It may not be an NCAA tournament, but one team is abundant in the massive failure of the Governing Body at the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
South Alabama has been notified by NCAA and Sunbelt Commissioner Keithgill, who serves as vice-chairs of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, that it had bid for NIT late Sunday night.
However, just an hour after that, coach Richie Riley tells AL.com that the invitation was cancelled and broke the heart of his program.
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South Alabama Jaguars head coach Richie Riley will face Mississippi rebels in CM 'Tad' Smith Coliseum in the first half. (Petre Thomas/Imagn image)
“It's unfair to our players,” Riley explained. “We have a team of zero. They're a bunch of underdogs who fought their asses. And now I have to tell them they're not in the NIT. That's just an absolute joke.”
In the case of the NCAA Tournament Bracket, teams like West Virginia weren't as appealing, but they were in the bubble. South Alabama is a much worse medicine to swallow, getting an invitation just to tear it apart.
West Virginia Government's Patrick Morrissey calls for an NCAA investigation after the climbers' tournament snub
Riley detailed the situation on AL.com, and said Gill and NCAA's senior vice president of basketball cardboard, called at 9:30pm on Sunday as UC Riverside committed to the College Basketball Invitational instead.
However, that commitment came before UC Riverside was expanded to NIT invitations. Because UC Riverside wanted, the NCAA withdraws the South Alabama bid and retrieves them.
Riley said he had already told his players he would be in the NIT.
South Alabama Jaguars head coach Richie Riley is in talks with first half forward Bally Dunning Jr. (22) and guard John Bloom (14) against Mississippi rebels at CM 'Tad' Smith Coliseum. (Petre Thomas-imagn image)
“I said, 'This is 100%, are we right?' And they said, 'Yeah, I'm glad you were able to come in,' explained Riley.
“…I tell them, “I'm going to tell everyone in my life.” They're like, “Go ahead.” So I'm telling the team. This is unacceptable. ”
The NIT issued an apology statement to South Alabama, saying it understands “the emotional impact this disruption has created.” Riley hadn't heard of it, but he called the statement X's “meaningless apology.”
“What they did to us last night is unforgivable!” Riley's X-post continued. “These guys in our locker rooms don't deserve this. Your idea of making it right is a copy and paste apology!”
South Alabama head coach Richie Riley watches his team play against Alabama at the Coleman Coliseum. (Gary Cosby Jr./USA Today Sports)
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The Jaguars owned a 21-11 record in the season and were tied with Troy, James Madison and Arkansas for the Sun Belt Conference regular season championship. They continue to lose to Arkansas in the Sunbelt semi-finals, 74-71.
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