Two totally different things.

The BCS bowls and a few of the other long-time bowls (Sun, Gator, Liberty, etc.) are for the fans and the players.  The rest are largely for the players.  They're supposed to be a reward for a successful season; whether 6-6 or 7-5 is "successful" depends on the team's expectations going into the season.

The NIT/CBI/CIT are mostly for the players.  The NIT is mostly a reward (consolation prize?) for a successful season, although G'town (17-14) and WVU (17-15) probably don't view their seasons as a success.

I can see why some of the bigger schools don't want into the CBI.  Three of the 16 teams have losing records (Siena, Penn St and ODU).  I imagine it's tough for Penn St players to get excited about playing Hampton, or Oregon St to get fired up against Radford.  It's gotta make the fans yawn, too.

At least the CIT doesn't have any losing records this year, although two teams are at .500 (Pacific and San Diego) and a lot of them are just above .500.  Whether it's a reward for a "successful" season again depends on the team's expectations going into the season.  I'd say we had a successful season, though not as successful as we'd liked.  And it's a bit of a reward for our team because they get to suit up again for the home crowd and maybe spit out the bitter taste of the MAC tourney. 

As a fan, I care about them only as long as Ohio is still alive.  Whether any of these tourneys is meaningless depends on how the teams approach them and how they use the extra time on the court available to them.

... a place where the beer flows like wine and the women instinctively flock like the salmon of capistrano...

The BCS Bowls are for the players, fans everyone.  Let's be honest, all the other bowls, all owned by ESPN other than the Sun Bowl, are meant to be TV programming for ESPN, nothing more than that.  That they are an award for the players, teams and their fans is a minor consequence as far as ESPN's concerned.  Their main purpose is programming.  Not that there's anything wrong with that-I love the bowls and enjoy watching most if not all of them. 

So in essence I agree-both the non-BCS bowls and the CIT/CBI are meaningless post-season play.  But that's OK.  If the teams want to go, and us fans want to see them play, I honestly don't see what the problem is.  The fact that they may be "meaningless" as far as determing a national champion doesn't make them any less enjoyable to watch for those so interested in watching or the players so interested in playing them.

A few borrowed quotes regarding decisions to accept or reject CIT bids.

The Yin:   “I sent the club a wire stating, PLEASE ACCEPT MY RESIGNATION. I DON'T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT ME AS A MEMBER.” ― Groucho Marx 

The Yang:  "Champions keep playing until they get it right." ― Billie Jean King

The black and the white:  "There are only two options regarding commitment; you’re either in or you’re out. There’s no such thing as life in-between." ― Pat Riley

Musically speaking:  "Different strokes for different folks." ―Sly & the Family Stone

For what it is worth, any bias communicated is intended as a reflection of my personal opinion on the matter.

on Saturday Bobby Hurley tweeted out a pic of his son dressed head to toe in Duke gear with the caption "March Madness, Hurley Style!". C'mon man, stop reliving your glory days, you're the coach for the Buffalo Bulls, act like it. Later he sent out a tweet saying he's heartbroken his team didn't get to play under the brightest lights.

Good for JC for throwing some shade on this fool.

I bet this will play well in NY after the debacle in Cleveland and the subsequent decline of an invite to a tournament.

How about we just win this damn thing?

Im so confused as to how they decide the 2nd round opponents. Their website has like no info other than saying they use the "old NIT model" of selecting future round opponents. What does this mean? This seems bush league and open to manipulation by whoever runs this tournament

I think we should all be jacked about watching the Cats play one more time! Whether it is the NCAA tourney, CIT, or the Miller's Chicken Invitational break dancing competition/basketball tourney, any chance to watch this great team sounds like a grand idea to me! 

I can see where Buffalo may be coming from.  They didn't win a game in the MAC tourney, then they'd have to compete for public attention with the Sabres plus Syracuse and O$U who both are in Buffalo this week for the second and third rounds of the NCAA tourney.  They wouldn't want to play on the road and if they had a home game against somebody like Norfolk St, nobody would show up for it.  The press might not even be there.  That would be embarrassing.

I'm just glad that our guys can take the floor at the Convo for at least one more game, and against a pretty decent team that people have heard of.  Go Cats!

they knew what they were getting into at EMU.
Why not just play for the enjoyment of the game. Doing what you love, as well as you can.