Indiana Rejects CBI Invitation

Submitted by HartAttack20 on

I saw the thread the other day about Indiana making the CBI, but I don't believe the information about them rejecting the invite was included. Fred Glass said, "we're Indiana. We don't play in the CBI." Unfortunately for them, they don't play in the NCAA Tourney either.

Is this the right move for them, or would it be better to let their young players get some experience?

BTN Link Here

samsoccer7

March 18th, 2014 at 12:13 PM ^

So stupid to turn these things down.  Wouldn't they get extra practices by participating compared to teams that don't play?  I could be wrong.  Regardless, you can't "teach" game experience.  Sour grapes and goes to show that Crean is a moron.

michchi85

March 18th, 2014 at 12:19 PM ^

Basketball doesn't really need the extra practices towards the end of the year.  And Vonleh won't be there next year, so it's not like he needs to practice more with this team.  I think this is a $$$ thing as much as anything...how do you sell a home game in the CBI to your fans?  Nothing good would come out of playing this f you are Indiana, so they did the right thing.

WolvinLA2

March 18th, 2014 at 12:40 PM ^

Maybe turning down the CBI is the right thing, but doing so by saying, "We're Indiana, we don't play in the CBI" is not the right way to handle it.  They could have just said that they don't accept the bid, rather than suggesting they're above it.  Because if they were, they'd be playing with the big boys.  Or the NIT.

HarBooYa

March 18th, 2014 at 12:53 PM ^

If you get a home game and sell out your arena.  The $ argument goes out the window. 

Plus you get extra practice time, can experiment with line ups in real game situations and to the extent you win in the Madison Square Garden at the end its not bad exposure.

If you are Duke maybe...IU is not Duke. Hell, IU isn't even Kentucky and they went last year.  IU is young...and clearly the way they turned the ball over this year...they need the extra game time experience. 

 

michchi85

March 18th, 2014 at 1:34 PM ^

Extra practice time means nothing when two starters (doubtful that Yogi goes pro, but why stay at IU) at the least won't be there next year.  You've had 32 games this year alone.  My arguement was strictly for the CBI tournament, not the NIT.  The NIT always makes sense to play in.  

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

March 18th, 2014 at 2:49 PM ^

Selling out the arena is a pretty dicey proposition for the CBI - considering how not-likely fans are to shell out for another trip to watch their already extremely disappointing team play Morehead State in the first round of a tournament one level below the one you get made fun of for going to.

KSmooth

March 18th, 2014 at 1:29 PM ^

This is exactly right.  In football, if you make a bowl you get 10-15 extra practices before the game..  In basketball, depending on the timing of the game, you get maybe 3 or four before your first game.  Just not enough to make a huge difference.  If you're not going to break even there's no point in going.

TheNema

March 18th, 2014 at 12:47 PM ^

I certainly wanted us to reject the NIT bid in '07. We needed to fire Amaker and begin the coaching search, not play meaningless games for a lame duck in a tournament that had become a deserved punchline for our program.

Thankfully, we only had to endure two games of it.

oriental andrew

March 18th, 2014 at 3:56 PM ^

"Did we not accept a NIT bid before?" 

The reason why commenters responded the way they did is because your statement suggests that we accepted an NIT bid before.  Another way to rewrite your statement is, "Didn't we accept a[n] NIT bid before?"  What you meant to write was, "Did we not DECLINE an NIT bid before?"  

Just fyi for future reference.  

michclub19

March 18th, 2014 at 12:21 PM ^

Manny and DeShawn's final season IIRC.  Finished with a 16-17 record, which you need .500+ to be invited to the NIT I believe is a requirement.  Instead, turned down the CBI bid.

ED: "Teams are no longer required to have .500 or greater records to receive bids. Even with this change, however, all teams receiving invitations for the NIT have had .500 or greater records"

ChiBlueBoy

March 18th, 2014 at 12:17 PM ^

"We're Indiana. We don't play in the CBI." Apparently humble pie isn't going down so well. Some other statements he could make:

"We're Indiana. We wear ugly pants."

"We're Indiana. We don't travel well."

"We're Indiana. We've been embarrassed at better tournaments than the CBI."

"We're Indiana. Our program is wrecked."

sadeto

March 18th, 2014 at 1:10 PM ^

A friend of mine played linebacker for Corso at IU. He says not only was Corso a complete a-hole to play for, after my friend suffered a serious leg injury, Corso simply cut him and took away his scholarship. He had to transfer to a smaller school in his home state which he could afford. 

True Blue Grit

March 18th, 2014 at 12:28 PM ^

look who we're talking about.  Since they currently employ the one of the most classless coaches in NCAA basketball, it looks like showing class isn't high on their list of priorities.  

LSAClassOf2000

March 18th, 2014 at 12:58 PM ^

I suppose that, as a consolation prize, the Big Ten could go the traditional "Thanks for playing" route and give Tom Crean and Indiana a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni and the board game version of the conference season as well as various other door prizes that will simply be shoved in the front closet when they finally get home from wherever. Somehow, that would be only fitting. 

In reply to by ijohnb

Erik_in_Dayton

March 18th, 2014 at 1:12 PM ^

Maryland didn't get in either (they were both 17-15).  The NIT seemingly wanted to go with high-acheiver mid-majors this year rather than middling teams from power conferences. 

In reply to by ijohnb

bklein09

March 18th, 2014 at 1:12 PM ^

Because they weren't good enough? There are a lot of auto bids to the NIT (mid major conference champs who lose their conference tourney) and so they simply weren't selected as an at-large for the NIT based on their body of work. Minny is a 1 seed and Illinois a 2 in the NIT, so lol at Indiana is definitely in order.

In reply to by ijohnb

Wolverine Devotee

March 18th, 2014 at 1:31 PM ^

Regular season champions who didn't win their conference tournaments and did not make the NCAAs, get an auto bid into the NIT.

There were 13 of those this year. Maryland also did not get in.

In reply to by ijohnb

Muttley

March 18th, 2014 at 1:44 PM ^

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Top 10 KenPom Teams Left Out of NIT

  KenPom Team Conf W-L
1 43 Maryland ACC 17-15
2 62 Marquette BE 17-15
3 72 Miami YTM ACC 17-16
4 74 Indiana B1G 17-15
5 79 St Mary's WCC 22-11
6 80 Boise St MWC 21-13
7 82 Penn St B1G 15-17
8 83 Middle Tenn CUSA 24-9
9 84 Texas Tech B12 14-18
10 85 Cleveland St Horz 21-11