Tough Post Season Love for Big Sky and MW Basketball
Turns out that getting a bid to one of the two prestigious men's post season basketball tournaments, the NCAA or the NIT is no longer a slam dunk.
Used to be if you were in contention for an NCAA dance the NIT would be there if you tripped. That is no longer the case.
In all, 100 basketball teams will compete in either the NCAA or the NIT men's basketball tournaments but only two are from the Mountain West and only one from the Big sky.
The NCAA had to settle for Utah State and Montana because they won their respective league tournaments. The NCAA also took Nevada because of their lofty ranking all season.
The NIT however saw no need to pick a Mountain West of Big Sky team for it's field of 32.
Not San Diego State who beat Nevada in the Mountain West semi finals before losing to Utah State in the championship game, nor Fresno State.
Eastern Washington, the runner up to Montana in the Big Sky was also overlooked by the NIT.
So, what basketball fans in the Mountain West and Big Sky have to look forward to in regards to March Madness is:7 Nevada vs. 10 Florida, 8 Utah State vs 9 Washington and 2 Michigan vs. 15 Montana.
Big Sky Tournament note:
Just for the record the return of the Big Sky Tournament to the Gem State was a huge success in it's first year. Century Link arena was a hit with the players and fans as was the downtown Boise area which offered everything fans could want.
The attendance was better than anticipated and that was with a Montana vs. Eastern Washington final and with all the Idaho teams taking an early exit including the top seed Idaho Vandal women's team featuring the leagues MVP.
I'm not saying the Big Sky has found a post season home in Boise but it;'s for sure the city hasn't forgotten the Big Sky days of the past and was more than anxious to roll out the carpet for familiar foes!
With two more years remaining on the current contract and with fan's spreading the word the Big Sky post season tournament is bigger and better than ever...expect year two to bring even more March Madness to Boise Center on the grove.