AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2008 > February > 18
Monday, February 18, 2008
Postseason hopes drying up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
They have lost three consecutive games. They’re two games under .500. Barring an unlikely run through the ACC tournament, you can just about forget about an NCAA tournament berth for Georgia Tech’s Yellow Jackets.
So, if Tech isn’t in the field of 65, what about the 32 spots in the NIT and the 16 in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational?
The good news is that neither requires a winning record or even a .500 record. The bad news is that, while a losing record doesn’t exclude a team from those tournaments, it makes selection to either unlikely.
The NIT changed its rules in 2006 to allow teams with losing records to be considered for selection, but the tournament never has invited a team with a losing record. A test case came last season, when Cal went 16-17, including a victory over UCLA in the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinals. The Bears had an RPI of 79 on Selection Sunday.
Tech’s RPI is currently No. 80 (Monday, 5:30 p.m.), according to realtimerpi.com. And the Jackets haven’t beaten anybody better than Notre Dame this season.
The College Basketball Invitational also has no rules against selecting losing teams, but there’s at least a suggestion that won’t be something it does lightly. Here’s some info on the tournament. The head of the group running the new tournament, Gazelle Group president Rick Giles, told The Associated Press that though there is no rule against it, “I can’t anticipate taking a team with a sub-.500 record. There are too many teams out there with good records.” Link here.
The “easiest” path to .500 for Tech: Go 4-2 the rest of the way, then win a game in the ACC tournament.
Permalink | Comments (12) | Post your comment | Categories: Basketball
