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The Washington Huskies will again tempt fate on Selection Sunday.
Like last year, the Huskies have a practice scheduled for tonight in anticipation of a postseason invitation.
Last year, UW had no need to take the court when it was snubbed by the NIT.
But this season, despite a worse record (16-16 compared to 19-13 last year), the Huskies’ chances of playing again appear better thanks to the introduction of a new postseason tournament, the College Basketball Invitational.
After the NCAA tournament selects 65 teams and the NIT takes 32, the CBI will invite 16 more (the CBI says it will compete for teams with the NIT, but logically, it will choose from teams left over).
Playing for the right to say “We’re No. 98″ might not seem like much.
But UW coaches and players say they would like to continue their season.
Do the Huskies deserve to keep playing?
“In the conference that we are in, no doubt,” said coach Lorenzo Romar, citing the strength of the Pac-10 this season.
The CBI was formed as a reaction to the NIT reducing its field from 40 to 32 teams after it was taken over by the NCAA. The NIT also now is required to invite all regular-season champions that don’t make the NCAA tournament.

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The National Weather Service on Saturday confirmed that a tornado struck downtown Atlanta on Friday night, damaging the Georgia Dome and forcing the Southeastern Conference tournament to move.
The Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the Atlanta area at 9:26 p.m. ET after radar indicated a storm capable of producing a tornado was located about six miles west of Atlanta. The storm ripped a hole in the roof of the Georgia Dome, delaying Mississippi State’s 69-67 overtime win over Alabama for more than an hour and forcing the SEC to move the remainder of the tournament to the campus of Georgia Tech.
National Weather Service meteorologist Barry Gooden said the tornado in downtown Atlanta produced winds up to 110 miles an hour — making it a strength EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita scale — then grew into an EF2 tornado, which can produce winds up to 135 miles an hour.
Another storm system was expected to pass through the state Saturday, and a tornado watch for much of northern Georgia, including Atlanta, was in place through 7 p.m.
As Mississippi State led 64-61 with 2:11 left in overtime, a loud blast was heard inside the dome. The girders near the dome’s roof began to swing, and a gaping section of the north part of the roof was ripped open, dropping debris that included nuts and bolts.

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The scoreboard far behind the Conseco Fieldhouse basket during Michigan’s Big Ten tournament quarterfinal wasn’t changing.
“It was frustrating; it felt like we didn’t score for like 10 minutes or something,” said Harris, Michigan’s freshman guard. “It was at 44 for so long.”
How long? More than 10 minutes. Twelve missed shots. Three turnovers. That long.
Yet, after Thursday’s game, the ninth-seeded Wolverines were smiling. They had a 55-47 victory over Iowa and a third chance to beat top seed Wisconsin at noon today.
After a season of disappointment and lost leads, Michigan held on Thursday by playing its most impressive defense of the season to supplement Manny Harris’ 19 points.
No. 8 seed Iowa was worse than U-M (10-21), going nearly 16 second-half minutes without a field goal.
Iowa guards Tony Freeman (nine points) and Justin Johnson (five) were shut down all game by the defense. That kept the Hawkeyes’ three-point shot out of play; Iowa (13-19) went 0-for-10 from three-point range after halftime and shot just 20% from the field.
“It doesn’t take a very astute basketball individual to figure out if you go 2-for-17 in three-pointers and struggle from the line, that you would be amazed it’s an eight-point game,” Iowa coach Todd Lickliter said. “I’m surprised it was an eight-point game. (Michigan) got on a run early. We couldn’t stop them. We missed early, and then from there it was fairly even.”

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Bethel beats Northwood 73-41
Even if the halftime scoreboard made it look like a colossal upset was brewing, neither coach was fooled.
Jody Martinez knew his fifth-ranked Bethel team would eventually figure things out.
And, John Thurston, the veteran coach who launched the Northwood University program in West Palm Beach, Fla., two years ago, knew what was left in the tank.
Sure enough, heavily favored Bethel had erased all traces of a 26-25 halftime deficit, dominating the second half while putting up a 73-41 first-round triumph Thursday at the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Championships.
“I knew we’d come out and be able to play on adrenaline,” said Thurston, whose team is just one of two national tournament newcomers in this year’s 32-team field. “When the adrenaline wears off, though, it looks like you don’t have any energy.”
Bethel’s Mid-Central Conference champs, breaking a school record with their 30th win in 33 starts, outscored Northwood 48-15 in the second half.
“We just had a lot of nervous energy that first half,” said Martinez, who had teams reach the quarterfinals here two of the last three years. “We’re a veteran group, our seniors are outstanding. We knew we were going to click eventually.”

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Arkansas senior Vincent Hunter crested his waning basketball career with his first and final Senior Night on Saturday.
He played basketball throughout his high school career, including his senior season, but still never had a Senior Night, he said.
The 23-year-old, fifth-year forward for the Razorbacks was - at the time - J. A. Fair High School’s scoring and rebounding machine, when he led his Little Rock school to the 4 A state tournament finals in 2003.
Before reaching the finals, things were going well. He was averaging a double-double in points and rebounds. Colleges, including the University of Arkansas, were showing recruiting interest.
But then news came that J. A. Fair High would have to forfeit its last five games of the season before the state tournament.
As a result, Hunter never got the chance to stand in the pre-game spotlight and be saluted for his seniority on the hardwood - until Saturday in the Hogs’ final regular season game against Auburn.
His first Senior Day wasn’t the only milestone for Hunter. He also got his third consecutive start of the season, and provided an offensive spark early on, hitting a wideopen 3-pointer with 18: 34 remaining in the first half.

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There may be hope yet for Comcast subscribers who want the Big Ten Network.
According to an online story this week by the SportsBusiness Journal, the two sides have agreed on the framework for a deal that would put the network in the almost 6 million homes Comcast reaches within the eight-state conference region.
The SportsBusiness Journal story warns that a deal “could still be weeks, or even months, away, as lawyers from both sides hammer out the specifics.” But it’s an encouraging sign for viewers who missed scores of football and basketball games due to the negotiating stalemate.
Naturally, both the Big Ten Network and Comcast played coy when asked about a possible deal.
“We cannot respond specifically to the Sports Business Journal story regarding our negotiations with Comcast, other than to say we continue to talk and we continue to make progress,” the Big Ten Network said in a statement. “Other than that, we cannot comment further.”
Comcast, the largest cable provider in West Michigan, was even more vague with its response: “We continue to negotiate with the Big Ten Network for an agreement that is fair for our customers.”
Those statements don’t exactly ring with optimism, but the SportsBusiness Journal claims a deal is at its closest point since the Big Ten Network launched in August.

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Uncertainty surrounding Felton bothering Georgia
Players having trouble concentrating with coach’s job status up in the air
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Athens — As for bleak outlooks, they couldn’t get much more dreary than the one Georgia brings into the Georgia Dome for Thursday’s game against Ole Miss in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
The Bulldogs (13-16, 4-12 SEC) limp in as the last-place team in the East dragging one of the worst records in the league. Losers of 11 of their last 13 games, they’ll be facing an Ole Miss team that just beat them by 14 points on their home court five days ago. They’ll play the last game of the day, one that is scheduled for a 9:45 p.m. start but is more likely to tip around 10:15. A barren arena surely awaits.
In the meantime, a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the entire program. The fate of coach Dennis Felton is being openly debated to the point that he has felt compelled to defend his work, which he did after the regular-season finale last Saturday and again Wednesday at the Georgia Dome.
“As far as I know I’m certain about my future,” Felton told reporters gathered around him after the formal tournament press conference. “I haven’t been told anything about anything I need to do to remain coach at Georgia. I expect to be Georgia’s coach for a long time.”

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