Mile High Mids

NIT snubs Denver; Pios’ season ends at 22-9

Despite NYC Buckets’ late change to its NIT projection, putting Denver in the field at the eleventh hour, the Pioneers were in fact left out by the NIT selection committee last night, probably doomed by the 11 teams who received automatic bids for winning their leagues’ regular-season titles (then losing in conference tourneys).

Having been rejected by the NIT, Denver appears to have turned down any overtures by the CBI and CIT, the sub-NIT “alphabet soup” tourneys run by the Gazelle Group and CollegeInsider.com, respectively. Whether that decision was made because the school didn’t want to “pay to play,” or because DU considered those tourneys beneath it, or some combination thereof, I don’t know. But in any event, Denver’s season is officially over, with a school-record 22 wins against 9 losses, but no postseason bid. Bummer.

Meanwhile, last night, a write-up of the Sun Belt title game (and semifinals), co-written by a trio of Sun Belt recappers — North Texas fan Ross Lancaster, Western Kentucky fan Cortney Basham, and myself — was published on the Mid-Majority’s 800 Games Project. It looks at the same events from our three perspectives, and is titled “Thrill of Victory, Agony of Defeat.” This morning, it was declared the winner of the 800GP’s Championship Fortnight contest, out of 135 entries, which is pretty cool. I’m really proud of the piece, which I edited into a single recap from Ross’s and Cort’s separate write-ups, adding a bit of my own perspective in the process. Although I only wrote a portion of it, I think it’s the best thing I’ve done for the 800GP this season. Anyway, here it is.

Last but not least, my 17th annual free NCAA and NIT pools are underway, over on my Living Room Times blog. A women’s NCAA pool will start up later tonight. Come fill out your brackets and join in the fun!