-
Final HLT
10 MKE
4 NKU53
59 -
Final HLT
10 MKE
6 UIC74
68 -
Final HLT
10 MKE
2 VALPO43
41 -
Final HLT
10 MKE
7 DET85
60 -
Final
OAK
MKE86
75 -
Final
UDM
MKE81
74 -
Final
MKE
VALPO61
67 -
Final
GB
MKE80
56 -
Final
MKE
WSU63
69 -
Final
MKE
WSU65
76 -
Final/OT
UIC
MKE105
100 -
-
Final/OT
MKE
OAK70
79 -
Final/OT
MKE
UDM73
69 -
Final/OT
YSU
MKE85
94 -
Final
CSU
MKE62
63 -
Final
MKE
UIC57
71 -
Final
WSU
MKE70
67 -
Final
NKU
MKE58
68 -
Final
MKE
GB74
80 -
Final
MKE
CSU53
62 -
Final/2OT
MKE
YSU87
88 -
Final
BELM
MKE62
56 -
Final
WIU
MKE75
59 -
Final
MKE
OHIO69
71 -
Final
MKE
LUC56
72 -
Final
MKE
MSU83
78 -
Final
MKE
MONT69
75 -
Final
JAX
MKE67
72 -
Final
MKE
SDSU58
81 -
Final
MKE
UCI54
37 -
Final
MKE
ETSU62
86 -
Final
MKE
MEM54
68 -
Final
MSOE
MKE58
88 -
Final/Exh.
CUW
MKE62
77 -
Final HLT
5 MKE X
4 GB61
70 -
Final HLT
8 NKU X
5 MKE69
86 -
Final
UIC
MKE85
98 -
Final
VALPO
MKE80
76 -
Final
YSU
MKE51
87 -
Final
CSU
MKE54
88 -
Final
MKE
GB68
70 -
Final
MKE
DET66
80 -
Final
MKE
OAK93
85 -
Final
MKE
NKU71
75 -
Final
MKE
WSU83
84 -
Final
GB
MKE94
95 -
Final
OAK
MKE82
79 -
Final
DET
MKE80
83 -
Final
MKE
UIC87
62 -
Final
MKE
VALPO56
68 -
Final
MKE
CSU65
62 -
Final
MKE
YSU81
65 -
Final
NKU
MKE67
76 -
Final/OT
WSU
MKE84
82 -
Final
MKE
UM74
65 -
Final/2OT
USD
MKE92
91 -
Final
JUD
MKE74
125 -
Final
MKE
UW68
67 -
Final
SIUe
MKE51
64 -
Final
CMU
MKE78
84 -
Final/OT
DUQ
MKE96
92 -
Final
MKE
MSU63
66 -
Final
TIU
MKE61
85 -
Final
MKE
#18 ND78
86 -
Final
MKE
SC71
65 -
Final
MKE
LIPS71
65 -
Final
MKE
DEN71
58 -
Thurs 7:00pm
PARK
MKE0
0 -
Final/EXH
UWP
MKE54
68 -
Final
MKE
VILLA53
73 -
Final/HLT
MKE
WSU69
63 -
Final/OT/HLT
MKE
GB73
66 -
Final/HLT
MKE
VU74
57 -
Final/HLT
DET
MKE73
83 -
Final
MKE
DET68
62 -
Final
UIC
MKE80
58 -
Final
MKE
CSU50
74 -
Final/OT
MKE
YSU83
88 -
Final
VU
MKE77
62 -
Final
MKE
GB73
63 -
Final
OAK
MKE64
86 -
Final
WSU
MKE64
68 -
Final
DET
MKE73
54 -
Final
MKE
WSU57
73 -
Final
MKE
VU62
75 -
Final
MKE
UIC67
63 -
Final/OT
GB
MKE93
86 -
Final
MKE
OAK84
75 -
Final
CSU
MKE77
49 -
Final
YSU
MKE76
82 -
Final
ASU
MKE54
67 -
Final
NU
MKE62
59 -
Final
MKE
WIS52
78 -
Final
BRAD
MKE67
72 -
Final
UNI
MKE72
83 -
Final
MKE
UMKC84
79 -
Final
JUD
MKE56
89 -
Final
MKE
TTU72
63 -
Final
DEP
MKE80
71 -
Final
MKE
NIU82
69 -
Final
MKE
JMU77
66 -
Final
MKE
SJSU64
61 -
Final
MKE
DAV81
77 -
Final
MKE
LUC72
76 -
Final
MKE
GB46
62 -
Final
MKE
GB61
78 -
Final/OT
MKE
IUPUI95
88 -
Final
UIC
MKE53
64 -
Final
MKE
CSU67
88 -
Final
MKE
YSU80
94 -
Final
LUC
MKE53
71 -
Final
WSU
MKE64
49 -
Final
DET
MKE82
74 -
Final
MKE
VU40
71 -
Final
MKE
LUC65
76
NIT Bracketology – 3 Days Left
- Updated: March 10, 2011

It's not what we wanted, but an NIT Title still carries a lot of prestige at Milwaukee.
All right, after poring over the statistics, rankings, and everything Ken Pomeroy and Jerry Palm, I’ve learned one thing:
Predicting the NIT is a far more difficult task then predicting the NCAA Tournament. And as such, Joe Lunardi won’t gain my respect until he gets 65 of 68 NCAA teams and then guesses 30 of 32 NIT teams. Right now, NITology.com appears to be the Joey Brackets of the NIT, so we’ll take them as a lead and try and sort things out from here.

The Milwaukee Panthers' stretch run will hopefully continue into the NIT.
The current NIT automatic bid teams are as follows: Milwaukee (Horizon), Saint Mary’s (WCC), George Mason (CAA), Coastal Carolina (Big South), College of Charleston (SoCon), Fairfield (MAAC), Florida Atlantic (Sun Belt), Missouri State (MVC), Murray State (OVC), Vermont (America East).
Of those conference champions, George Mason and Saint Mary’s are almost guaranteed to garner at-large berths in the NCAA Tournament. Missouri State of the MVC is one of Joe Lunardi’s “First Four Out” and could still get in if bubble teams from the major conferences slip up. As of right now, though, he’s got them in the NIT and so do we.
The NIT has 32 teams seeded 1-8 in four regionals. If we assume our current membership is every automatic bid minus George Mason and Saint Mary’s, then we have eight of the 32 already in place.
With their RPI’s:
42 Missouri State (MVC)
92 Milwaukee (Horizon)
96 Vermont (America East)
99 Fairfield (MAAC)
105 Coastal Carolina (Big South)
111 Florida Atlantic (Sun Belt)
113 Murray State (OVC)

Nafis Ricks (yup, that Nafis Ricks) and the Missouri State Bears are the only automatic bid team with serious credentials
Now, there are 31 conferences, and 31 automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament. That leaves 37 at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament, and the at-large bids to the NIT are left to regulat season champions who lost in the conference tournament and did not receive an at-large bid the the NCAA Tournament.
Of the conference tournaments remaining, only five of them have conference champions that would be in the NIT if they lose. Those conferences and their champions:
86 Kent State (MAC)
90 Long Beach State (Big West)
163 McNeese State (Southland)
177 Texas Southern (SWAC)
192 Bethune-Cookman (MEAC)
First off, there are two teams currently rated ahead of Milwaukee in the RPI that would be in the NIT if they lost in their conference tournament – Kent State and Long Beach State. However, the higher-rated team of the two is only six places ahead of Milwaukee, and either team could drop below the Panthers in the RPI if they lose.
Of course, it may not matter. Milwaukee’s problem with it’s RPI and at-large NCAA candidacy is the several bad losses, including one sub-200.

Justin Greene and Kent State better watch out, because a loss in the MAC Tournament means a 7-seed in the NIT
So, of the seven teams currently in, how do they stack up with the five potential auto-bids from the conferences yet to finish their tournaments?
Luckily for you, I have put together a pretty little spreadsheet that we can use to compare and contrast every NIT automatic bid school, as well as those five schools that could be joining the list if they lose in their conference tournament.
For one thing, it’s pretty damn hard to argue against Milwaukee. The only school in my mind that has the edge no matter what is Missouri State. Their RPI is 50 spots higher, and for a reason. Their record is great, and their strength of schedule is second only to ours.
The stretch run of the Horizon League season afforded us tie-breakers over pretty much any other automatic-bid team. Sweeping Butler in the regular season (ugh) and beating Cleveland State secured us three top-50 victories. Another two over Valparaiso and we have five top-100 victories, both of which are superior to every other NIT auto-bid teams, including Missouri State.
Here’s where we get ahead of the others, and where we rank among them. We’re taking Missouri State out of the equation because they are well ahead of the other automatic bid teams, who will make up the bottom of the NIT:
– RPI. It’s no longer the #1 judge, but Milwaukee’s RPI is superior to every team except for Kent State and Long Beach State. Of course, should either one of those teams pick up another loss in their conference tournament, their RPI may fall past Milwaukee’s. Kent State is currently beating Buffalo in the MAC Tournament but still has losses against teams remaining in the field. Long Beach State won tonight, but any loss in the conference tournament will harpoon their RPI.

The Panthers fought hard to come back from an awful start, but the two victories over Butler will help in seeding in the NIT.
Beating good teams – Here’s the facts. Milwaukee has more wins against the top 50 than any team. In fact, the Panthers have more wins against the top 50 than every team combined – by three – as in, Milwaukee’s the only team to beat a Top 50 school, and they did it three times. Go to the Top 100, and the Panthers’ number goes up to five. The only team that can get close to that is Fairfield, who is 4-3. That’s technically a better percentage than Milwaukee’s 5-5, but only one of their four wins is above RPI 95, #69 Iona. The Gaels of Iona, Fairfield’s best victory, are one spot behind #68 Valparaiso, Milwaukee’s 4th and 5th best victory. Hell, Fairfield’s best loss (to #56 Penn State) would be Milwaukee’s 4th best victory.
The fact is, only one team has demonstrated the ability to not only beat top 50 teams, but beat real top 100 teams. Number 62 Wichita State, who lost to Missouri State, remains the best team to lose to any of the NIT Auto-bid teams beside Milwaukee. That’s a team just six spots ahead of Milwaukee’s fifth-best win.
Strength of Schedule – Milwaukee trampled the back end of the Horizon League. But it’s not just the fact that they sank nine birdies on the back nine, it’s that it came against a truly great mid-major conference. The Missouri Valley Conference is the only one of the others that is even close to the Horizon, and the H-League has definitely passed them up in 2010-11. Four top-100 teams, only two sub-200 teams, Milwaukee won a regular season title in the best conference among those who have an automatic bid to the NIT.
Oh, and Missouri State lost to Northern Iowa, a team Milwaukee beat. And got whooped by Valparaiso at the ARC, a team Milwaukee beat twice (all right, so the Panthers got beat up at Valpo too, but at least they won the next two).
Where it stands, I rank the NIT automatic bid teams as such; I’m including teams that could still lose in their conference tournament, in case they do:
1 Missouri State
2 Milwaukee
3 Kent State *
4 Long Beach State *
5 Fairfield
6 Vermont
7 Florida Atlantic
8 Coastal Carolina
9 Murray State
10 Texas Southern *
11 McNeese State *
12 Bethune-Cookman *
* – Still alive for the NCAA Tournament.
In case you’re following along, my eight-seeds as of today are Vermont, Florida Atlantic, Coastal Carolina, and Murray State. My seven-seeds are Milwaukee and Fairfield. Missouri State will get a 1 or 2 seed based on RPI.
Feel free to leave comments.