An NIT Suggestion

The goal of every college basketball team is to play in March Madness and compete for the NCAA National Championship. Out of every college team in the country, only 68 qualify and get to go dancing in what is perhaps the best tournament in college sports. So what about the bubble teams that were left on the outside looking in and the team's from mid major conferences that did not win their conference tournament? They still get to dance, but it will be in a tournament with less national attention and far less people watching watching. Of course, I'm talking about the National Invitational Tournament.

After once being regarded as more prestigious than March Madness, the NIT has since declined in popularity and is widely seen as a consolation prize for teams that do not qualify for the NCAA National Championship Tournament. Unless the team you specifically root for is in the NIT, odds are you will not be watching. I can honestly say the only reason I watched any of this year's NIT was to see how the Xavier Musketeers did as they are one of the college basketball teams of which I am a fan. Had Xavier not been in it, I would have not been watching.

So how can the NIT make itself more interesting? Grant the winner of the NIT an automatic bid into next year's NCAA National Championship Tournament. If the two NIT finalists were playing for a shot at dancing in March Madness the following year, you'll have more people watching to see who will be the first to punch their ticket to the big dance. It will make the NIT more meaningful to the players and coaches, and fans will see it as more than a consolation prize. You can even move the NIT Championship game to the Sunday between the Final Four and national title game. Put it in the same arena as the Final Four and championship game and make it a weekend long March Madness event.

That's my idea of how to make the NIT more interesting. As I said earlier, it is now thought of a consolation prize and is the most well known tournament that nobody really cares about unless your school is participating in it. If you put a spot in March Madness the following year up for grabs and move it to the Sunday in between the Final Four and the championship game, then I think more people will watch and help make the NIT feel as prestigious as it did in years past.