I could spend the remainder of my life pondering this, and probably not get an answer: Why does anyone give a poop about the NIT anymore? It was one thing when the NCAA tourney field was much smaller and it was legitimately a rival tournament. Now, it's just about competing for the right to be the 66th best team in the country.
Now, to be truly accurate, 66th best probably isn't fair. The NIT champ is probably a better team than at least 30 teams that made the NCAA tournament. Still, though, I don't get it.