Dribblings 11/17/2004 (NIT-picky Edition)

We all know how teams are picked for the postseason National Invitation Tournament. But what's the selection process like for the preseason version, you wonder?

The 16 best available teams are based on the following:

Projected Strength
Returning Starters
Returning Lettermen
Transfers
Junior College Signees
High School Recruits
Returning Redshirts
Injuries
Academic Reinstatement
Strength of Conference
Strength of Schedule
Top 20 Polls
Power Ratings
Fulfilling MIBA-NIT Conference Selection Requirements
Advisory Committee Recommendations

They must have forgotten to mention "Hottness of Cheerleaders," "A Bus With Gas In It," and "Favorable Response To Our Pleadings For Them To Come". Sure, they don't take more than one team per conference, but it's hard to believe that Binghamton (2004 final RPI: 204 of 326), San Diego (298) and Quinnipiac (300) could be considered "best available" anything. Besides, having a ninth-place conference representative get blown out on TV is likely to perpetuate myths about a league's overall quality of basketball.

And if you're trying not to be perceived as a joke tournament, for the love o' Pete do not put Clifford The Big Red Dog on the cover of your official program.

Any self-respecting mid-major fan knows that the satellite mini-dish and the ten-buck-a-month Sports Pak are as necessary as food and water. You get every Fox Sports Net affiliate, and regional coverage of all your favorite underappreciated conferences like the MAC, NEC and Big West. Unfortunately, the on-screen program guide is a bit... limited. But now there's Old School Hoops - this has to be the most definitive college basketball TV schedule on the web, and the site's owner is promising more in the future. Stay, um, tuned.

Good thing the ESPN Dream Job judges were safely down the hall last night, because they likely would have torn apart former St. John's coach Mike Jarvis' performance as an expert in-studio commentator. My homeslice Yoni at College Basketball Blog was a tiny bit more diplomatic about it.

Sitting Courtside is a new blog from Ben Miraski, a fellow Drexel dude and distance runner. He's already written profusely and elegantly about collegiate pigskin, and he's developed a computer hoops ranking system called the MRI with a proven four-year track record. Check it out.

GoZips.Com provides a thorough preview of the 2004-05 Akron squad. I have an odd feeling that Buffalo will react negatively to the pressure of being the MAAC consensus pick, and that the Zips might pull together and slip through to the Dance.

The BCA Invitational features an eight-team field that includes Pepperdine,Siena and Elon. It tips off today in Raleigh with four games.

Coppin State coach Ron "Fang" Mitchell, a month after having a fist-sized tumor pulled from his chest, has been given the all-clear by his doctors to coach the Eagles' season opener.

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