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College basketball tournament you don't care about
By StephenHerzog in Midwest point of view
March 17, 2010

With the NCAA Tournament still a day away, there has been some coverage of the NIT. If nothing else, it's to get us even more excited for the "big dance" to get here.

Once Thursday rolls around, hardly anyone will be paying any attention to the NIT, unless they have a favorite team in the field. I grew up rooting for the University of Illinois, so I'll be keeping an eye on them.

Likewise, my alma mater, Missouri State, is playing in the CIT this year.

"What is the CIT?" you ask.

Don't feel alone in your uncertainty, even the sports staff wasn't aware of something called the CIT. (We discovered it while making fun of the CBI, which is the third most popular NCAA Division I postseason tournament.)

The CIT is the College Insider.com Tournament, and it features teams that couldn't crack the CBI, which features teams that couldn't make the NIT, which of course features teams that couldn't make the NCAA Tournament.

If you're a Division I basketball player, and you're not playing in the postseason, it's either because your team turned down an invitation or you've been kicked off the team for taking $5,000 from a local used car dealer.

The abundance of postseason tournaments doesn't make much sense to me. Unlike college football bowl games, there seems to be little financial incentive for the schools (in fact, they're likely to lose money).

It does add a few more home games for teams in the top half of the brackets, and I suppose it gives sub-par teams something to fight for after their conference tournaments end.

But if you ask me, there are still two too many tournaments. I can handle the NIT, there are some very good teams in that tournament. But the CBI and CIT have little to no value in the eyes of most, including myself.