Happening Hoops CBI/The Basketball Classic Bracketology #9
By: Ethan Hennessy
Selection Sunday is only a few days away! I have 13 confirmed teams and counting that are committed to one of the two tournaments in 2022. If you are new here welcome. I predict the fields of the College Basketball Invitational and Basketball Classic Postseason Tournaments which are postseason college basketball tournaments for teams that do not get invited to the NCAA Tournament or National Invitation Tournament (NIT). This is my fifth season doing this. I have a career 87% accuracy rate (111/128) of correctly predicting the fields of these tournaments.
Yearly breakdown
2018: 75% (27/36)
2019: 93% (39/42)
*2020: 88% minimum *It was later determined three days from Selection Sunday (at the time of the cancelations) I had already correctly predicted 37 of the would-be 42 teams confirmed in the fields.
2021: 100% (8/8)
2022: TBD
*Teams that captured the one seed in their conference tournament are not included in the CBI/Basketball Classic Bracketology because they receive their league’s automatic NIT bid in the event they do not win their conference tournament.
CBI (16 Teams Daytona Beach Florida March 19-23)
- Bellarmine (20-13 ASUN)
- East Carolina (15-14 American)
- Montana (18-13 Big Sky)
- UNC Asheville (16-14 Big South)
- CSU Fullerton (18-10 Big West)
- UNC Wilmington (23-9 CAA)
- Middle Tennessee State (22-9 CUSA)
- Rice (15-15 CUSA)
- Florida Atlantic (18-13 CUSA)
- Monmouth (19-12 MAAC)
- Boston (21-12 Patriot)
- VMI (16-15 SoCon)
- California Baptist (18-14 WAC)
- Abilene Christian (20-9 WAC)
- Stephen F Austin (22-8 WAC)
- Portland (18-14 WCC)
The Basketball Classic (32 Teams Campus Sites March 14-31)
East
- UMBC (17-13 America East)
- Cornell (15-10 Ivy)
- Howard (16-12 MEAC)
- Wagner (21-6 NEC)
- Buffalo (19-10 MAC)
- Saint Peter’s (16-11 MAAC)
Midwest
- Youngstown State (18-14 Horizon)
- Fort Wayne (21-11 Horizon)
- Morehead State (21-13 OVC)
- South Dakota (19-12 Summit)
South
- Jacksonville (21-10 ASUN)
- FGCU (21-11 ASUN)
- Oklahoma State (15-15 Big 12)
- Winthrop (23-9 Big South)
- USC Upstate (14-16 Big South)
- Furman (22-12 SoCon)
- UNCG (17-14 SoCon)
- Texas Southern (15-12 SWAC)
- Southern (17-13 SWAC)
- Texas A&M CC (20-11 Southland)
- App State (19-14 Sun Belt)
- Troy (20-11 Sun Belt)
- South Alabama (19-11 Sun Belt)
- Arkansas State (18-11 Sun Belt)
- Coastal Carolina (16-13 Sun Belt)
- Sam Houston State (18-13 WAC)
West
- Southern Utah (20-10 Big Sky)
- UCSB (16-10 Big West)
- UC Riverside (16-11 Big West)
- Utah State (17-14 MW)
- Stanford (15-15 Pac 12)
- Seattle (23-8 WAC)
*Oklahoma State is ineligible for the NCAA Tournament or NIT, but they are eligible for other postseason tournaments. The Basketball Classic is run by the same organization (college insider) that put on the CIT, but since “The Basketball Classic” is an entirely new tournament I was informed they will not be adhering to the previous rule that prohibits high major teams from participating in their tournament.
I strive to predict these brackets as accurately as possible if you are associated with a program and have information about a team’s status regarding the CBI or The Basketball Classic feel free to DM me on Twitter @HappeningHoops or email me at HappeningHoops@gmail.com All tips are considered off the record.
Happening Hoops 
3 Comments
I think Bellarmine should get to go to the NIT.
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The NCAA ban applies to the NIT as well because the NIT is run by the NCAA.
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Thanks. I was aware of that, but I made my point a little too succinctly.
Just because the NCAA purchased and now runs the NIT, what is the point of the ban on participating in NCAA championships during the transition period applying the the NIT? The NIT is not an NCAA “championship” the way the NCAA Tournament is.
Wouldn’t it be better to have a rule for the NIT similar to the top-seed tournament loser rule? A team not eligible for the NCAA Tournament because it is in the transition period not only MAY participate in the NIT but automatically qualifies. It isn’t as though they would be taking an NIT spot away from anyone else, since the top seed obviously didn’t win and is going to the NCAA Tournament instead of taking its automatic NIT bid. I’d like to see Bellarmine get a shot at a Power 6 team.
On a separate but related point, what is the purpose of the NCAA championships ban in Division I during the transition period anyway? What competitive advantage could Bellarmine possibly have? The Vegas Golden Knights did a terrific job putting their team together at the launch of the franchise. Imagine if the NHL said they couldn’t qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs during their first four seasons. It would be just as stupid as this is.
I completely understand that Hartford should be banned from Division III championships for a period of time, and four years seems about right, starting when they move down after next season. That makes sense. Moving down could create some competitive advantage, even with the phasing out of scholarships before moving down. However, moving up is completely different. I’d rather see the ban on championship participation apply only to interdivisional moves in the downward direction.
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