Big 12 Sends Three Teams To Men’s NIT Postseason
The Big 12 Conference will send three teams to the men’s postseason NIT, as two were automatically selected under the tournament’s new criteria.
Cincinnati, UCF and Kansas State are the three Big 12 teams selected.
A four Big 12 team, Oklahoma, which was the first team left out of the NCAA Tournament, turned down its invitation. As one of the top teams left out of the field, the Sooners were eligible for an automatic invitation.
Each of the six high-major conferences had two automatic bids, based on their two highest-ranked teams in NCAA NET not taken by the NCAA Tournament.
For the Big 12, that was Cincinnati (20-14, No. 37 NET) and UCF (17-15, No. 61 NET). Oklahoma had a higher NET (No. 46) than UCF.
Kansas State (19-14, No. 70 NET) wasn’t automatically selected but was selected as an at-large team.
The Bearcats wrapped up their first Big 12 season by winning two games in Kansas City and reaching the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament before losing to Baylor. The Bearcats are in the NIT for the second straight year. As a member of the American Athletic Conference, Cincinnati reached last year’s quarterfinals before losing to Utah Valley.
Cincinnati will host San Francisco in the first round.
UCF won its first Big 12 Tournament game over Oklahoma State before falling to fellow Big 12 newbie BYU, which made the NCAA Tournament. The Knights were also in last year’s NIT and reached the second round before losing to Oregon.
The Knights will host in-state rival USF in the first round.
Kansas State was hoping to slip into the NCAA Tournament after reaching the Elite Eight last year. But the Wildcats bubble burst after losing to Iowa State in the Big 12 quarterfinals.
Kansas State’s last NIT appearance was in 2009, when it reached the second round.
The Wildcats will travel to Iowa in the first round.
This year’s NIT Final Four is set for Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on April 2 and 4.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
