The National Invitational Tournament has announced this year's 32-team field, one that sadly but not surprisingly does not include Boston College. Eagles fans are left to wonder what could have been with a few more wins in games against Dayton, Charleston, Bryant, Harvard, N.C. State, Miami, Florida State, Wake Forest, Duke, Miami ...
From the ACC, Virginia (#1), Maryland (#2) and Florida State (#4) are in. #goacc
Here is the 76th National Invitational Tournament bracket:
No. 1 Kentucky (21-11) at No. 8 Robert Morris (23-10)
No. 4 Providence (17-14) vs. No. 5 Charlotte (21-11)
No. 3 Arizona State (21-12) vs. No. 6 Detroit (20-12)
No. 2 Baylor (18-14) vs. No. 7 Long Beach State (19-13)
No. 1 Southern Mississippi (25-9) vs. Charleston Southern (19-12)
No. 4 Florida State (18-15) vs. No. 5 Louisiana Tech (26-6)
No. 3 BYU (21-11) vs. No. 6 Washington (18-15)
No. 2 Tennessee (20-12) vs. No. 7 Mercer (23-11)
No. 1 Alabama (21-12) vs. No. 8 Northeastern (20-12)
No. 4 Stanford (18-14) vs. No. 5 Stephen F. Austin (27-4)
No. 3 Denver (21-9) vs. No. 6 Ohio (24-9)
No. 2 Maryland (22-12) vs. No. 7 Niagara (19-13)
No. 1 Virginia (21-11) vs. No. 8 Norfolk State (21-11)
No. 4 St. Joseph's (18-13) vs. No. 5 St. John's (16-15)
No. 3 Iowa (21-12) vs. No. 6 Indiana State (18-14)
No. 2 UMass (21-11) vs. No. 7 Stony Brook (24-7)
Looks like St. John's gets in with the worst record of the field (16-15). The Johnnies have an RPI of 96 (Boston College's was 112). Kenpom ranks St. John's 107th while Boston College ranks 90th. Sagarin has St. John's with the 42nd toughest schedule; BC 47 and ranks SJU 88th overall and BC 91st. The Eagles won 7 of its final 10 games with losses to tournament-bound Duke, N.C. State and Miami. St. John's lost 8 of its final 10, including five straight to end the year.
Still, it was the longest of long shots that BC would become the first program to receive an NIT invitation with a sub-.500 record. Oh well.
A complete 2013 NIT bracket can be found here.