Irvine is a fun team to watch. They stayed composed even when they were down big in the first half. They are disciplined, confident and well coached. I sure hope they can bring the title home.

Can't disagree but it was no fun watching those guys beat the Aggies

Chattanooga beat Loyola of Chicago 80-73 and will play Irvine for the NIT title at 6 pm on Thursday.

Nuts, I won't be able to watch the game live, because I need to help my brother in law. Plus the Warriors-Lakers game starts onky an hour after the NIT final.

Chattanooga 38 Irvine 37 at the half. Good basketball by both teams. Myles Che played his freshman year at Chatty before transferring to Irvine.

Overtime, but not without controversy.

Horrible foul called on Myles Che when the Chatty player kicked his leg out to the side while shooting a 3 and hit Che who was running by him and Che got called for a 3 point foul.
The Chatty player made all 3 FT's to take 2 point lead with 16 seconds to go in the game. Luckily, Che got fouled shooting a 3 with 13 seconds to go and tied up the game.

Man, Irvine had what amounted to a layup to win in at the buzzer and the guy missed. Man that hurts.

Chatty wins 85-84 in OT. God, what a heartbreaking way to lose. Jurian Dixon had a wide open, point blank shot at the buzzer but he didn't use the backboard and missed it. I feel sorry for the young man.

Can't believe Irvine missed 13 free throws, many of them in OT. They had this one and messed it up. I think they only lose Tillis and Leutchen from this year's team. They've got a lot of talent returning (assuming no one transfers) and with the Tritons losing their head coach and three key starters, Ihave to think the Anteaters will be in the NCAAs next year.

Eric Olen's contract at New Mexico is pretty sweet. I wonder if we'll be paying Les any more once we begin play in the MWC in 2026? He'd probably be the lowest paid head coach in the league with the contract that he currently has.

Olen’s contract is worth $6.5 million over five years, starting at $1.2 million for 2025-26, or nearly three times what he made at UCSD.

There’s also a $30,000 moving allowance, a country club membership and a courtesy car, plus numerous performance bonuses that would add another $100,000 for a season similar to what UCSD just had.

New Mexico received a reported $375,000 buyout from Pitino’s departure to Xavier but protected itself much more in case Olen becomes the object of someone else’s eye. It would cost $2.65 million if he left in year one, just over $2 million in year two.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/04/04/red-dawn-coach-eric-olen-settles-in-at-new-mexico-after-21-years-at-ucsd/

It seems like the most appropriate matchup for the national championship in this day of NIL and rampant transfers would have been Auburn v Houston - two coaches with very checkered backgrounds when it comes to NCAA violations

I didn't expect to see Myles Che to enter the portal after that great run by Irvine. I'm sure his NIL stock has gone way up. He played at Chattanooga last year.

that is surprising. He would have been their primary scorer next season.

I wonder if he consulted Bryce Pope on this decision?