Soul-Crushing NCAA Keeps Bellarmine out of the NIT

Bellarmine basketball — (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Fun Police in Indianapolis will not let the Bellarmine Knights dance this March, not even in the NIT.

Bellarmine has been the talk of the college basketball world since the small Catholic school in Louisville won the ASUN Conference Tournament Title Tuesday night with a 77-72 victory over Jacksonville at Freedom Hall. Scotty Davenport’s squad capped off its second Division I season with a 20-13 (11-5) record.

That’s right, the Knights are conference tournament champs after only two seasons of D-I basketball, and yet that’s somehow a problem, thanks to an antiquated NCAA rule. To dissuade schools from making the leap too fast, the NCAA places a probationary period on schools transitioning from Division II to the D-I ranks, forbidding them to play in postseason tournaments for the first four years of their membership.

Even though Bellarmine was good enough to be in the Big Dance, the rules would not allow it. A wise man once said, “rules were meant to be broken.”

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While commentators across the country laid into the NCAA, the four-letter organization could have received a waiver from Mark Emmert to play in the NCAA Tournament. Of course, that would require Emmert to actually work. That’s asking way too much.

Instead of shooting for the stars, Bellarmine had a simple request: If we can’t go to the NCAA Tournament, let us play in the NIT. After all, the ASUN regular season champs get an automatic bid to the NIT. This year’s winners, Jacksonville State, will replace Bellarmine in the Big Dance. According to Jon Rothstein, Bellarmine’s request to play in the NIT fell on deaf ears. ASUN commissioner, Ted Gumbart, was not amused.

The middle word of NIT is "invitation." It's like a party. Hosts can invite whomever they choose. Invite Bellarmine. @BUKnightsMBB https://t.co/LIO7tIgoV5
— ASUNCommish (@ASUNCommish) March 10, 2022

The NCAA got a PR home run put on a tee, swung and missed. An organization ran by a bunch of buffoons, Bellarmine deserves better than the CBI. It’s a shame, but what more should we expect from the NCAA?

Let Them Play.