As if the sting of missing out on the NCAA Tournament after a school-record season wasn’t bad enough, Nebraska was dealt another gut punch when the bracket for the National Invitation Tournament was released on Sunday night.
Not only were the Huskers tabbed as a fifth-seed in the 32-team field, they will have to travel for their first-round matchup at fourth-seeded Mississippi State. Tip-off for that game will be Wednesday night at 8 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN2.
To no surprise, NU head coach Tim Miles had to do his best to keep his disappointment in check when addressing reporters shortly after the announcement.
“I was surprised,” Miles said when asked his reaction. “I think the less I say the better.”
Miles was later asked if he felt his program, after racking up 22 wins and a school-record 13 conference victories, was “slapped in the face” by the NCAA and NIT selection committees with their No. 5 NIT seeding.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Miles admitted. “I really do feel like we got slapped in the face. It is what it is. We can still do something about it. I think that’s the good news. I hope we rally and respond and the guys feel the same way I do.”
After the Huskers learned they were not included in the NCAA Tournament field, Miles let the players go home and he watched the NIT selection show in his office.
Miles said he wasn’t sure how the team would react to their postseason fate until they met for their first practice for Mississippi State on Monday.
“Just very disappointed,” Miles said of the players’ mood. “What do you say? They’re disappointed.”
Nebraska ended the regular season ranked 57th in the RPI, which put it higher than three other teams seeded above it in the NIT field (No. 4 Mississippi State, 73; No. 4 Penn State, 77; No. 3 LSU, 94).
The Huskers also posted a conference record significantly better than those same three teams (MSU, 9-9; PSU, 9-9; LSU, 8-10).
However, NU’s 95th-ranked strength of schedule and 4-9 record vs. teams in the top-100 of the RPI were both well behind that group (MSU: 87th, 8-9; PSU: 74th, 6-9; LSU: 49th, 8-12).
Miles said he wasn’t exactly sure what all went into the seeding process for the NIT, but if it meant that the committees viewed the Huskers that far down the national pecking order, he obviously would have to disagree.
“If it’s just that we’re the whatever seed, then, well, that’s their perspective,” Miles said. “If we just go with things as they are and we’re the 17th-to-21st best team in the NIT, and there’s 16 other teams ahead of us, I’d have a real problem with the committee on that.”
This will mark the second time Nebraska and Mississippi State have faced each other this season, as they met back in October for a hastily thrown together charity exhibition game in Starkville, Miss.
After leading by as many as 23 points in that game, the Huskers held on for a 76-72 victory behind 17 points from junior guard James Palmer.
This will mark Nebraska’s first appearance in the NIT since 2011 when it lost to Wichita State 76-49.
It will also be the first time NU has faced the Bulldogs in an actual game since losing to 17th-ranked MSU, 69-66, at the Far West Classic in Portland, Ore., on Dec. 30, 1995.
“Obviously you’re disappointed not to be in the NCAA Tournament,” Miles said. “You hope that for your guys. We had done some unprecedented things here at Nebraska, and to be left out as a Power Five (school) with the record we had … you can make a case for it and against it as always.”
