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"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall" - Proverbs 16:18
When UB was not announced for the CIT / CBI tournament last night my first thought was that they had to be "snubbed". That is if one could call not being invited to pay for play tournaments a "snub" then surly UB was a victim here.
The Bulls had three bad losses which seemed like distinct black eyes on their resume but the CBI and CIT like to look at the last ten or so games and there UB did not have any terrible losses. So why in the world was UB left out of the post season?
Turns out it was by choice.
Akron, Cleveland State still playing hoops in the postseason | cleveland.com
Overall, five MAC teams will be in the postseason while a viable sixth, Buffalo (19-10) snubbed its nose at trying to go for 20 wins in coach Bobby Hurley's rookie season.
Even after a good nights sleep I can't wrap my mind around this one. Why in the world would you pass up a chance to get in another week or so of practices and possible elevate Javon McCrea to the 2000/1000 plateau.
I could understand if the Bulls did not want to buy a home game, that makes sense but UB's top 100 RPI score had to mean they were pretty high up on the CIT and CBI radars.
Could we have passed it up because they are below us?
Buffalo, as a team that has never made the NCAA tournament and only been to the NIT one time. Until UB is a name you expect in a bracket challenge the CBI and CIT are no more below the school than the Potato Bowl. It is a chance to get more games in against decent teams before the season is over.
Could it be because the Seniors had nothing to play for?
Buffalo is a very Senior heavy roster so perhaps this line of thinking is what kept UB from taking a lower tournament invite.
Well Javon McCrea ended his career *16* rebounds short of the very elite 2000 points, 1000 rebounds club. It would have been nice for him personally and great for the program to have someone in that group. Two games, perhaps one, would have been enough for McCrea to join that club.
But let's assume that the symbolic 16 rebounds and a third trip to the CIT is not what Javon or the other Seniors wanted. What about the Juniors and underclassmen?
Maybe you go with *next years* presumed starters as the main guys for a game or two in the post season. Start the 2014-2015 season a little bit early. Next season when were talking about the new line up early in the year lets look back and remember that the team could have had a week or two of practice and two live games under their belt.
Finally maybe it was the money...
For the CBI I could buy this. The College Basketball Invitational is a horrible overpriced tournament. The CIT, on the other hand, is more affordable.
I thought that the "Basketball Excellence Fund" was for events that would help move UB hoops forward? Is there not enough in the fund for a CIT trip? This, to me, seems like a good used of that donated money.
But nobody pays me to run an Athletics department. That is, as they say, well above my pay grade.
