Vanderbilt, after failing to receive a bid to either the NCAA Tournament or the National Invitational Tournament, ended its season by declining an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational, the Tennessean reports.
The Commodores (19-12, 8-8 Southeastern Conference) were not expected to get a bid for the NCAAs but deemed the NIT a possibility after ending the season with seven wins in their final 10 regular season games. They hurt their cause when they were bounced in the first round of the SEC Tournament by Alabama, 82-75.
The College Basketball Invitational is a 16-team tournament that was begun two years ago. Vanderbilt vice-chancellor David Williams said the university declined the invitation because it requires teams to pay a sum of money to be a host in the tournament.
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This marks the first time since 2003 that the Commodores will not be participating in the postseason, when they went 11-18, the only losing season Vanderbilt has had under coach Kevin Stallings.
The SEC sent three teams to the NCAA Tournament: regular-season champion LSU, tournament champion Mississippi State and Tennessee. Four teams received NIT bids: Auburn, Florida, South Carolina and Kentucky. The Tigers and Gators received No. 1 seeds after barely missing out on the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky had its 17-year NCAA bid streak snapped after losing five of its final six games.
