Strykur said:

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The 11-seed play-in games are not preferred landing spots in March but that NC State/Texas nailbiter got way more views than any NIT games will get, especially ours

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What about our ACC triplet, SMU? They didn't even make it to the weekend. And they lost convincingly. Would you have preferred to have Cal get similarly thumped in a Tournament play-in game over Cal winning convincingly in a NIT first round game?

In other words, would you rather be a SMU fan or Cal fan tonight?

In the immortal words of Ben Braun, "We are the only Pac12 team still playing."

01Bear said:

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Strykur said:

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The 11-seed play-in games are not preferred landing spots in March but that NC State/Texas nailbiter got way more views than any NIT games will get, especially ours

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What about our ACC triplet, SMU? They didn't even make it to the weekend. And they lost convincingly. Would you have preferred to have Cal get similarly thumped in a Tournament play-in game over Cal winning convincingly in a NIT first round game?

In other words, would you rather be a SMU fan or Cal fan tonight?

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SMU drew the best mid-major this year, Miami (OH) which was worthy of making the field straight up without the play-in. I think 6 seed Tennessee is going to have problems with them in their tourney game tomorrow afternoon.

6956bear said:

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01Bear said:

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Strykur said:

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The 11-seed play-in games are not preferred landing spots in March but that NC State/Texas nailbiter got way more views than any NIT games will get, especially ours

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What about our ACC triplet, SMU? They didn't even make it to the weekend. And they lost convincingly. Would you have preferred to have Cal get similarly thumped in a Tournament play-in game over Cal winning convincingly in a NIT first round game?

In other words, would you rather be a SMU fan or Cal fan tonight?

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Would you rather make the CFP and get beat in round 1 or make the LA Bowl (now defunct) and beat a MWC team? The goal is to make the NCAA tournament. The NIT is a consolation prize much like a minor bowl game is.

I am happy the Bears won and will play at least one more game. But I doubt the players feel like the NIT was preferred over the NCAA. Even a play in game.

But if invited to this event I am all for trying to win it. But for fun how many folks knew that Chattanooga won last years event? And that they beat the UCI Anteaters in the final. Before less than 3K at the Hinkle Fieldhouse the home of the Butler Bulldogs.

I get wanting to see our Bears win and they did last night. But the program would have benefitted more by making the NCAA tournament.

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I think an NIT championship win is worth a bit more than a first round loss in the Tourney. It would mean 5 wins and a final record of 27-11, a very solid season, and a vindication/redemption for the team having missed the berth. A win and a loss in the 2nd round of the Tourney would be better though.

Bobodeluxe said:

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In the immortal words of Ben Braun, "We are the only Pac12 team still playing."

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tnx Deluxe, missed that till now.

Strykur said:

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01Bear said:

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Strykur said:

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The 11-seed play-in games are not preferred landing spots in March but that NC State/Texas nailbiter got way more views than any NIT games will get, especially ours

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In other words, would you rather be a SMU fan or Cal fan tonight?

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Only 1 team is left dancing at the end, better to at least get in than never make it at all

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Agreed, but there's a difference between getting knocked out in a play-in game and getting knocked out in the Sweet Sixteen (or beyond).

Cal hasn't advanced to the Sweet Sixteen since Jason Kidd led the team (and that was before I matriculated at Cal 19 years ago.) Cal has been knocked out of the Tournament during the first weekend many times. None of those early exits compared to the elation of Cal winning the NIT Tournament in 1999, IMHO.

Sure, it'd be great to see Cal make the Tournament. But getting knocked out in the first weekend (or even before it) isn't much to write home about. If anything, I'd rather have Cal dominate a NIT tournament and win the darn thing than get knocked out in the Round of 32 (or earlier).

6956bear said:

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01Bear said:

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Strykur said:

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The 11-seed play-in games are not preferred landing spots in March but that NC State/Texas nailbiter got way more views than any NIT games will get, especially ours

---

What about our ACC triplet, SMU? They didn't even make it to the weekend. And they lost convincingly. Would you have preferred to have Cal get similarly thumped in a Tournament play-in game over Cal winning convincingly in a NIT first round game?

In other words, would you rather be a SMU fan or Cal fan tonight?

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Would you rather make the CFP and get beat in round 1 or make the LA Bowl (now defunct) and beat a MWC team? The goal is to make the NCAA tournament. The NIT is a consolation prize much like a minor bowl game is.

I am happy the Bears won and will play at least one more game. But I doubt the players feel like the NIT was preferred over the NCAA. Even a play in game.

But if invited to this event I am all for trying to win it. But for fun how many folks knew that Chattanooga won last years event? And that they beat the UCI Anteaters in the final. Before less than 3K at the Hinkle Fieldhouse the home of the Butler Bulldogs.

I get wanting to see our Bears win and they did last night. But the program would have benefitted more by making the NCAA tournament.

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I disagree that the goal is to make the NCAA Tournament. The goal should always to be the NCAA Tournament Champion. Losing in the Round of 64 (or worse, in the play-in game) just means Cal failed to reach the goal a little earlier than others.

Since Cal already failed to reach its goal, it's better for Cal to play hard and celebrate the little on-court successes it can, including by winning the NIT. With Cal being out of the NCAA Tournament, it should focus entirely on winning the NIT. This will give Madsen some momentum in the off-season and hopefully help him to attract better talent.*


*Yes, I know that NIL speaks volumes here. But NIL will only help to cement a deal whereas on-court success will attract attention to the point where a NIL deal can realistically be discussed.

Cal88 said:

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01Bear said:

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Strykur said:

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The 11-seed play-in games are not preferred landing spots in March but that NC State/Texas nailbiter got way more views than any NIT games will get, especially ours

---

What about our ACC triplet, SMU? They didn't even make it to the weekend. And they lost convincingly. Would you have preferred to have Cal get similarly thumped in a Tournament play-in game over Cal winning convincingly in a NIT first round game?

In other words, would you rather be a SMU fan or Cal fan tonight?

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SMU drew the best mid-major this year, Miami (OH) which was worthy of making the field straight up without the play-in. I think 6 seed Tennessee is going to have problems with them in their tourney game tomorrow afternoon.

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Had Cal managed to make the Tournament, it would've likely been for a play-in game. That would've given Cal a 1/4 chance to play Miami of Ohio. Seeing as how SMU is basically one of Cal's triplets in the ACC, it's likely that had Cal made the Tournament instead of SMU, Cal would've wound up playing Miami (OH) last night.

01Bear said:

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Strykur said:

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01Bear said:

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Strykur said:

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The 11-seed play-in games are not preferred landing spots in March but that NC State/Texas nailbiter got way more views than any NIT games will get, especially ours

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In other words, would you rather be a SMU fan or Cal fan tonight?

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Only 1 team is left dancing at the end, better to at least get in than never make it at all

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Agreed, but there's a difference between getting knocked out in a play-in game and getting knocked out in the Sweet Sixteen (or beyond).

Cal hasn't advanced to the Sweet Sixteen since Jason Kidd led the team (and that was before I matriculated at Cal 19 years ago.) Cal has been knocked out of the Tournament during the first weekend many times. None of those early exits compared to the elation of Cal winning the NIT Tournament in 1999, IMHO.

Sure, it'd be great to see Cal make the Tournament. But getting knocked out in the first weekend (or even before it) isn't much to write home about. If anything, I'd rather have Cal dominate a NIT tournament and win the darn thing than get knocked out in the Round of 32 (or earlier).

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Actually Cal went to the Sweet Sixteen in Ben's first year (97?) and may have went farther if Ed Gray hadn't been injured.

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… but it might get me back to buying season tickets. Living in San Jose, midweek games are impossible. I've told the ticket office that they should sell a package that includes just weekend games and games during Thanksgiving and the Christmas-New Years holidays, which got the usual non-response.

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You can make your own weekend bundle. At least as long as they keep the current policy of allowing ticket exchanges. That is what I do now. My ideal game is four seats on a weekend afternoon. December, January & February weeknight games conflict with the HS soccer team I coach. I usually can't make any of them. So I buy two seats. I go through the schedule and exchange all the games I will miss for weekends that I can make. Often, the exchange ticket costs a bit more than the value of the ticket I am exchanging, but it is not much and I think of it as a donation. The new seats I get are not next to my season seats but games are almost never so crowded that the four of us can't find a decent spot together. It works well for me.