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?

Several good BW players who were in the portal have committed to new schools:

Myles Che - UC Irvine to UNLV
Nordin Kapic - UC San Diego to South Carolina
Joel Armotrading - UC Riverside to Nevada

Former Aggie, Gus Argenal, is one of 4 finalists for the head coaching job at Riverside:

Gus Argenal, Current Head Coach at Cal State San Bernardino - Gus is right there in Riverside’s sister city of San Bernardino. Argenal’s name likely sounds familiar because he had great success as one of Eric Musselman’s trusted assistants at both Arkansas and Nevada. During that period, Argenal was a key part of seven NCAA Tournament teams, reaching the 2022 Elite Eight with the Razorbacks and two Sweet 16s. He has spent the past two years at CSUSB, guiding the D2 Coyotes to an impressive run back to the D2 Final Four in 2023-24 in his first season. An amazing achievement on the heels of Andy Newman leaving for Cal State Northridge the year prior, which left Argenal the tall task of reloading the roster.. Argenal continued his success at CSUSB by getting back to the 2025 D2 NCAAT, before exiting in the Round of 32.

https://bracketeer.org/inside-college-hoops/2025/4/21/uc-riverside-a-uniquely-complex-head-coaching-search

It looks like former Riverside head coach, Mike Magpayo, may have stepped into a mess as the head coach now at Fordham:

NEW YORK -- Fordham men's basketball must vacate wins across two seasons and former coach Keith Urgo was hit with a two-year show cause under NCAA sanctions for recruiting violations.

The Rams were placed on three years of probation and must vacate 41 wins over the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons for impermissible benefits during recruiting visits. The program also was fined $35,000 plus 2% of the men's basketball budget.

Former director of basketball operations Trevonn Morton was hit with a three-year show cause for misleading NCAA investigators and former athletic director Edward Kull was hit with a one-year show cause.

Fordham said in a statement it cooperated with the NCAA Committee on Infractions and self-imposed sanctions prior to completion of the investigation.

The improper benefits included a photo shoot at Times Square, jet ski rentals and tickets to New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and New York Giants games.

Urgo was fired on March 20 following the Rams' second straight losing season and a last-place finish in the Atlantic 10.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/fordham-basketball-hit-with-sanctions-for-recruiting-violations/ar-AA1DzC1K?ocid=BingNewsSerp