What's Next for the 17-15 UW Basketball Team?

The Huskies likely have two options for playing more postseason games.

So now what?

The University of Washington basketball team was eliminated from the Pac-12 tournament on Thursday night in Las Vegas, but still wants to keep playing, hoping its 17-15 record can secure a postseason extension somewhere.

Four national tournaments now are annually made available to the Division I masses in March, but the Huskies don't qualify for the NCAAs or something called the Basketball Classic.

The Huskies would need to be one of the nation's top 68 Division I teams to play in March Madness, which they're not, and one of 20 mid-majors only to receive a berth in the BC, formerly the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, also which they're not.

That leaves the NIT or the College Basketball Invitational.

While a frequent past entry in the NIT, the UW still might find it difficult in receiving an invitation because of the preponderance of Pac-10 teams with better records likely needing a place to land, such as Colorado (21-10), Oregon (19-14) and Washington State (19-14). 

The Buffaloes, for the time being, remain in the running in the Pac-12 tourney, where a title would land them an automatic NCAA berth. Yet they would have to outlast Arizona, UCLA and USC to make that happen.

The NIT invites 32 teams for a single-elimination event that begins on March 15-16 on college campuses and ends on March 29-31 with its own Final Four at Madison Square Garden in New York.

If the Huskies went this route, they might find themselves facing a South Carolina (18-14), Montana State (25-7), New Mexico State (24-6) or North Texas (24-6), where former Huskies Erik Stevenson, Raequan Battle, Nate Pryor and Hameir Wright currently play, respectively, or fill out a roster spot. 

However, Montana State and New Mexico State are still in the running in their conference tournaments and consequently still eligible for NCAA berths. 

And the CBI?

This stray basketball event, which has previously hosted the UW, will invite 16 teams to play in a single-elimination competition from March 19-23, with all games in Daytona, Beach, Florida. The pandemic helped reshape this into a single-site tournament, similar to what the NBA did with its bubble-restricted format.

Maybe the Huskies better pack their beach towels and sunscreen. 

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