Opponent may allow Cowboys to get NIT revenge
Published: 3/13/2011 8:41 AM
Last Modified: 3/13/2011 8:41 AM
If there is such a thing as NIT revenge, OSU may have a chance to get it.
Believe it or not, there are websites that attempt to predict the NIT bracket and one of them (the Bracket Project, which can be found at bracketproject.blogspot.com) has OSU pegged as a No. 4 seed facing No. 5 seed Miami, Fla.
It was Miami, Fla., which beat OSU in a 2006 first-round NIT game, triggering a run of three consecutive first-round NIT defeats for the Cowboys.
Before a Saturday update, the site had OSU facing California, which would have been interesting from this standpoint: OSU is the alma mater of ESPN personality Doug Gottlieb. California is the employer of Gottlieb's brother, an assistant basketball coach at Cal.
Regardless of who the opponent is, it's important for OSU to be seeded 1-4 in the NIT. Those seeds get first-round home games. Teams seeded 5-8 will hit the road. The Cowboys haven't won a game on an enemy campus this season.
If OSU is indeed a team that will be in the 4-5 seed range in the NIT, other possible first-round opponents could be Marshall, Princeton, Maryland and Southern Miss.
Just a guess, but I think OSU will be seeded a bit higher than that. We'll find out for sure when ESPNU unveils the NIT bracket at 8 p.m.
Incidentally, even though OSU isn't going to the NCAA Tournament, the NCAA bracket won't be Cowboy-free. Former OSU point guard Brooks Thompson is the head coach at Texas-San Antonio and his Roadrunners won their conference tournament to secure an invitation to the 68-team field.
--Jimmie Tramel.
Written by
Jimmie Tramel
Sports Writer
