Tonight, the National Invitation Tournament unveiled their 2009 men’s basketball brackets, and, unfortunately, N.C. State was not among those chosen for the post-season tournament. The ACC teams selected were Virginia Tech and Miami, whose NCAA bubbles burst earlier this evening. Davidson also made the NIT and will open the tournament at South Carolina on Tuesday, March 17.
N.C. State (16-14) is surely disappointed, but, in reviewing the NIT brackets, the Wolfpack have little to quibble about. Only five teams with as many total losses as the Wolfpack were selected: Va Tech, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Baylor, and Washington State (who has 15 losses). However, all those teams have a RPI in the nation’s top 100, while N.C. State’s RPI is 111. And, of those five teams, the one with the lowest strength of schedule (SOS) ranking is Washington State at 54. Meanwhile, N.C. State’s SOS is 71.
