I think we're in the NIT. We'd better be, or we're pulling out of this league tomorrow. I know we've done enough. We'll look forward to that call Sunday night.

We didn't want to be back in the NIT, and I think we proved to everybody that we should have been in the NCAA tournament.

I think Alabama said in the second half, 'No more letting him catch it. Let's make it hard for him to get it in there. Boy, we didn't get a lot done with the other players when we needed to.

We feel like he can be a starter in this league, and we don't feel like there's much lost if one our linebackers goes down because of his versatility.

I don't think anybody goes into the season and says, 'Hey, we want to make the NIT,' but it's still a mark of progress. It's still something to build off.

I think everybody was disappointed Friday. I don't ever want this program to be satisfied playing in the NIT. That is not our goal. But the NIT is a great tournament, the longest running tournament in college basketball. We're excited to be playing in it. There is always a positive in everything and the positive in this is that we get to play at home again.