GREENSBORO -- After North Carolina's 62-58 first-round loss to Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament, the Tar Heels are out of NCAA tournament contention. But coach Roy Williams made it clear that the defending national champions will accept an NIT bid, if invited.
“If somebody’s going to go invite me to play, I want to go play – period. The end,’’ said Williams, who had coached his team to at least one win in the NCAA tournament for 20 straight years. “Are we worthy enough to be invited? That I don’t know. There’s people … that get to make those decisions, maybe that won’t even invite us. But if somebody invites me to go play, we’re going to go play.”
A team spokesman later re-clarified that Williams was talking about the NIT, and not any other tournaments. But UNC is on the NIT bubble.
Under NIT selection rules, squads that won their regular-season conference championship but didn't make it to the NCAA Tournament because they lost in their league tournament, receive automatic invitations. Then an eight-member selection committee, made up of retired coaches, selects and seeds the rest of the field.
C.M. Newton, chairman of the NIT selection committee, said last month that the most important thing is to put together the strongest field of teams possible - regardless of name recognition or how many fans a specific might draw.
"Who have they played? How are they playing late in the year? I know the NCAA committee talks about the total body of work, and we do too ... but I want a team that's playing well at the end," Newton said. "... We use RPI, we use Sagarin, we use all of the same things that the [NCAA] basketball committee uses to make sure we have the strongest field possible."
North Carolina wouldn't be the first team to win the NCAA title one year and play in the NIT the next. Florida played in the NIT in 2008, after winning back-to-back national titles. Defending national champion Louisville turned down an NIT bid when it finished 18-14 in 1986-87. N.C. State also was relegated to the NIT the year after it won the national title in 1983, but that was when the NCAA field included only 48 teams.
Sixteen teams host first-round NIT games, and teams must win three times to advance to the semifinals in New York.
Robbi Pickeral has covered ACC sports for The News & Observer since 2003. She can be reached at 
Comments
fiwedding
Wed, 07/21/2010 - 04:33 — fiweddingI'm about to think most "law-yers" are sleezebags......it's that "if you can't beat em, join em" thing, I guess...money's just too darn good apparently, whether it's "good money" or "bad money."
www.7obdz.com
Thu, 04/08/2010 - 09:17 — messixavi1008www.7obdz.com
I don't think UNC will earn
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 16:57 — mad_maxI don't think UNC will earn a bid based on their name. I don't think the committee is going to vote that way...and if they do, I hope they burn in hell! Lol just kidding, good luck. I would love for State to get another crack at Carolina somehow in the postseason.
NIT
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 14:47 — Heels20We don't deserve it, but I wouldn't be surprised if we get a bid just because of the name. Like it or not, we're still defending national champs, and that title alone will put butts in the seats in any arena we play.
RPI
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 16:00 — SurferAgree re: the seats, but our RPI is still something like 85, even after last night. Z is showing up and it was a close game. I would like to see us in it.
Go
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 11:57 — SurferI would like to see the Heels go to the NIT. More practice time could not hurt. While this year has been painful, I am still optimistic about next year and the year after. Coach Williams knows what needs to be done.
The more
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 17:49 — unc098practice the better. The more this team can play together the better. Even if they lose.
poontain is all over this one!!!!
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 10:27 — bluecat69bluecat69i hope the tar-sh-t- holes get in the nit , because rhat means an automatic loss 17-16, pretty AINT IT!! i hear they are going to chang their name to "THE BRICK MASONS", worst shooting team ever in bb, brick after brick,, a 10 point lead at half- gone in 3 min. great half-time talk by ol roy, what a motivator, go duke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Grasshopper.
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 15:37 — PuddentainYou made a mistake. again.
Stop the bleeding. Please!
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 09:14 — preechAn automatic bid to the NCAA should be based on winning not loosing. That's why there is an NIT "Not In Tournament." Giving UNC a bid because they once had a good team is laughable. And for blue heaven's sake let the season end. Already no one speaks "defending national champion" when mentioning UNC. It is too embarrassing to say out loud. This team cannot score 80 points in a pick up game against Charleston. There are prospects for the future why demoralize them with another show of ineptness. Maybe some of the recruits will have second thoughts about a program that cannot right itself. Go play golf Roy and have some fun.
NIT
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 04:01 — LetsGoPittLooks like Wake may have played themselves down to the NIT and State has played themselves up to the NIT. Herb Sendek and Sean Miller await you........
UNC should defend the NCAA championship at Play-in game
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 03:03 — ketteringI live in the Dayton, OH area - the site of the annual NCAA basketball tournament play-in game (at University of Dayton Arena) the Tuesday before the opening rounds. I think the NCAA should offer one of the two play-in teams to the defending champion if that team does not otherwise get a bid (with UNC at 16-16, I doubt if they would otherwise get a bid). It would make for an interesting game and probably create more attendance. This game usually attracts over 8,000 fans for two relatively unknown and distant teams in an arena which seats 13,445. The NCAA really loves the host Univ of Dayton and realizes that this fine university has a clean program and really knows how to run NCAA tournament games (play-in plus first and second round as in 2009), and the fans are very loyal to this play-in game and the participating teams. I would really like to see this happen!
Dayton
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 04:00 — LetsGoPittThat is a very interesting solution for expansion: if the defending champs aren't already a lock, put them in one of the play-in games. Yes, I said games. I don't want to see 96 teams, but i like a little expansion:
68 teams with the "last four in" playing each other to get the final two spots. The rule is if you win yoru conference tourney you are in the NCAA's, but the play-in game now does a disservice to those teams as the loser is not really in the tourney, not being able to play in a host city with 7 other teams. So send them somewhere and let the last four in duke it out to be the 8 and 9 seed against the overall number 1.
Sorry to say, tho it woudl not be in Dayton, but rather in the city wherever the overall #1 is,
NIT at-large bids
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 01:47 — dj5377Regular season conference champions are losing all over the place. 8 of the 32 NIT bids are already locked up to these regular season losers with 5 more potential bid stealers out there. I'd be pretty stunned if this 16-16 UNC squad is going to be considered one of the 24 best teams left after the NCAA bids go out.
I honestly don't think UNC
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 00:55 — mad_maxI honestly don't think UNC deserves an NIT bid...especially if you consider what Newton said about playing well late in the year. I think State is on the bubble now after their win over Clemson tonight.
Maybe They Don't Deserve It, Maybe They Do
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 07:22 — PuddentainBut it's the only chance now for them to have a losing season. I say invite 'em!