Sure, the Commodore men could have extended their season and tried to close out the campaign on a winning note. But was it really worth paying an estimated $60,000 out of the team's budget just to play a few games against the likes of Vermont, Troy and UTEP?
If this team wants to get better, they would be much better served spending the off-season in the gym working together as a team. A few more games would not have made much of a difference in the grand scheme of things and possibly could have even hurt the team more.
The College Basketball Invitational is a brand new, third-tier tournament that is just another attempt at bringing in more money to the system. While it is definitely possible in looking at the field that the Commodores could have won the whole thing, this team is embarrassed enough to have not even made the NIT.
From what I have been told, this was Coach Stallings' decision, and his team supports it. Hopefully, watching both the NCAA Tournament and the NIT from the couch will fuel the fire for this young team in order to inspire them to never let this happen again.
To some, an invitation to the CBI could even be seen as an insult, the kind of tournament possibly thought up by the same people who hand out last-place trophies in youth leagues so that no one feels left out.
This is a very young, very talented team, but at times they looked like they were lacking any true direction. But I can guarantee that this disappointing season will make them all the more hungry throughout the off-season.
With the entire squad returning (pending, of course, A.J. Ogilvy's decision as to whether or not to test the waters of the NBA Draft), none of these players will want to feel like this ever again.
For the average sports fan, watching March Madness all day is one of the highlights of the spring. But for a team forced to wonder what could have been, nothing is more painful than watching others play in your place.
Besides, who wants to show off their collection of last-place trophies?
