Frank Martin: It’s NIT or nothing for South Carolina

It’s the NIT or nothing for South Carolina.

Coach Frank Martin offered USC’s postseason options Thursday following the Gamecocks’ loss to Arkansas in the second round of the SEC tournament.

“If the NIT invites us, we’ve signed the paperwork, we’ll go,” Martin said. “Outside of that, we’ll stay home. We’re good.”

So eliminate the CBI and CIT for Carolina (17-16). It’s the NIT, the NCAA tournament’s immediate consolation event, Carolina is seeking. The Gamecocks last appeared in the NIT in 2015-16. With 24 wins, they were an easy pick then, the team that had its Big Dance bubble officially popped on Selection Sunday.

Things won’t be that automatic this time around, but Martin has made USC’s case.

Carolina entered Thursday with an RPI of 75. Arkansas had an RPI of 30.

“RPI may get better even though we lost today,” Martin said. “That’s crazy. You lose a game, your RPI gets better. From an RPI standpoint, strength of schedule, good wins, quadrant wins, we’re above .500.

“I know teams with bad RPIs in the 80s with bad losses have gotten in the NIT. We fit the criteria, but it’s not my decision.”

NIT selection committee member Bob Weltlich, who took in games at the Scottrade Center on Thursday, told The State that South Carolina is being considered for the 32-team field.

It’s important to note automatic NIT invites go to teams that won their regular season conference title, but lost in the conference tournament. Middle Tennessee, for example, fell Thursday in the Conference USA tournament. The first-seeded Blue Raiders are 24-7. Should they not get an at-large NCAA tournament bid, they’re guaranteed a spot in the NIT.

“As we speak,” Weltlich said, “we’re watching how many automatic qualifiers we get. That’ll impact some teams that might otherwise have had a chance to be in our tournament.”

The NIT field, which will be revealed late Sunday night, is selected with similar criteria to the NCAA’s field. Teams are evaluated through metrics and quality of wins.

The Gamecocks have three “Quadrant 1” wins – aka home victories vs. teams RPI ranked 1-30, neutral games vs. 1-50 or away games vs. 1–75. Carolina beat Kentucky (RPI 17) and Auburn (8) at home. It won at Florida (36).

NYCBuckets.com, last updated Thursday morning, has USC as a No. 4 seed in its NIT bracket projection.

“It would mean a lot to get a few more games in, especially for (seniors) Wes (Myers) and (Frank) Book(er),” said Carolina sophomore forward Maik Kotsar. “They’ve helped us out a lot this year, and I know that they want to get a few more games in.”

This story was originally published March 9, 2018 at 8:05 AM with the headline "Frank Martin: It’s NIT or nothing for South Carolina."