MORGANTOWN — According to WVU athletic director Shane Lyons, the Mountaineers men’s basketball team would only play in a postseason tournament if they are invited to the NIT.
The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is off the table, Lyons said by text message Saturday, confirming a report by 247Sports.
“The decision was made not to participate in any other postseason games unless we get invited to the NIT,” Lyons said.
The NIT makes its 32-team field known with its own selection show at 9 p.m. Sunday (ESPNU), after the release of the NCAA tournament brackets.
NIT SELECTION SHOW
WHEN: 9 p.m. Sunday
TV: ESPNU (Comcast 174, HD 853; DirecTV 208; DISH 141)
As to making the NIT field, it appears to be a long shot for the Mountaineers (16-17), who last played Thursday in a Big 12 quarterfinal loss against No. 6-ranked Kansas.
In 2017, the NIT dropped its requirements of only including teams with a .500 record or better, but since has never invited a team with a losing record.
After the loss against Kansas, WVU head coach Bob Huggins said he was preparing to have his team play in the postseason, whether it was the NIT or the CBI.
“We’ve got more games to play We’ll get home and have them rest for a day, or so, and we’ll get back at it and get ready to bring home a trophy,” Huggins said. “That’s what we do. That’s what we set our goals for every year. It’s obviously not going to be the one that we wanted, but it’s going to be a trophy that is well worth bringing home.”
WVU last played in the CBI in 2019 and paid a total of $80,000 to host two games in the tournament.
Since then, the CBI has changed its format. It is now a 16-team single-elimination tournament in which all the games are played at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Lyons said he believed the fee charged to the 16 teams to play in the CBI is now $25,000, but there are other costs to consider, such as the charter flight to Florida, as well as hotel, meals and other incidentals.
Online research suggests a round-trip charter flight from Clarksburg to Daytona Beach could be an additional $40,000-$60,000 in costs to play in the CBI.
“There were a number of factors associated with the decision to not play in a tournament beyond the NIT,” Lyons said.
As to getting a call from the NIT, the Mountaineers do have a small argument to be included, based on its NET ranking and strength of schedule.
WVU played 18 Quad 1 games this season, the most in the country and the Mountaineers’ strength of schedule is fifth, according to the RPI.
Only Michigan has a higher strength of schedule among the schools that could get passed over by the NCAA tournament on Sunday.
WVU’s strength of schedule and number of Quad 1 games is the main reason why the Mountaineers are ranked No. 77 in the NET, a higher ranking than schools such as South Carolina (93 in the NET), Richmond (85), Virginia (81), St. Bonaventure (84) and Drake (80), who are considered near locks to receive an invite from the NIT.
The difference being those schools all finished with a winning record, with Richmond, Drake and St. Bonaventure all winning at least 20 games.
WVU has appeared in a postseason tournament for seven consecutive seasons — not including 2020, when COVID-19 canceled the entire postseason — and last played in the NIT in 2014, when the Mountaineers fell to Georgetown in the first round.
The Mountaineers won the NIT in 2007, John Beilein’s final season as head coach at the school.
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