That's not quite true. You've missed the NIT 3 times under Stans (that's once every 5 years or so), including last year when you had no business missing postseason play.
And the only time in Kennedy's 6 years of coaching that he missed the NIT was when he lost almost all of his backcourt to knee injuries within the first portion of the season. He's been remarkably consistent in his mediocrity. Not saying that's a good thing, because it's not, but it's hard to be that consistently in the middle. It's like getting grades. It's easy to get straight A's if you're good at school, and it's easy to get straight F's if you just don't try. It's really hard to get straight C's every year. That's what Kennedy does.
Stans is a better coach for sure, and it's not even arguable, but he's had a few roller coaster ride seasons where you lose to the likes of Rider and other bad teams out of league play and follow it up by looking like world beaters in SEC play. Kennedy takes some bad losses on occasion, but in large part, he's remarkably consistent in his mediocrity even within the season. Hell, in 6 years as a head coach, the variation in league record for Kennedy has ranged from a low of 7-9 to a high of 9-7. It's hard to go that long without ever dropping below that point OR without ever lucking into something better. Even his regular season plus conference tournament record has ranged from a low of 19 wins to a high of 21 wins with exception of the knee injury year where we only won 16 games.
And this year, we look like a team that will finish between 7-9 and 9-7 in SEC play, which will put us squarely and comfortably in the NIT, yet again. It is what it is with Kennedy.