Jags Basketball Is Waiting To See If Season May Be Extended
The South Alabama’s basketball team’s season may not be over just yet. There is a chance the Jags could play in one of the other postseason tournaments that are held.
The NCAA Tournament is the tournament that all the teams want to invited to, but the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and CollegeInsider.com Tournaments will invite a total of 80 teams to participate in their tournaments.
Also, if the school is invited to participate in one of the tournaments, the school could turn down the opportunity. Some tournaments are on a ‘buy in’ basis so Athletics Director Joel Erdmann said that the decision to participate in one would be made “in the best interest of the program” on several occasions when asked.
Meanwhile, the school is preparing to conduction an national search for the head coaching position that is currently held by interim head coach Jeff Price after Ronnie Arrow announced his retirement back in December.
Price is on the list to be considered for the position and hopes to get a chance to extend the season a little longer. “I think anytime your program has the opportunity to play int he postseason, regardless of what tournament that might be in, it’s something you want to do,” Price said to AL.com. “It’s good for the players and the experience, it’s good for recruiting and I think it’s good for the program. I’m definitely hopeful we’ll get a chance to play again.”
The Sun Belt tournament continues to be a tough conference for high-seeded teams. The Jags, a #3 seed in the tournament, fell to #6 seeded Western Kentucky who then defeated #2 seeded Arkansas State to get into the Sun Belt Championship Game.
The #1 seeded Middle Tennessee State was upset by #4 seeded Florida International in the quarterfinals to earn the right to face Western Kentucky.
Last night, in the championship game, the Hilltoppers held on in a close game all night to earn their second consecutive Sun Belt Championship and their second consecutive NCAA Tournament trip. This leaves Middle Tennessee State ‘On the bubble’ for the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Raiders are hoping for an at-large invitation to the tournament.