Why North Texas could not host its NIT quarterfinal game

• Ben BabyMar 26, 2025, 04:20 PM ET Close Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He signed up with the business in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for numerous newspapers in Texas, most just recently at The Dallas Early Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A local of Grapevine, Texas, he finished from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an accessory journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Reporters Association (AAJA).

2 opponents have actually bested the North Texas Mean Green males’s basketball group this season. One was an in-state competitor– the other was a staff appreciation lunch.A university-scheduled luncheon required the Mean Green to hit the road for their NIT quarterfinal game versus the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Tuesday, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle.

In spite of NIT looks in 3 previous years, consisting of a 2023 champion win, the university didn’t feel the need to obstruct off the UNT Coliseum, much better called the Super Pit, in case it was needed for postseason play.North Texas

athletic director Jared Mosley informed the Record-Chronicle that the school worked to explore alternative venues however weren’t able to discover any.

“There is no assurance even if the personnel gratitude luncheon could have been moved that we would have been chosen to host due to other planning the NIT does and not knowing if television would have slotted our game for Tuesday or Wednesday,” Mosley said.Here’s a genuinely ridiculous story: North Texas can’t play an NIT quarterfinal game at home since the school set up a faculty luncheon.Don’ t see that in big-time athletics. https://t.co/QHFVH4elua!.?.!— Ben Infant(@Ben_Baby)March 25, 2025 In a statement supplied to ESPN, North Texas also described a dance competition the school

is arranged to host today. However, that

does not begin until Friday. Even if North Texas hosted a game on Wednesday, there still would have been 2 days to set up and prepare for the American Dance and Drill Group champion at the Super Pit.It appeared to be a considered that had the two-seed Mean Green advanced to the quarterfinals, they were going to host the quarterfinal game on campus because the then-top-seeded SMU Mustangs were removed. However just before North Texas’win versus Arkansas State on Sunday, the scheduling conflict was reported, which indicated the win against the Red Wolves was the final home game of the season. The NIT semifinals and finals are at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse.It’s not simply the guys that have actually been inconvenienced– the females’s team is among 16 left in the WNIT. Second-year coach Jason Burton also spoke out about the scheduling problems. “We got ta get to the point

where we obstruct it off,”Burton said after the team’s win on Monday.”Due to the fact that the males need to be playing at home. We should have the opportunity to play at home in these competitions.

“Editor’s Picks This isn’t the very first time a basketball

team hasn’t been

able to use its home arena in the NIT. Illinois was unable to host an NIT game in 2010 since Cirque du Soleil was in town. More just recently, NYU’s men’s and women’s teams are trading court use in the Department III tournament.The Illinois scenario is more suitable in this instance. However even then, there is a bit of

extra context required. For a team in a Power 4 conference that typically gets a variety of at-large quotes into the NCAA tournament, hosting an NIT game isn’t going to be a leading priority. For mid-majors such as North Texas, however, the only hope of reaching the Huge Dance rests on winning their conference tournament. Otherwise, the NIT is one of the most distinguished postseason choice available.The absence of home-court benefit didn’t wind up harming North Texas in the NIT. The Mean Green survived a late resurgence to beat Oklahoma State on Tuesday night 61-59. Guard Atin Wright led North Texas with 15 points in the win.Scheduling issues will now also be another coach’s issue. After two successful years at North Texas, guys’s coach Ross Hodge is set to take the vacancy at West Virginia, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello on Wednesday. He is set to take over after North Texas concludes its run in the NIT. The Mean Green will deal with UAB or UC Irvine in the NIT semifinals on April 1. Hopefully Hodge doesn’t need to fret about dining tables interrupting his schedule in Morgantown next season.