Bears Still Have a Lot to Play For in Postseason
The University of Northern Colorado Bears won’t get their “One Shining Moment” on college basketball’s biggest stage this season. Yet, that doesn’t mean Northern Colorado will not get the chance to play tournament basketball in March.
After a disappointing loss on Tuesday evening at the hands of the Montana Grizzlies, the Bears will have a chance to rebound in the National Invitation Tournament, College Basketball Invitational or the College Insider Tournament to close out their season.
Perhaps one of the “secondary” tournaments don’t mean much to the North Carolina’s, or the UConn’s, or the Arizona’s, but for a program like Northern Colorado, who continues to build on a solid foundation, the opportunity to play basketball with intensity well into March bodes well for the future.
The NIT would be the tournament of choice for the Bears. The National Invitation Tournament has been known for years to be the second-best tournament behind the NCAA Tournament. Playing in the NIT would allow the Bears to play against teams from major conferences, as well as the best of the best against mid-majors.
The 32 team tournament takes teams that narrowly missed the Big Dance, as well as teams who won their regular-season championship but failed to make the conference tournament, which means Weber State can no do worse than the NIT if they were to lose in the Big Sky Championship game to Montana. Bears fans should root for the Wildcats to prevail in the conference tournament, because it would increase UNC’s chances to make the NIT, as the tournament is unlikely to take two teams from the Big Sky Conference.
The CBI might be the most likely destination for Tad Boyle’s team. The 16-team tournament has been a surprising success in its first two years of existence, drawing major crowds as the games are played on on-campus sites. Tulsa won the inaugural tournament in 2008, followed by the Pac 10’s Oregon State winning in 2009. Notable teams who have competed in the adolescent tournament include: Cincinnati, Houston, Nevada, St. John’s, Stanford UTEP, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. First round games would take place Tuesday March 16th, or Wednesday March 17th. UNC would be the first Big Sky team to ever participate in the CBI.
The final possible destination for Northern Colorado is the College Insider Tournament who prepares for their second year of action. The CIT (also a 16-team field) is specifically made for solid mid-major teams who came up short for their bid in their respective conference tournaments. Last year’s inaugural tournament was won by Old Dominion, who by the way, is headed to the NCAA Tournament this season by way of winning the Colonial Athletic Association Conference Tournament. Also in the field was Oakland, who is also dancing this year after winning the Summit League. Oakland lost in heartbreaking fashion in the quarterfinal round to Bradley in the tournament last season on this shot which helped gained the CIT some national notoriety:
http://www.bradleybraves.com/newMediaPlayer/sl/console.htm?type=vod&DB_MENU_ID=&DB_OEM_ID=3400&oemid=3400&CLIP_FILE_ID=661113&id=661113&SPID=1498&SPSID=25965&CLIP_ID=651071 .
Northern Colorado will find out their tournament fate late Sunday evening.
So the end of a magical 2009-2010 season hasn’t come quite yet. Will Figures and Yahosh Bonner will wear Northern Colorado jersey’s for at least one more time, and the rest of the players and coaches will gain experience of playing tournament basketball in March as they move forward in building a top-notch program.
The University of Northern Colorado Bears won’t get their “One Shining Moment” on college basketball’s biggest stage this season. Yet, that doesn’t mean Northern Colorado will not get the chance to play tournament basketball in March.
After a disappointing loss on Tuesday evening at the hands of the Montana Grizzlies, the Bears will have a chance to rebound in the National Invitation Tournament, College Basketball Invitational or the College Insider Tournament to close out their season.
Perhaps one of the “secondary” tournaments don’t mean much to the North Carolina’s, or the UConn’s, or the Arizona’s, but for a program like Northern Colorado, who continues to build on a solid foundation, the opportunity to play basketball with intensity well into March bodes well for the future.
The NIT would be the tournament of choice for the Bears. The National Invitation Tournament has been known for years to be the second-best tournament behind the NCAA Tournament. Playing in the NIT would allow the Bears to play against teams from major conferences, as well as the best of the best against mid-majors.
The 32 team tournament takes teams that narrowly missed the Big Dance, as well as teams who won their regular-season championship but failed to make the conference tournament, which means Weber State can no do worse than the NIT if they were to lose in the Big Sky Championship game to Montana. Bears fans should root for the Wildcats to prevail in the conference tournament, because it would increase UNC’s chances to make the NIT, as the tournament is unlikely to take two teams from the Big Sky Conference.
The CBI might be the most likely destination for Tad Boyle’s team. The 16-team tournament has been a surprising success in its first two years of existence, drawing major crowds as the games are played on on-campus sites. Tulsa won the inaugural tournament in 2008, followed by the Pac 10’s Oregon State winning in 2009. Notable teams who have competed in the adolescent tournament include: Cincinnati, Houston, Nevada, St. John’s, Stanford UTEP, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. First round games would take place Tuesday March 16th, or Wednesday March 17th. UNC would be the first Big Sky team to ever participate in the CBI.
The final possible destination for Northern Colorado is the College Insider Tournament who prepares for their second year of action. The CIT (also a 16-team field) is specifically made for solid mid-major teams who came up short for their bid in their respective conference tournaments. Last year’s inaugural tournament was won by Old Dominion, who by the way, is headed to the NCAA Tournament this season by way of winning the Colonial Athletic Association Conference Tournament. Also in the field was Oakland, who is also dancing this year after winning the Summit League. Oakland lost in heartbreaking fashion in the quarterfinal round to Bradley in the tournament last season on this shot which helped gained the CIT some national notoriety:
http://www.bradleybraves.com/newMediaPlayer/sl/console.htm?type=vod&DB_MENU_ID=&DB_OEM_ID=3400&oemid=3400&CLIP_FILE_ID=661113&id=661113&SPID=1498&SPSID=25965&CLIP_ID=651071 .
Northern Colorado will find out their tournament fate late Sunday evening.
So the end of a magical 2009-2010 season hasn’t come quite yet. Will Figures and Yahosh Bonner will wear Northern Colorado jersey’s for at least one more time, and the rest of the players and coaches will gain experience of playing tournament basketball in March as they move forward in building a top-notch program.
