LAS VEGAS — Washington State bowed out of the Pac-12 tournament in the quarterfinal round, but the Cougars have reason to believe their season will continue.
The Cougars (17-16), who won seven consecutive games before falling 75-70 to Oregon on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena, like their chances of qualifying for the NIT.
“We played an incredibly tough schedule in nonconference, and I’d like to think, with our NET, we would be in good shape,” WSU coach Kyle Smith said. “Finishing fifth in a Power Five league — being the fifth-place team in a really good league — I think our odds would be good.”
The NIT bracket will be revealed Sunday during a postseason selection show.
“We’re going to prepare as if we are (in), for sure,” Smith said. “Hopefully, we find out where we’ll be playing on Sunday.”
WSU entered the day at No. 69 in the NCAA’s NET rankings and No. 56 on KenPom.com’s national rankings.
The Barking Crow, an NIT bracketology site, had the Cougars in the field as of Thursday morning. John Templon, an NIT bracketologist, “has us as a likely (qualifier),” according to Smith.
“So, we’re hopeful,” Smith added.
WSU played the 28th-hardest schedule in the nation, per KenPom’s metrics. The Cougars were competitive throughout the season. They beat No. 8 Arizona in Tucson, went toe-to-toe with seventh-ranked Baylor and fell by one point at home to No. 2 UCLA in a game that WSU led for more than 35 minutes. The Cougars collected wins over Oregon, USC and Arizona State — ranked No. 47, 48 and 65, respectively, in the NET.
WSU compiled an 11-9 record in Pac-12 play for its second consecutive winning season. The Cougars also went 11-9 against conference opponents last season and earned a bid to the NIT after losing to UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals.
WSU beat Santa Clara, SMU and BYU to earn a trip to Madison Square Garden. The Cougars lost to Texas A&M in the NIT semifinals.
“We had good success last year,” Smith said.