Florida State seems snakebit of late. Last year FSU was one of the first four out of the NCAA tournament, and that was after losing Xavier Rathan-Mayes for the season. A year later, we see how big that loss really was. Now, with Aaron Thomas getting dismissed, the Noles struggled through a 17-16 season. Of course, I predicted them to go 5-13 in ACC play after the AT news, so it was above my expectations.
Now it's conference championship weekend, which is full of great basketball. This evening, the ACC will be decided between North Carolina and Notre Dame.
Then Selection Sunday happens. What will it mean for Florida State?
Do the lesser tournaments matter?
FSU won't make the NCAA's. We know this much. Though it's basketball, so the selection Sunday show is always a must watch.
To see where everyone ends up, tune in to CBS at 6pm on Sunday.
But what about the NIT or the CBI? I see a lot of hot takes about how these tournaments don't matter, and should be beneath a program like FSU's, but this - of course - is complete nonsense.
Let's compare it to football. In 2015 there will be 78 teams playing in bowl games. There are 128 D1 programs, meaning that 61% of teams play in a bowl.
The NCAA tournament, meanwhile, has 68 teams. There are 351 D1 programs, meaning that 19% of teams participate. If football had a similar selection, a top 25 program would be guaranteed to be left out of the bowls.
So add in the 32 NIT teams. Now we're up to 28%. The CBI adds another 16 (33%) and the CIT chooses 32 (though no high major programs). All told, 42% of programs get a post season. To equal the ridiculousness of the football system, college basketball would have to add another 66 teams to the post season (66!).
The NIT
Florida State made the final 4 in the NIT last season, but I don't expect them to be selected this year. However, I'll tune into the NIT selection show just to be sure. It will be broadcast immediately following the NCAA selection show.
Tune in to ESPNU at 8:30 on Sunday.
The NIT selects the last four out of the NCAAs as their No. 1 seeds. They also automatically select any regular season conference winner who did not make the NCAAs.
The CBI
The College Basketball Invitational has an interesting format. First, there are only 16 teams. Second, the finals is best 2 out of 3. This is the 8th year of the tournament, and past winners were Tulsa, Oregon State, VCU, Oregon, Pitt, Santa Clara, and Siena.
The CBI does not have a selection show, but the teams will be announced sunday night.
The CIT
The CIT only selects low and mid majors. Elitists.
Final word
FSU should absolutely play in the NIT obviously, and I believe that they should play in the CBI as well. However, I don't think they'll be selected for either. We'll see.
The season ends tomorrow for every team not selected. No more practices. No more games. With only one senior on the roster, FSU would benefit greatly from more of both. An added benefit is that the other tournaments will be played with a 30-second shot clock, which is almost guaranteed to be implemented this off season.
If the season does end at 17-16, we'll be disappointed, but it is what it is. The are certainly plenty of higher profile programs - Florida, Michigan, Creighton, Tennessee, Marquette - who would trade records with Florida State. And none of those teams have a top 5 recruiting class on the way.