Tulane Green Wave Left Out of NIT Field While Four AAC Teams Selected
The Tulane Green Wave men’s basketball team were hoping for a bid to the postseason that never came on Sunday night.
The postseason National Invitation Tournament released its 32-team field after the NCAA Tournament field was set. The Memphis Tigers, who won the American Athletic Conference tournament title, gained the league’s automatic bid to March Madness.
They were also the league’s only team to make the field.
From there, the NIT — which is also owned by NCAA — selects its field. The selection committee did not take Tulane (19-14), even though the Green Wave finished in fourth place in the league and reached the semifinals, nearly beating Tulane.
The NIT did take four teams from the AAC. UAB and North Texas both finished ahead of the Green Wave and were natural choices for selection.
But the NIT also took FAU and Wichita State, which probably stings just a bit.
FAU finished two games behind the Green Wave in the standings and lost to Tulane in the AAC quarterfinals. Plus, the Owls lost to Tulane in their regular-season meeting.
Wichita State was a stunning selection, based on the regular-season standings. The Shockers were under .500 in league action and finished with the same overall record as the Green Wave. Tulane did lose their only meeting.
It appears as if NCAA NET ratings may have made a difference. FAU had a NET ranking of 111, Wichita State had a NET ranking of 134 and Tulane was behind both at 145. The Green Wave also didn’t have a single Quad 1 or Quad 2 win. FAU had two Quad 2 wins and Wichita State had four Quad 2 wins.
Tulane’s only remaining path to a postseason bid is the Crown Basketball Championship, which will announce its field on Monday. The event, which will be held in Las Vegas, will consist of at least two teams from the Big Ten, the Big 12 and the Big East. After that, there are 10 at-large bids.
This new tournament has an NIL component and all games will be played in Las Vegas in the week leading up to the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio.
