Summer school valedictorians: The running NIT thread

Where's the breakdown of how many teams from each conference (Wooo! Five from the Big East!), the video of cheering fans at the NIT announcement, Billy Packer getting stupid with indignation, the interview with the head of the NIT selection committee?

 

I'm sure the governor of Illinois will issue a statement he's pleased to have 3 teams in the NIT, provided he's not on trial or being charged with something at the present time.

And an Illinois/Illinois State matchup would be nice in the round of 8, not that it will ever happen.

Dayton/Cincinnati is an intriguing 2nd round matchup.

 

As a UC fan, probably the only game I'd watch (provided they both get to it).

 

I hope they use the "turn-card" scoreboards at the corners of the floor.
I loved watching games on TV from that place in the mid- to late 70s.
Hawkeye Whitney, Jeff Lamp, Buck Williams and what you got with the rest of the ACC Weekly Matchups was always fun for me on school nights in Mississippi.
Looking at the W&M team photo last nite, the assistant coaching staff all appear to be in their 20s and two are from other NC schools.
Kudos to that coach (who has survived despite rough seasons past) for giving young talent a sideline start.
They will have their hands full at Carmichael for sure.

 

For those wondering how NC got a home game out of this, I'm guessing they've at least played before on the road at William & Mary.
From the Tribe notes package:
The meeting between W&M and Tar Heels will be the 21st overall and the first since 2004-05. UNC leads the all-time series at 17-3, and W&M is looking for its first win in Chapel Hill in its 10th visit. North Carolina won the last meeting between the two schools on Jan. 2, 2005, 105-66. It will mark the Tar Heels first official game in Carmichael Arena since 1986. William & Mary was actually UNC’s first-ever opponent in Carmichael on Dec. 4, 1965.

The 2010 edition of Tribe basketball is in some rarified air as W&M makes just its second postseason appearance in the program’s 105-year history. The Tribe also played in the National Invitational Tournament during the 1982-83 season, losing on the road in the first round to Va. Tech.

 

Marquette played an NIT back at the MECCA in 1994 against South Florida ... its first game since moving to the Bradley Center. Definitely got more butts in the seats than normally would've been there, and was a pretty cool enviroment.

Didn't Ohio State play an NIT game at its old gym a few years ago?

 

Damn, I didn't know the MECCA was still standing.

And yeah, OSU did play at St. John Arena the last time they were in the NIT.

 

Yep, right across the street. UW-Milwaukee plays its games there (U.S. Cellular Arena) ... hosted four straight Horizon League title games from 2003-06.

The floor, sadly, is long gone.

 

Ah, I should have figured it had been renamed.

And that floor was awesome. I recall that building as always looking very dark on TV.

 

Doesn't look dark anymore after the remodel several years ago. New lighting, seats are red and blue now (those were replaced probably 15 years ago, before the floor was replaced):





Cool thing is that the floor is still around ... now at a community center: http://bridgingthegap-hcr.org/kickoff.html

 

MECCA was an acronym, right?

 

Milwaukee
Exposition
Convention
Center and
Arena

One big complex ... the Arena (i.e. Milwaukee Arena) was only a part of it and everything was connected by skywalks. The Expo Center was torn down many years ago and is now a parking lot/structure for the Midwest Airlines Center. The theatre (Milwaukee Theatre) attached to the Arena was remodeled a few years ago and is still in use.