2023 NIT

[gacoug]

Congrats y'all. Really enjoyed watching y'all win.

[EvanJ]

We never played Cincinnati, so if we host them it will be a rare case of us having hosted a team in a much better conference that we never went to. Another example is Nebraska, who we hosted and won in the 2006 NIT First Round, and lost to in Puerto Rico on November 21, 2010. Our only game against Virginia Tech was a loss in the Holiday Festival First Round on December 28, 2007.

Colorado beat Seton Hall 65-64, so our NIT bracket had New Jersey teams lose by 2 in overtime and by 1.

[dan10]

Congrats. What a finish. OT was nothing but daggers back and forth

[triplec2195]

Triplec2195, Go to the website A Daly Dose of Hoops to get a little insight on the RU reaction. Also, our friend Wags had a good article on the NY Sports Day site.

TY Shadow.

[triplec2195]

Postgame press conferences, like day and night. I don't think I've seen a more emotional press conference than this one from Rutgers:

Hofstra:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH6uAqKoxCQ

Rutgers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRCVI_FkH2M

TY Jojo.

That press conference by Pikiell almost made me feel BAD for winning this game but credit to him for making it all about his players and what a family he has created over the years. Impressive!

[HofstraMathew]

Now that we can happily say this matters for Hofstra...

Virginia Tech at Cincinnati on ESPN2 tonight (3/15) at 9:00 pm ET.

The second round is Sat 3/18 & Sun 3/19. The only things we know about that round so far are:

Sat 3/18 - Michigan @ Vanderbilt at noon ET on ESPN
Sun 3/19 - TBD games at noon & 2:00 pm ET on ESPN2, and TBD games at 7:30 pm & 9:30 pm ET on ESPNU

Just saw that if Cincinnati wins tonight, Hofstra GETS A HOME GAME this weekend!

Cincinnati is having renovations done to its playing surface and can't host beyond tonight. Why they would have possibly scheduled that now and not waited for March to be over first is beyond me, but go Bearcats! I think... I'm not sure if playing Va Tech on the road would be more winnable than Cincinnati (a better team) at home, but at this point, bring on the excitement of hosting Cincinnati at The Mack! Win or lose, that would probably be better for creating any positive buzz that could linger into next season to attract fans then. Of course, making a deep run or even winning the NIT all on the road might do more for next year and beyond. But hey, after beating a top seed and the biggest NCAAT snub, who says we can't have both, a home win over Cincinnati AND a deep, even winning the whole thing?!

I think VA Tech can't host either; I believe they are hosing women's NCAA tournament Friday and Sunday. Speedy mentioned on WFAN this morning that he believed neither team could host and Hofstra would get a home game.

[Wags]

Now that we can happily say this matters for Hofstra...

Virginia Tech at Cincinnati on ESPN2 tonight (3/15) at 9:00 pm ET.

The second round is Sat 3/18 & Sun 3/19. The only things we know about that round so far are:

Sat 3/18 - Michigan @ Vanderbilt at noon ET on ESPN
Sun 3/19 - TBD games at noon & 2:00 pm ET on ESPN2, and TBD games at 7:30 pm & 9:30 pm ET on ESPNU

Just saw that if Cincinnati wins tonight, Hofstra GETS A HOME GAME this weekend!

Cincinnati is having renovations done to its playing surface and can't host beyond tonight. Why they would have possibly scheduled that now and not waited for March to be over first is beyond me, but go Bearcats! I think... I'm not sure if playing Va Tech on the road would be more winnable than Cincinnati (a better team) at home, but at this point, bring on the excitement of hosting Cincinnati at The Mack! Win or lose, that would probably be better for creating any positive buzz that could linger into next season to attract fans then. Of course, making a deep run or even winning the NIT all on the road might do more for next year and beyond. But hey, after beating a top seed and the biggest NCAAT snub, who says we can't have both, a home win over Cincinnati AND a deep, even winning the whole thing?!

I think VA Tech can't host either; I believe they are hosing women's NCAA tournament Friday and Sunday. Speedy mentioned on WFAN this morning that he believed neither team could host and Hofstra would get a home game.

They could conceivably host an NIT game in between, on Saturday in that case?

This is the dumbest part about the NIT. Why seed teams at all with geography & travel being such a strong factor and when several teams seemingly ever year have to travel when they should play at home? But if that's the case, then I want to see Polito's dream matchup: Virginia Tech at Hofstra in the NIT.

[HofstraMathew]

They could conceivably host an NIT game in between, on Saturday in that case?

This is the dumbest part about the NIT. Why seed teams at all with geography & travel being such a strong factor and when several teams seemingly ever year have to travel when they should play at home? But if that's the case, then I want to see Polito's dream matchup: Virginia Tech at Hofstra in the NIT.

Yea not sure about Saturday and if it is an option; maybe they won't wan to change out the decals on the court that probably say NCAA tournament?. Just going by what Speedy said.

I get what you are saying but not sure the better option is to just say they can't be a seeded team if they can't commit to hosting 3 rounds. Remember if chalk held both of these teams would be going to Rutgers anyway this weekend.

[triplec2195]

I'm above being elated if we get to host and play another home game with the caveat that we do the right thing and do WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET A MULTITUDE OF FANS IN THE STANDS. NEED TO HAVE A POST SEASON ATMOSPHERE just like we saw at Rutgers.

[Wags]

Yea not sure about Saturday and if it is an option; maybe they won't wan to change out the decals on the court that probably say NCAA tournament?. Just going by what Speedy said.

Yeah, sounds about right with the decals and other logistical things, it's likely the case if that's what Speedy says, although he also thought last night was Hofstra's first NIT win before joking that he needs to learn his Hofstra hoops history. But I'll trust him on this.

I get what you are saying but not sure the better option is to just say they can't be a seeded team if they can't commit to hosting 3 rounds. Remember if chalk held both of these teams would be going to Rutgers anyway this weekend.

Yeah, and there's no other way to do it other than just random matchups, but aside from chalk holding beyond the opening round (as you said), I mean that right from the start there are seemingly conflicts every year. When they used to seed everyone, Stony Brook was an 8 seed and once hosted top-seeded Illinois, and top-seeded Kentucky lost a very close game that they probably never would have lost otherwise playing at eighth-seeded Robert Morris. This year, 1 and 2 seeds in the same part of the bracket both had to travel for their opening games. Not that I feel bad for them, but that's a major disadvantage for some top seeds vs. others. It makes the whole thing a bit of a joke and when there are upsets because a team uses home court to win a game it probably wouldn't have otherwise, it somewhat diminishes potentially great moments like we got last night with Hofstra being able to pull off what they did on a 1 seed's home floor in a very hostile environment.

[ProudofPride]

They could conceivably host an NIT game in between, on Saturday in that case?

This is the dumbest part about the NIT. Why seed teams at all with geography & travel being such a strong factor and when several teams seemingly ever year have to travel when they should play at home? But if that's the case, then I want to see Polito's dream matchup: Virginia Tech at Hofstra in the NIT.

Yea not sure about Saturday and if it is an option; maybe they won't wan to change out the decals on the court that probably say NCAA tournament?. Just going by what Speedy said.

I get what you are saying but not sure the better option is to just say they can't be a seeded team if they can't commit to hosting 3 rounds. Remember if chalk held both of these teams would be going to Rutgers anyway this weekend.

I think it would be a lot logistically for VT to host both, more than just changing out the decals. Also have to coordinate practices and shoot-arounds for each of the teams, locker rooms, etc.

[cactus]

FYI, tickets for a potential home game this weekend would be sold on behalf of the NIT and there are no details yet about how it would work.
An email will go out to season ticket holders before tickets are on sale. Doesn't seem like you will be able to reserve your normal seats (think Rutgers had the same thing - first come, first served) but that info will be included.

[Polito]

DO NOT TEASE MY HEART


Sooooooooo close… I will go bananas.

[Wags]

DO NOT TEASE MY HEART


Sooooooooo close… I will go bananas.

So... rooting for Va Tech tonight, against Va Tech this weekend?

[dutchPride86]

Whatever the matchup, would very likely expect it to be one of the 3 Saturday Espn+ only games and not one of the 3 remaining Sunday linear TV games (Wisconsin v Liberty is in 1 of the 4 Sunday spots)

As long as 1 of Oregon or Florida wins tonight they'll get a TV spot (esp if both win and play each other). If Clemson wins tonight Clemson v UAB should wind up on TV, as would likely Colorado v new Mexico if lobos win tonight.

Only 2nd rd matchup guaranteed to have less national TV appeal than Hofstra does is the North texas/Alcorn st vs Santa clara/Sam Houston St matchup

[Wags]

Whatever the matchup, would very likely expect it to be one of the 3 Saturday Espn+ only games and not one of the 3 remaining Sunday linear TV games (Wisconsin v Liberty is in 1 of the 4 Sunday spots)

As long as 1 of Oregon or Florida wins tonight they'll get a TV spot (esp if both win and play each other). If Clemson wins tonight Clemson v UAB should wind up on TV, as would likely Colorado v new Mexico if lobos win tonight.

Only 2nd rd matchup guaranteed to have less national TV appeal than Hofstra does is the North texas/Alcorn st vs Santa clara/Sam Houston St matchup

All the more reason to go see it live and pack The Mack!

[Cards]

Just received an email from Carla at the HU tix office. If you are a season tix holder, you can reserve your seat. Below is the email text that was sent to season tix holders.

That being said, depending on the way things shake out with the Virginia Tech/Cincinnati game tonight, there is a likely possibility that we will be hosting our next NIT Tournament game THIS SATURDAY, MARCH 18th in the David S. Mack Arena. At the moment, there is still much uncertainty – it depends on the outcome of tonight’s game, and, we do not have an official game time as ESPN will dictate tip-off time.

I am reaching out to see if you would like to PURCHASE your season seats for the NIT Tournament game on Saturday. IF YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO HOLD YOUR SEATS FOR THE GAME AND SELL THEM TO YOU TOMORROW, PLEASE REACH OUT TO ME NO LATER THAN 9:00 PM TONIGHT. I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HOLD SEATS FOR YOU ANY LATER THAN 9:00 PM!!! Unfortunately, there are no exceptions.

I will need your confirmation and commitment to buy your seats in an EMAIL to this email address. I will call you tomorrow to sell you the seats, as we do NOT store credit card information. PLEASE be available by phone tomorrow from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (or give me a preferred time to call), otherwise I will have to release your seats to the general public.

We are looking forward to this opportunity to host and have our #1 supporters along for the ride! Thank you!

Don't call Carla - just respond to the email that she sends to you.

[HUSID80]

Oh boy! I may need to book a trip home if we host Saturday!

[Jojogunne]

Here's another view of the NIT schedule from a couple of days ago. No new info here, just a different (list) format, rather than the bracket:

https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-rele ... -march-14/

[triplec2195]

Already reserved the seats just a question right now how many I'm going to need. Awesome way beyond our wildest dreams.