Men's NCAA Basketball: Big Name Schools Headed For NIT?

With just over a month to play, the college basketball nation is asking themselves once again, who will make the NCAA Tournament and what will they be seeded?  

With this question on everyone’s mind, who will make it the big dance?  And what big name universities will not be receiving their ticket to the tournament?  The real surprise to everyone this season is that there are two Final Four teams and the number one overall seed from last year who are now in jeopardy of even making the big tourney.  These three teams are the Connecticut Huskies, Louisville Cardinals, and the defending champions North Carolina Tar Heels.  Will these teams make the NCAA Tournament? Or is their future to be played in the NIT?

Going from the best and most feared teams in the nation just one year ago, these three teams are now only average teams who are fighting just to get in like all the other teams.  I would like to add one more team to my list of let down teams from this season; the UCLA Bruins.  The Bruins are entering this week with a losing record of 10-11 and are currently ranked fourth in their conference.  I believe that the poor play of the Bruins is going to have to pick up drastically if they want to find themselves in the same pool with the rest of the great college teams. 

These are four teams which I feel are all currently on the bubble.  If they wish to make some noise come this March, then they are going to have to start making noise now just to keep themselves from being placed into the NIT Tournament.  Digging deeper into these teams, let’s examine them one at a time. 

Connecticut Huskies

UCONN has been a huge let down this season posting a 13-9.  Their biggest problem right now is that they cannot win on the road.  So far this season they have posted a 0-5 record on the road and are currently on a three game losing streak.  Within this past week they have lost 66-81 on the road to Providence College, 68-70 verse Marquette at home, and a tough loss to Louisville on the road by a score of 69-82.  If they want to have their chance this March then they need to find a way to win on the road, and also start winning more consistently towards the end of this season.  

Louisville Cardinals

Louisville is another team that is on the bubble this year.  They are coming off of a great campaign last season, however, this season they are only 14-8 and they have some big games remaining on their schedule.  Here is my list of the five big games that they have remaining this season; at least four of which I feel they need/should win.

            1. at Syracuse on February 14^th

            2. Georgetown on February 23^rd

            3. at UCONN on February 28^th

            4. at Marquette on March 3^rd

            5. Syracuse on March 6^th

If Louisville wants to make it to the NCAA Tournament and if they want to enter March Madness with any momentum at all, then they need to show up and play in every one of these upcoming games. 

UCLA Bruins

I wanted to throw UCLA into this group of teams because they have simple been flat out terrible this season.  Like I have already stated, they are entering this week with their losing record of 10-11.  They are currently ranked fourth in the PAC 10 behind California, Arizona, and Arizona State.  Their next game is home verse Stanford, I feel like this is a must win for them.  The first visit between these two teams went to Stanford winning 70-59. These two teams meet again on Thursday, February 4^th.  UCLA must play the best basketball of their season for the next month; if not, they could find themselves in the NIT Tournament. 

North Carolina Tar Heels

The last team on my list was UNC.  The Tar Heels are an astonishing 13-8 this season and are not ranked in the top 25.  When was the last time anyone can remember North Carolina not being a power house in the college basketball nation?  Since the start of this New Year, UNC is just 2-5, including their tough loss at home on Sunday night against Virginia. They lost that game 60-75; just more proof of their giant collapse from one season ago when they were crowned champions.  The Tar Heels next three games look like this:

            1. Home verse 16-4 Virginia Tech

            2. On the road against the Maryland Terrapins

            3. Home verse top ranked ACC leaders Duke Blue Devils

If North Carolina doesn’t want to find themselves playing as just a part of the NIT Tournament, then they have to win these ball games.  They have had a terrible season and if they want to stand any chance of making the NCAA Tournament, then they need to win a lot of basketball games this next month.  And if they don’t win, then welcome to the NIT Tournament North Carolina Tar Heels!

The pressure is mounting for all the teams all around the nation; it’s now when we find out the true character of every team.  What teams can get off the bubble and what teams can make it to the NCAA Tournament?  This is the time when the average teams get to step up and get to show that they can be great teams.