Column: You can say the NIT is meaningless, but it meant plenty for Bradley

PEORIA, Ill. - Earlier this week, former basketball coach and current ESPN analyst Tom Crean spoke his mind during the NIT selection show.

"Get your players on the floor and give them a chance to get better," Crean said of the NIT. "Give your players and coaches a chance to keep coaching and playing."

He’s right.

Call it what you want, the Not Invited Tournament or No Invitation Tourney, but there’s still a championship to win, even if the tournament itself has lost some luster.

You couldn’t tarnish that luster in Peoria.

Braves head coach Brian Wardle tried his best to say this was for the Peoria community. That the once active rivalry between Loyola and Bradley had nothing to do with Wednesday. 

Bradley, having put Loyola away with a long lob for an reverse layup, opened the flood gates of fans telling us otherwise. The Braves faithful chanted "M-V-C, M-V-C, M-V-C" into the evening air at Carver Arena.

With so much on the line, and the stakes already high with March college basketball, Bradley got one last haymaker at Loyola with a 72-64 win.

I know Wardle said it wasn’t about Loyola. He can say that all he wants to try and quiet the back-and-forth trash talking on social media and more. 

"It wasn't about Loyola, it wasn't as much as our fans and media liked to make it," Wardle said. "It was about our city and playing for our city."

I understand the sentiment. But, the fans were making it about Loyola. Therefore, it was very much so about Loyola and getting one up on the Ramblers.

Literally everyone said otherwise.

This one meant a little more to Bradley. The team that created a MVC rivalry and left for the Atlantic-10 seeking multi-bid leagues and bigger games came to Peoria for one more go. No, scratch that, it meant a lot more to the Braves. They wanted to throw it back in Loyola’s face.

The last time these two played was on March 6, 2022. Loyola ended Bradley’s season and rode off into the sunset, winning the MVC Tournament title and a NCAA Tournament berth before riding off to the A-10 for a different set of adventures.

The crowd told everyone, and so did the players. 

Darius Hannah said it. 

"You never know when we'll see Loyola again. And obviously we got them in NIT," Hannah said. "It was a chance to get our revenge."

So did Malevy Leons.

"Bradley's always a rivalry," Leons said. "You can feel the history behind it."

This was about bragging rights. This was about the last laugh. Did Bradley ever get that.

Loyola’s second season in the Atlantic-10 was one to remember. Ramblers coach Drew Valentine said this year will be remembered as a two-banner year: One for the Atlantic-10 regular season title and another for its NIT berth.

Undoubtedly it would have meant more if Loyola was able to run the NIT table and win a NIT championship. But, as Valentine said, there was some funky stuff. Duke Deen as hitting off-balance shots and the Ramblers were making uncharacteristic mistakes.

Bradley enjoyed the funk. The crowd fed into it. 

Now, Bradley will move on and play for a championship. The Braves will face either San Francisco or Cincinnati. Loyola goes home.

The Ramblers need to figure plenty out, such as who leads in Braden Norris’ place? Valentine said he wants it to be Des Watson, but that’s also something that needs to happen naturally.

That’s something that Loyola needs to figure out as Valentine heads into his fourth season. He’ll have an entire season to reflect on as he’s undoubtedly the right person to lead Loyola into the future of its program.

He can take a page out of Bradley’s book.

"I told coach Wardle before the game," Valentine said, "Just seeing what he's been able to build here, the consistency. Even in this generation where's he's lost high-level guys and he's continued to recruit and evaluate."

Loyola shouldn’t look back, either. They left the Missouri Valley Conference behind and have much brighter days ahead.

But, for Bradley, the Braves will rightfully remember this for a long, long time.

"It felt pretty good to send them home," Hannah said. "Especially here at Carver."