So you may already have heard, but it's the NIT for us. The Not Important Tournament. Not Invited Tournament. Nobody's Interested Tournament. Blah blah. I have to admit I'm not especially interested in hearing or talking about how we got snubbed wah wah mid majors with no resumes wah wah. Don't wanna hear it and I'm not interested in joining the righteous-anger fest. You knew this was gonna happen and if you couldn't see it coming a mile away then the orange glasses are blinding your eyes. UVA played like ass down the stretch. Losing by twenty when the whole world is looking at you to see if you're worthy of the bid is a surefire way to advertise you don't deserve one.
The lesson is not "avoid bad losses" - if it were, VT would've had a few trips to the Dance under Greenberg. The lesson is to play well down the stretch and don't have so many bad losses that you collapse under their weight. Everything UVA wanted was there for the taking, and they rolled over and didn't bother. If you must direct righteous anger somewhere, direct it inward.
Anyway, things aren't so bad. The Hoos have a whole new (if consolationary) set of opportunities in front of them. It's like, OK, you screwed that up, but here's another chance at things. Ironically enough it's even a second crack at getting to the same place they couldn't get to in the preseason. It's the last one, of course, but at least everything until the big show (if we get that far) will be played at home. UVA's #1 seed in the NIT ensures that. And since the JPJA is the one place where they don't seem to screw things up usually, I feel a lot better about the impending clash with Norfolk State. Seriously, if that game were in Richmond, though, or some other neutral venue, I'd be worried.
What really gnaws is not so much missing out on the big tournament - it's missing out on a tremendous opportunity in the ACC. That's a 4 seed, a 7 seed, and an 8 seed joining the conference next year, and this year's #1 overall seed the year after that. And it's not like UNC, Duke, or NC State are going to get worse in the near future. Miami is about the only currently successful team poised for a drop. It doesn't get any easier to win the ACC going forward. UVA should have a better team next year than they do this year, but will the conference leave them behind anyway? It's gonna be a tough sled in 2014.
