...if you are projected to be an NIT team, play like an NIT team all year, win exactly the right amount of games to probably host 1 or 2 NIT games, and then *don't* play in the NIT, then you were just stealing the money all year long. There was never any point during the season other than *maybe* the almost 72 hrs between the end of the first UVa game and the end of the first WF game where they were at least even money to make the NCAA tournament. And probably not then either. Where was this "making the NCAA tournament is the most important thing and anything short of that is devastating failure" energy in the 2H of the FSU game? Or, more to the point, where was it with 2:45 left in the Stanford game or with 0:08 left in the SMU game? They couldn't be bothered to land those entirely un-crashable planes but we're supposed to believe that this season was so 100% about making the NCAA tournament that there's no reason to go on once they...(checks notes)...finished 8-10, good for 12th place in the league in which they were predicted to finish 12th, and...(checks notes again)...lost to the 13th place team in the league (for the 2nd time) in the very first round of the tournament that exists as a backdoor chance to make the NCAAs? That team has better stuff to do than play in the NIT? Lol then they had better stuff to do than play basketball all year long, which come to think of it explains an awful lot. Leave it to the VT athletic department to assemble a roster of guys with an NIT ceiling who don't want to play in the NIT.