https://uclawire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ucla/mens-basketball/2024/03/27/ucla-usc-schools-declined-2024-nit-invitation/78808711007/

https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketball/comments/1biz6to/notable_teams_to_decline_2024_nit_invitations/

Was this posted here? I don't recall seeing it. I know we had crazy roster turnover, so I get it-- but I had no idea! Perhaps I'm in the bargaining stage of grief over the home games being over, but maybe we get an NIT invitation this year and take it??

Edit: I see we did have a few posts about this last year-- my bad, totally missed it. But still the question remains: Let's say we beat ND and end up at 14 wins (1 more than last year, with a worse conference record). Assuming many teams (that might be ahead in preference) decline invites again, do y'all think we get an invite? And do we accept?

I'll note that I've done several hours of research into NIT odds, as I tackle the bargaining stage of grief over having watched my last home game as a cal student. fingers crossed!!

eastcoastcal said:

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I'll note that I've done several hours of research into NIT odds, as I tackle the bargaining stage of grief over having watched my last home game as a cal student. fingers crossed!!

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Madsen is talking about post season so maybe there is an invite in the works. Most of our players starting are seniors so maybe

eastcoastcal said:

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https://uclawire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ucla/mens-basketball/2024/03/27/ucla-usc-schools-declined-2024-nit-invitation/78808711007/

https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketball/comments/1biz6to/notable_teams_to_decline_2024_nit_invitations/

Was this posted here? I don't recall seeing it. I know we had crazy roster turnover, so I get it-- but I had no idea! Perhaps I'm in the bargaining stage of grief over the home games being over, but maybe we get an NIT invitation this year and take it??

Edit: I see we did have a few posts about this last year-- my bad, totally missed it. But still the question remains: Let's say we beat ND and end up at 14 wins (1 more than last year, with a worse conference record). Assuming many teams (that might be ahead in preference) decline invites again, do y'all think we get an invite? And do we accept?

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It is strange because there was only one team with a losing record in the 2024 NIT, 16-17 Xavier. None of the teams that accepted had a worse NET rating than Cal. Strange that they offered us over, presumably, the more deserving teams that accepted after we declined.

oskidunker said:

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eastcoastcal said:

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I'll note that I've done several hours of research into NIT odds, as I tackle the bargaining stage of grief over having watched my last home game as a cal student. fingers crossed!!

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Madsen is talking about post season so maybe there is an invite in the works. Most of our players starting are seniors so maybe

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Accepting a postseason invite could be telling. Might mean that there's less offseason recruiting necessary---and that Madsen expects player retention.

eastcoastcal said:

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https://uclawire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ucla/mens-basketball/2024/03/27/ucla-usc-schools-declined-2024-nit-invitation/78808711007/

https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketball/comments/1biz6to/notable_teams_to_decline_2024_nit_invitations/

Was this posted here? I don't recall seeing it. I know we had crazy roster turnover, so I get it-- but I had no idea! Perhaps I'm in the bargaining stage of grief over the home games being over, but maybe we get an NIT invitation this year and take it??

Edit: I see we did have a few posts about this last year-- my bad, totally missed it. But still the question remains: Let's say we beat ND and end up at 14 wins (1 more than last year, with a worse conference record). Assuming many teams (that might be ahead in preference) decline invites again, do y'all think we get an invite? And do we accept?

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Last year was either an aberation or maybe the new normal (but for how long). As your graphic showed, Cal was not alone in turning down the NIT.

In general, I think the teams internal decision tree about post season in anything other than NCAA has to be different than what may have seemed obvious in the prior 30 years.

As for this year, I am doubtful we get an invite. IF WE DO BECAUSE A DOZEN OTHER TEAMS DECLINED, then I would bet that Cal declines as well.

If Cal goes on a mini run, makes the ACC tourney and wins a couple games to get an NIT invite, then I would LIKE them to accept an invite. But would not be surprised if it is declined for a bunch of different reasons (mostly involving money).

We've already made the ACC tournament. If we win one of our last two, and at least 2 in the tournament, I think we'll get an NIT bid.

And we always look at stuff like this, and then lose out, so it doesn't matter. BUT, we are playing a LOT better lately, and Mady has really turned a corner, so we could make a run. Odds of beating Louisville on the road are almost zero, but we CAN and we SHOULD beat Notre Dame, even on the road.

No matter where we end up in the rankings for the ACC tournament, we'll at WORST face the #10 seed in round 1, and at WORST face the #5 seed in round 2. But we lack depth and will likely be playing that second game (if we win the first), against a fully-rested 5,6,7 or 8 seed.

It's a neutral court, but with Omot and JOJ still out, I don't know how we win two days in a row.

Unfortunately, I think even if we somehow were to win our last two regular season games and finish 8-12, VTech would have to lose both of their remaining games for us to finish tied with them for the 9th seed, but they own the tiebreaker against us AND there are a bunch of other teams that can/will have better records than that if they win one or both of their last two, so I think at best, we can finish in 10th place in the ACC. Likely 12th to 15th. And no matter what, we'll have to play on day 1 and day 2, and will be exhausted.

Hoping Madsen can get these guys pumped to win one (or shock Louisville and win two), and keep some momentum heading into the ACC Tournament. Would be a great way to finish what has, until very recently, been a very disappointing season (for me).

bearsandgiants said:

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We've already made the ACC tournament. If we win one of our last two, and at least 2 in the tournament, I think we'll get an NIT bid.

And we always look at stuff like this, and then lose out, so it doesn't matter. BUT, we are playing a LOT better lately, and Mady has really turned a corner, so we could make a run. Odds of beating Louisville on the road are almost zero, but we CAN and we SHOULD beat Notre Dame, even on the road.

No matter where we end up in the rankings for the ACC tournament, we'll at WORST face the #10 seed in round 1, and at WORST face the #5 seed in round 2. But we lack depth and will likely be playing that second game (if we win the first), against a fully-rested 5,6,7 or 8 seed.

It's a neutral court, but with Omot and JOJ still out, I don't know how we win two days in a row.

Unfortunately, I think even if we somehow were to win our last two regular season games and finish 8-12, VTech would have to lose both of their remaining games for us to finish tied with them for the 9th seed, but they own the tiebreaker against us AND there are a bunch of other teams that can/will have better records than that if they win one or both of their last two, so I think at best, we can finish in 10th place in the ACC. Likely 12th to 15th. And no matter what, we'll have to play on day 1 and day 2, and will be exhausted.

Hoping Madsen can get these guys pumped to win one (or shock Louisville and win two), and keep some momentum heading into the ACC Tournament. Would be a great way to finish what has, until very recently, been a very disappointing season (for me).

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It would be great to play well at the end of the season.

calumnus said:

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eastcoastcal said:

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https://uclawire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ucla/mens-basketball/2024/03/27/ucla-usc-schools-declined-2024-nit-invitation/78808711007/

https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketball/comments/1biz6to/notable_teams_to_decline_2024_nit_invitations/

Was this posted here? I don't recall seeing it. I know we had crazy roster turnover, so I get it-- but I had no idea! Perhaps I'm in the bargaining stage of grief over the home games being over, but maybe we get an NIT invitation this year and take it??

Edit: I see we did have a few posts about this last year-- my bad, totally missed it. But still the question remains: Let's say we beat ND and end up at 14 wins (1 more than last year, with a worse conference record). Assuming many teams (that might be ahead in preference) decline invites again, do y'all think we get an invite? And do we accept?

---

It is strange because there was only one team with a losing record in the 2024 NIT, 16-17 Xavier. None of the teams that accepted had a worse NET rating than Cal. Strange that they offered us over, presumably, the more deserving teams that accepted after we declined.

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Very strange and honestly hard to believe. What is the source of this NIT decline, from the NIT itself or the schools? Did the schools pre-emptively decline the NIT and perhaps were not even asked? I find it extremely hard to believe Cal was offered an invite given their record.

HKBear97! said:

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calumnus said:

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eastcoastcal said:

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https://uclawire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ucla/mens-basketball/2024/03/27/ucla-usc-schools-declined-2024-nit-invitation/78808711007/

https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketball/comments/1biz6to/notable_teams_to_decline_2024_nit_invitations/

Was this posted here? I don't recall seeing it. I know we had crazy roster turnover, so I get it-- but I had no idea! Perhaps I'm in the bargaining stage of grief over the home games being over, but maybe we get an NIT invitation this year and take it??

Edit: I see we did have a few posts about this last year-- my bad, totally missed it. But still the question remains: Let's say we beat ND and end up at 14 wins (1 more than last year, with a worse conference record). Assuming many teams (that might be ahead in preference) decline invites again, do y'all think we get an invite? And do we accept?

---

It is strange because there was only one team with a losing record in the 2024 NIT, 16-17 Xavier. None of the teams that accepted had a worse NET rating than Cal. Strange that they offered us over, presumably, the more deserving teams that accepted after we declined.

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Very strange and honestly hard to believe. What is the source of this NIT decline, from the NIT itself or the schools? Did the schools pre-emptively decline the NIT and perhaps were not even asked? I find it extremely hard to believe Cal was offered an invite given their record.

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When most of your good players go in to the portal and tell you they wont play in the nit, you decline the invite

The NIT had a format where they invited two teams from each power conference last year, including the pac 12. However, because it doesn't finish before the transfer portal opens, teams turned it down because they would rather focus on their roster vs playing in the tournament. I bet Madsen turned it down because he had to rebuild the entire roster through the portal, but if he accepts it this year, then I believe we have very strong player retention, and don't have to hit the portal as hard.

That explains how Cal would have gotten an invite last year. Exactly zero Pac 12 schools played in it. This year is a whole new ballgame because we're in the ACC. 3 teams from the ACC played in the NIT last year. The worst of them had 18 wins going in. We're not getting a bid, folks.

As for explaining the decline by Madsen, an additional reason could be that he didn't want to be the only school in the bracket with a crappy record. Probably didn't want to hear a bunch of haters calling out that Cal didn't deserve to be there. And he probably knew they'd get blown out in the first round by a far superior team.

ESPN's BPI predictor gives us a 27% chance of beating Notre Dame. Probably accurate.

They also give us a 9.7% chance of beating Louisville. I'll be surprised if we finish higher than 15th in the ACC. And then probably one and done in Charlotte.

Do we have any chance of retaining our top players for next year? I'm assuming JW will end up at an SEC school closer to his Atlanta home.

Right, the NIT is a direct casualty of the portal system and NIL. There's zero incentive for players or programs to risk injury (and miss out on a potential transfer) for NIT glory. I was never sure why teams played in it even before the portal, I guess to give players the postseason experience if they were never making it to March Madness. Not surprised that Cal declined last year and Madsen should probably do the same this year. Next year won't be a problem because it's likely the NIT will fold, R.I.P.

Addicted-to-TopDog said:

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That explains how Cal would have gotten an invite last year. Exactly zero Pac 12 schools played in it. This year is a whole new ballgame because we're in the ACC. 3 teams from the ACC played in the NIT last year. The worst of them had 18 wins going in. We're not getting a bid, folks.

As for explaining the decline by Madsen, an additional reason could be that he didn't want to be the only school in the bracket with a crappy record. Probably didn't want to hear a bunch of haters calling out that Cal didn't deserve to be there. And he probably knew they'd get blown out in the first round by a far superior team.

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But where's the proof the NIT actually extended an invite? It strikes me as the equivalent of me telling people I declined a date offer from Scarlett Johansson.

barsad said:

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Right, the NIT is a direct casualty of the portal system and NIL. There's zero incentive for players or programs to risk injury (and miss out on a potential transfer) for NIT glory. I was never sure why teams played in it even before the portal, I guess to give players the postseason experience if they were never making it to March Madness. Not surprised that Cal declined last year and Madsen should probably do the same this year. Next year won't be a problem because it's likely the NIT will fold, R.I.P.

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Last year was an anomaly since there were two slots for the PAC-12 and none went, so every PAC-12 team that wasn't already in the NCAA Tournament was apparently offered and declined. Madsen will not have a chance to decline this year because, barring a miracle run in the ACC Tournament, Cal is not getting an invite.

HKBear97! said:

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Addicted-to-TopDog said:

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That explains how Cal would have gotten an invite last year. Exactly zero Pac 12 schools played in it. This year is a whole new ballgame because we're in the ACC. 3 teams from the ACC played in the NIT last year. The worst of them had 18 wins going in. We're not getting a bid, folks.

As for explaining the decline by Madsen, an additional reason could be that he didn't want to be the only school in the bracket with a crappy record. Probably didn't want to hear a bunch of haters calling out that Cal didn't deserve to be there. And he probably knew they'd get blown out in the first round by a far superior team.

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But where's the proof the NIT actually extended an invite? It strikes me as the equivalent of me telling people I declined a date offer from Scarlett Johansson.

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Are you saying the guy who wrote the USA Today story (see link above) had no sources and was just making it up? The NIT explicitly said it wanted two P5 teams, Cal was on that list even though we were 9th out of 12, nobody above us wanted it.

calumnus said:

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barsad said:

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Right, the NIT is a direct casualty of the portal system and NIL. There's zero incentive for players or programs to risk injury (and miss out on a potential transfer) for NIT glory. I was never sure why teams played in it even before the portal, I guess to give players the postseason experience if they were never making it to March Madness. Not surprised that Cal declined last year and Madsen should probably do the same this year. Next year won't be a problem because it's likely the NIT will fold, R.I.P.

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Last year was an anomaly since there were two slots for the PAC-12 and none went, so every PAC-12 team that wasn't already in the NCAA Tournament was apparently offered and declined. Madsen will not have a chance to decline this year because, barring a miracle run in the ACC Tournament, Cal is not getting an invite.

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We'll see. The same portal dynamic in effect last year is in effect this year… so if everybody above us in the ACC declines, we will again get the invite (and I hope again decline). I'm not sure why the middle ACC teams would want the NIT glory, but maybe if their rosters are mostly set for next year.

Maybe someone addressed this point already, but I also seem to remember the issue of $$$. Like the NIT wanted a certain guaranteed payment, which would only come close to being worth our while if we hosted the first round and it was well-attended. And the last time we hosted an NIT game was that Bakersfield fiasco (a friend of mine and I were there, but hardly anybody else).

Could be mistaken about this being a reason. Bottom line, the NIT is about as prestigious now as pissant bowl games are for football.

Big C said:

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Maybe someone addressed this point already, but I also seem to remember the issue of $$$. Like the NIT wanted a certain guaranteed payment, which would only come close to being worth our while if we hosted the first round and it was well-attended. And the last time we hosted an NIT game was that Bakersfield fiasco (a friend of mine and I were there, but hardly anybody
Could be mistaken about this being a reason. Bottom line, the NIT is about as prestigious now as pissant bowl games are for football.

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I was there. It was bad.

barsad said:

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calumnus said:

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barsad said:

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Right, the NIT is a direct casualty of the portal system and NIL. There's zero incentive for players or programs to risk injury (and miss out on a potential transfer) for NIT glory. I was never sure why teams played in it even before the portal, I guess to give players the postseason experience if they were never making it to March Madness. Not surprised that Cal declined last year and Madsen should probably do the same this year. Next year won't be a problem because it's likely the NIT will fold, R.I.P.

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Last year was an anomaly since there were two slots for the PAC-12 and none went, so every PAC-12 team that wasn't already in the NCAA Tournament was apparently offered and declined. Madsen will not have a chance to decline this year because, barring a miracle run in the ACC Tournament, Cal is not getting an invite.

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We'll see. The same portal dynamic in effect last year is in effect this year… so if everybody above us in the ACC declines, we will again get the invite (and I hope again decline). I'm not sure why the middle ACC teams would want the NIT glory, but maybe if their rosters are mostly set for next year.

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Last year it appears to be ACC teams that wanted to finish the season with 20 or more wins and knew they would draw well.

barsad said:

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HKBear97! said:

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Addicted-to-TopDog said:

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That explains how Cal would have gotten an invite last year. Exactly zero Pac 12 schools played in it. This year is a whole new ballgame because we're in the ACC. 3 teams from the ACC played in the NIT last year. The worst of them had 18 wins going in. We're not getting a bid, folks.

As for explaining the decline by Madsen, an additional reason could be that he didn't want to be the only school in the bracket with a crappy record. Probably didn't want to hear a bunch of haters calling out that Cal didn't deserve to be there. And he probably knew they'd get blown out in the first round by a far superior team.

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But where's the proof the NIT actually extended an invite? It strikes me as the equivalent of me telling people I declined a date offer from Scarlett Johansson.

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Are you saying the guy who wrote the USA Today story (see link above) had no sources and was just making it up? The NIT explicitly said it wanted two P5 teams, Cal was on that list even though we were 9th out of 12, nobody above us wanted it.

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Actually I'm wondering who his source was - the NIT or Cal? I found his e-mail address and asked, but no response yet. Cal's record is so far off everyone else on that list it just seems very odd.

wasn't there a new post season tournament that started last year? therefore the NIT changed the rules of who would be auto invited?

I know there was a new WBB post season tournament last year, which Cal played in

https://www.collegeinsider.com/tournament/

barsad said:

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https://www.collegeinsider.com/tournament/

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not that one.
I was referring to this one, although it was only announced last year (it's supposed to start this season, but I've heard nothing about it. perhaps it won't happen (and I don't think it should)


https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39868485/fox-aeg-launch-new-postseason-basketball-tournament

There's only one tournament in my book, the rest of these are pay-to-plays and wanna bes, or both.

barsad said:

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There's only one tournament in my book, the rest of these are pay-to-plays and wanna bes, or both.

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Still I would like to see another game at Haas, but maybeI am the only one.

fair