The Knockoff March Madness

Ok, we are in the middle of the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 weekend, so we thought we'd leave you with a little tidbit that isn't talked about very much, but is mentioned every once in awhile and that is, the National Invitation Tournament or NIT. What is it you ask? Think of it as that Louis Vuitton hand bag you bought on the street corner in New York. Is it still better than something bought at Walmart? Probably. It looks mighty close to the real thing, but it's still not the real thing and that's what the NIT is.

It's a tournament for those teams who were mighty close to qualifying for the real NCAA tournament, but didn't quite make it. Think of it as a consolation prize. Among other names, it has been called:"Not Invited Tournament", "Not Important Tournament", "Nobody's Interested Tournament", "National Insignificant Tournament," or simply "Not In Tournament".

However, it does have it's purposes, just like that knockoff handbag. Many mediocre teams tend to use the tournament as a way to climb out of obscurity and gain some recognition. Again, a handbag that looks like a real Louis Vuitton from a distance is a step above one from Walmart, right? And some higher profile teams will use it to develop freshman or give some of their seniors who aren't playing in the "real" tournament more exposure to help them out in the draft. Um, there is no handbag equivalent to this, sorry :)

So, next season, if, perhaps, you're getting into this whole basketball thing, here are some things to watch for to figure out if your team is going to the knockoff.

1. If at any of there late season away games the home crowd starts chanting NIT, this is a bad sign. (Sidenote: this can be very helpful though in trash talking)
2. If your team is on the bubble at the end of the season, they also have a very good chance of making it into the NIT and finally,
3. If the pattern on either side of a seam doesn't match, oops, that was a tip for discovering if your handbag is a knockoff, but also useful :)

Have a great weekend! Come back Monday to see who won our mini-bracket!