Settling for a different kind of ?nal four

For a traditional basketball powerhouse like North Carolina, March is as much a mainstay as it is a month.

But as is sometimes the case with things in all walks of life, the path that unfolds ahead is difficult and unpredictable.

The trip to the National Invitation Tournament marks UNC’s second appearance since 1974 — when a conference crown was still a prerequisite to an NCAA Tournament bid.

Even then, the Tar Heels were 22-6, and playing in the NIT for the fourth time in five seasons, with the lone exception resulting in a trip to the Final Four in 1972.

But times have changed.

And though the NIT isn’t quite what North Carolina envisioned at the end of their road to the Final Four this year, its season has proven how valuable the tournament can be.

The nation’s oldest tournament, long considered an afterthought of NCAA superiority, is steeped in tradition that is often ignored.

Let’s face it, few teams particularly want to play in the NIT.

These days, the tournament is often a reminder of a team’s struggles, rather than its successes — especially for teams like North Carolina. Nevertheless, its importance to college basketball is paramount and in peril.

The NCAA Tournament has implemented expansion a number of times since 1951, largely as a means to prosper. The NIT has often followed suit, solely as a means to survive.

Though it’s tough to find a silver lining in the Tar Heels’ appearance there, it would be superficial to ignore the significance of the tournament in general.

While the NIT has financial motives, to be sure, it is a tournament that puts basketball, and its fans, first. When interest in the event waned during the ’70s, Peter A. Carlesimo decided to move the tournament’s opening rounds to campus sites and local arenas around the country.

That format survives today and is careful not to diminish the tradition of the NIT’s association with Madison Square Garden, the venue that has hosted the tournament’s final four since its inception.

Teams like the Tar Heels — who have shown significant vitality following an otherwise mundane regular season — have used tournament success as a springboard into the following season.

Fourteen teams have followed an appearance in the NIT final four with an appearance in the NCAA Final Four — five have won a national title.

And while a turnaround of that magnitude is certainly unforeseeable, the Tar Heels are making better strides at the Garden than they would be at Fetzer.

For one team or another, it happens every year, and there’s something to be said for that.

In an era where March Madness is synonymous with title sponsors, advertisements and pregame analysis, a tournament that’s about basketball can be a welcome reprieve.

So, no. If you’re a Tar Heel basketball fan, the NIT isn’t what you really wanted. But it is what you’ve got.

Not only is the team still playing, but they’re looking a lot better doing it.

And I’ll bet the NIT ain’t looking so bad, either. Is it?



Contact Brandon Staton at bkstaton@email.unc.edu.