5 Reasons Why You Can’t Dismiss the CBI

There is a good chance you haven’t even heard of my second favorite (out of three) college basketball postseason tournament. One reason is that it hasn’t really been publicized at all and another reason is because most people just groan when here that there is a third opportunity for mediocre teams to prolong their seasons. But the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is here and hopefully its here to stay. Its put on by the Gazelle Group - the same group that brought us the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic (see: Gardner Webb over Kentucky) and the O’Reilly Autoparts Classic - and I’m going to give you 5 reasons why you should give it a shot.

Ok here goes:

5. Bill “Onions” Raftery and Brent “Zzzzzz” Musberger do 0% of the play-by-play! Neither the NCAA tournament or the NIT can make such a glorious claim.

4. You know the competition in the CBI must be top-notch when an SEC team like Alabama declines an invitation because they want to preserve their winning record (17-16). I’m not making that up, it is one of the top reasons for the declining of the invite that is coming out of Tuscaloosa.

3. Every game of this tournament is played on the home court of the higher seed. There are four regions and four teams per region. For the final four the teams are reseeded. This way they can still play the semifinal games at the home of the higher seeds. Postseason basketball should still feel like basketball. The way the NCAA has sold out and decided to play the regional championship games in gigantic football stadiums to make as much money as possible ruins the atmosphere. The CBI creates a great atmosphere.

2. The more postseason play, the better. I don’t know why everybody is against more basketball. Once the season is over there is a pretty slow period for sports. I mean come on, the MLB is just starting up but their season lasts forever so the first month of the season means nothing. The NHL playoffs are going on - yes America there is such a thing as the NHL, its a hockey league. The MLS is in season and David Beckham will probably get hurt so there goes the only reason to watch that. The NBA playoffs are starting up but if you are a basketball fan then this means nothing to you. Maybe the finals will be a little entertaining if they decide to try this year. So my point is, its not a bad idea to cram a ton of basketball into the month of March and the first week of April. Plus 16 more teams get to experience the postseason. This could mean a lot to a senior on a team that didn’t get to the postseason for his whole career.

1. The championship is a best of three series. I repeat a best of three series! First game at the higher seed, second game at lower seed, and if needed a third game at the home of the higher seed. This is one of the best things I have ever heard of. This is how championships are won in the NBA and I love the idea of a championship series in college hoops. Like I said in reason number 3, this allows for these games to actually feel like basketball games. Student sections, pep bands, and elderly boosters screaming their lungs out are all things that are lost in the NCAA championship but not in the CBI championship.

In conclusion, give the CBI a shot.

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