and Rice loses to Tulsa in the second round our RPI might close ranks.

[Pony_Fan]

I seriously doubt we have any chance of going to the NIT. We have no quality OOC wins.

Let's play better and beat Nevada.

[Diehard Pony]

Just for the record, our highest rated non-conference win was San Diego (86 Sagarin), who is already in The Dance; and our highest rated win overall was Tulsa (64 Sagarin).

[Charleston Pony]

I agree our RPI is way too low and we don't have the quality wins or offer the "reginal match-up of interest" the NIT looks for. Hawaii, Rice & Tulsa all have RPIs under 100 and might have shots at the NIT, depending on how the WAC Tourney plays out. The problem is that the NIT looks for interestihg regional or even in-state match ups and I don't see any attractive match-ups (Rice vs Tx A$M???). Around these parts there is talk of the NIT offering College of Charleston (22-7, RPI 72) a game with Clemson (15-12, RPI 90) but the word is that Clemson might not be high enough in RPI...plus either team can reject an "in-state" game that might be offered. Bottom line is that we need to win this Tourney to see the post season. Q's shoes say it all.

[LA_Mustang]

HF, PX is right. I was basing my post on the assumption that the NIT will take at least one WAC team. I feel that if Tulsa wins the tournament and we make it to the finals we would be the best choice despite our poor RPI. Our selling points would be that we finished the season strong, finished 2nd in the conference and 2nd in the tournament, and we have the conference player of the year and freshman of the year. Perhaps these would overshadow our RPI.

[EastStang]

Not exactly. Its about $$$. As said above its about matchups. If the Aggies or Baylor get an invite, either SMU or Rice might be invited to max attendance at A&M or Waco. Our RPI dropped from 122 to 120 after yesterday. We have another OOC win over Baylor who has an RPI in the 90's. Rice's rose to 107, Hawaii dropped to 103. Our best chance though at the post-season is to win the WAC tournament. We know that we can beat Nevada and Tulsa, we just have to execute.