If the season ended today … wait the season DID end today - (rankings here)
Cut to the chase … the real work the committee did is here. But how did I put it together using the pairwise rankings (a la college hockey)?
Midwest Region (Saint Louis, Missouri – #1 Overall Seed)
Louisville, Kentucky
- (1) Kentucky vs (16) Western Kentucky/Mississippi Valley State
- (8) San Diego State vs (9) Iowa State
Albuquerque, New Mexico
- (4) Louisville vs (13) Drexel/North Carolina State
- (5) Wisconsin vs (12) Xavier
Omaha, Nebraska
- (2) Missouri vs (15) Lehigh
- (7) Florida vs (10) Connecticut
Nashville, Tennessee
- (3) Wichita State vs (14) Loyola-MD
- (6) Gonzaga vs (11) Oral Roberts
West Region (Phoenix, Arizona – #4 Overall Seed)
Columbus, Ohio
- (1) Michigan State vs (16) Detroit
- (8) California vs (9) Cincinnati
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- (4) Florida State vs (13) Saint Bonaventure
- (5) Creighton vs (12) Belmont
Omaha, Nebraska
- (2) Kansas vs (15) Lamar
- (7) UNLV vs (10) Virginia
Nashville, Tennessee
- (3) Memphis vs (14) West Virginia
- (6) Michigan vs (11) Long Beach State
East Region (Boston, Massachusetts – #2 overall seed)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- (1) Syracuse vs (16) UNC-Asheville
- (8) Harvard vs (9) Southern Mississippi
Portland, Oregon
- (4) New Mexico vs (13) Colorado
- (5) Vanderbilt vs (12) Ohio
Greensboro, North Carolina
- (2) Duke vs (15) Long Island
- (7) Murray State vs (10) Notre Dame
Albuquerque, New Mexico
- (3) Baylor vs (14) Iona/Oregon
- (6) Temple vs (11) Purdue
South Region (Atlanta, Georgia – #3 overall seed)
Greensboro, North Carolina
- (1) North Carolina vs (16) Vermont/Norfolk State
- (8) Alabama vs (9) Virginia Commonwealth
Columbus, Ohio
- (4) Indiana vs (13) New Mexico State
- (5) Georgetown vs (12) Texas
Louisville, Kentucky
- (2) Ohio State vs (15) Montana
- (7) Saint Mary’s vs (10) South Dakota State
Portland, Oregon
- (3) Marquette vs (14) Davidson
- (6) Saint Louis vs (11) Kansas State
The Final NIT field (automatics bolded)
- Brigham Young
- Colorado State
- Middle Tennessee State
- Seton Hall
- Nevada
- Arizona
- Northwestern
- Miami-FL
- South Florida
- Ole Miss
- Washington
- Dayton
- Saint Joseph’s
- Marshall
- Akron
- Central Florida
- Mississippi State
- Minnesota
- George Mason
- Cleveland State
- Stanford
- Massachusetts
- Northern Iowa
- Tennessee
- LaSalle
- Illinois
- LSU
- Bucknell
- Valparaiso
- Texas-Arlington
- Stony Brook
- Savannah State
