NIT 2015 Top Seeds Will Be 1st 4 out of NCAA Tournament

The National Invitation Tournament (NIT), which serves as a secondary postseason option for teams that miss the NCAA tournament, announced that the teams that constitute the "first four out," barely missing the Big Dance, will automatically serve as its top seeds.  

Adam Zagoria of SNY passed along the news:

The selection committee for the NCAA tournament annually releases a list of 68 teams invited to March Madness' main attraction along with the four that narrowly missed out. Those on the outside looking in are now guaranteed prime placement in the NIT.

Zagoria provided comments from NCAA vice president of men's basketball championships Dan Gavitt about the decision:

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We think this is a natural progression to make, given that these are the last four teams under consideration for the NCAA Tournament. They have earned the opportunity to be a number one seed in the NIT and play home games in their quest to make it to Madison Square Garden for the NIT championship. We believe this is an appropriate way to connect these two postseason tournaments.

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It's not a groundbreaking decision, but it does provide a nice consolation prize for those teams that watch the committee burst their bubble on Selection Sunday.

Previously, there was no seeding rules in place connecting the two tournaments. So a team could narrowly miss the NCAA tournament but still not receive a top NIT seed. That's important because it's an event that comes with home games for the higher seeds.

The disappointment of missing out on the Big Dance won't disappear. That said, at least the teams can take solace in the fact they'll have a great chance to make a run toward Madison Square Garden thanks to prime NIT positioning.