-Coach mad at ncaa,nit, cbi

[jetsrule128]

KALAMAZOO -- Steve Hawkins isn't so much bothered that he's been left out of the postseason.

The "rotten, rotten feeling" eating at Western Michigan University's men's basketball coach is a sadness for his players and a system he sees as flawed and, worse yet, corrupt.

Despite a 20-12 record and a Mid-American Conference West Division title, the National Invitation Tournament and inaugural College Basketball Invitational passed on the Broncos Sunday night.

Hawkins knew the NIT was a long shot, given the recent reduction of teams from 40 to 32 and the mandatory inclusion of regular-season conference champions that don't win their league tournament.

He's not as diplomatic when it comes to the CBI's 16-team field, which includes two other Mid-American Conference teams -- Ohio and Miami-Ohio -- with lesser league resumes, one program with a losing record (Cincinnati), four teams with higher RPIs and five with a worse Sagarin Rating.

"It wasn't based on merit and accomplishment," Hawkins said. "So as excited as I was to see another tournament come along, now it's been dampened by the fact that the (Gazelle Group) that's running it is not basing it completely on accomplishment.

"What appears to be obvious at this point is they have gone with some teams that have gone with them in the past to some of their (preseason) exempt tournaments. So teams that have spent money on them in the past, they've rewarded again by rewarding them spots in the CBI.

"And we've never gone with the Gazelle Group for any of their tournaments, so we're getting punished by not being able to get into postseason play."

The Big 12 Conference, and several other programs, refused bids from the CBI, which required a $60,000 guarantee on ticket sales and 60 percent of any additional gate receipts.

The CBI claimed that it didn't see a need to take a team with a sub-.500 record with "too many teams out there with good records," Gazelle Group president Rick Giles said in November. And yet, Cincinnati, at 13-18, is in the field.

It's believed that the Bearcats, like Ohio -- which finished with 19 wins, three fewer conference victories than WMU and lost a round earlier in the league tourney -- lobbied for a bid, using long-standing financial ties to the Gazelle Group.

"Ohio loses their first-round game (at the MAC Tournament) and (league commissioner) Rick Chryst told me after the game that would probably seal Ohio's fate," Hawkins said. "Then (Sunday) night I talk to (MAC director of basketball operations) Rick Boyages and Rick Boyages says, 'Well, we're hearing that Ohio has brokered a deal to get into the CBI.'

"I said, 'What do you mean? I didn't know brokering a deal was allowed. Should we have been doing something here? Who should have we been talking to, to broker a deal to get into postseason play? I thought this was all based on merit and accomplishment.' And then we find out that it's really not and here we are. I'm going to walk into our postseason meaning in 20 minutes and say, 'Well, guys, the season's over.'"

Hawkins said the MAC office told him the Broncos' No. 119 RPI could be its downfall, though Virginia, Cincinnati, Brown and Old Dominion all are in the CBI with higher RPIs.

If it's wins and losses that matter, he points out, how is Miami-Ohio in the field after a 17-15 season that included an Ohio-like 9-7 league mark and a loss in its only meeting with WMU.

"I mean, basically, it's a joke," Hawkins said of the CBI. "There's a team that's 13-18 in postseason play."

The CBI, which claimed it would be "100 percent accountable" for the teams it chose, did not return multiple messages left by the Gazette.

"I know I'm going to be coaching for another 20, 25 years," Hawkins said. "And so I can get back into more NCAA Tournaments and NIT Tournaments. I hope there's never another CBI tournament. Whatever it is that's out there, I know I'm going to have postseason play in my future. These seniors have no shot. These other players have a limited shot.

"You're messing with people's dreams, and in the back of smoke-filled rooms, you've got deals being brokered. Meanwhile you've got kids and their families sitting at home."

[johnny green balls]

not being invited to the CBI is a reason to celebrate.

[Thai Jet]

not being invited to the CBI is a reason to celebrate.

Still something is rotting when a team with a 13-18 record gets in.

[jetsrule128]

hey someone likes it

Well, the College Basketball Invitational has been bombarded with criticism and mocking comments since its disastrous Selection Sunday, which turned into Selection Monday for the eastern and central time zones. And the overwhelming majority of the criticism and mocking has been quite deserved.

But for all of its faults, the first night of the CBI couldn't have gone much better. Four very entertaining, competitive games -- a one-point game, a two-point game, a three-point game and a six-point game -- with respectable (well, not embarrassing) crowds at Nevada and Virginia (can't say the same for Old Dominion and Ohio). The games were good and the players genuinely seemed to care about winning -- hell, the Nevada guys looked genuinely crushed after missing two potential game-winners in the final few seconds.

Here are the scores, by the way:

Ohio 80, Brown 74

Old Dominion 68, Rider 65

Virginia 66, Richmond 64

Houston 80, Nevada 79.

[MagicBizkit87]

The tournament really has become a joke lately, when they allow teams that goes 13-18 during the season into it. They really should consider making it 128 teams, it would be better for the NCAA, and it would make sure that every team deserving of being there, will be there.