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I had hoped we'd get a 6 seed. I think we're in the same range as San Diego, Wichita State, Toledo, and Harvard. If we'd won in the Arch Madness semifinal and lost against UNI, we probably would have earned a 6 seed.... that would have given us a match-up against Georgetown, Furman, Memphis, etc. But the tournament selection committee chose to match us up with the team we supposedly replaced in the MVC, which I consider something of a deliberate challenge. (They also paired up Wright State against their former coach now at Clemson).
I'd love to face Creighton at a neutral site or at home, but they're really difficult in Omaha. Their home losses this year were Ohio State, Gonzaga, Marquette, Villanova, St. John's, and Seton Hall. Every one of them in the tournament. I guess we can hope that with the short turnaround for the NIT (just over 48 hours from bracket announcement to tip-off), some of their home court advantage might be weakened. But we have to expect the worst as far as the home court goes.
Creighton led the Big East in attendance by a wide margin. They averaged 17100 per game this season, almost 2000 more than the league's runner-up, Marquette, having their best season in a while in a brand new venue. Only one other Big East team (Xavier) averaged in five figures. The BlueJays are 225-50 since moving to the downtown Omaha arena in 2003, but their 10-6 home record this season was emblematic of a down year.
But here's the thing---- if we can somehow get past Creighton, I really like our chances. We've got Nebraska, Butler, TCU, Memphis, San Diego, and Sam Houston State in our bracket.
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