So are we going to Vegas?

[Nukem2]

I do not buy the injury argument whatsoever. They play pick up all the time. Should that stop because someone might get hurt?

Yeah all these players, not just MU, play 52/7 in one form or another. Hard to buy the injury argument. Could hurt oneself like OJ Mayo falling down steps...

[unclejohn]

I bet there were a handful of teams like Marquette that were sitting there waiting to see who was in the Vegas 16. Marquette and another handful of big schools were considering but nobody wanted to be first to commit. None did, so it is what it is.

I expect that most of the big names were not even considering. Marquette made the announcement pretty quickly after the NIT bids came out that they were through for the season. So did Kansas State and LSU and Northwestern. A few others like Illinois State and Oakland started hinting that they wanted to go to Vegas early on. I am not sure what the limitations are, but it seems to me that the committee should have been on the phone for a week with teams like Marquette that were hoping for an NIT bid and getting commitments out of them. It cannot be that difficult. In past years, the CBI filled its field pretty quickly with a fair number of major conference teams and a handful of second-tier conferences, like C-USA (before they were raided by the American) and the MAC. The CIT filled up quickly, and even the CBI, which nobody seems to want to play in this year, managed to release its bracket by this morning. They should have had half the bracket full by the time the NIT field was announced. Lots of schools seem to be concluding that these tournaments are not worth it. The idea for this one was better, and maybe some big name programs are sitting back and watching to see how the first year goes, but in that case, they should have had their ducks lined up before Sunday.

But another factor I think is that these tournaments have proven to be of limited value. Someone on Scoop or somewhere made a comment on how sad it was that Wojo said his players were exhausted, when he could see steel workers outside his building working in the middle of the summer heat. Stupid. Steel workers are getting paid, and they are actually producing something. Even for the Vegas tournament, teams have to pay to play. For what? A couple weeks more of practice and some possible appearances on CBSSN? Wojo is right. The team got their extra practices in last year before Italy. Someone else turned them down because they have an upcoming foreign trip. I think their field will be better than the CBI, but the CBI has the likes of Duquense and Omaha.