It came as a bit of a surprise only hours after it was announced that Mike White would be leaving the Florida Gators for the Georgia Bulldogs but when the National Invitational Tournament bracket was announced, the Gators were in it.
Even before it was known that White would be leaving, there was conversation about whether the Gators would accept an invitation to the NIT. When it comes to teams that are used to being in the NCAA Tournament, NIT invitations are often rejected, especially when they have more veteran teams. Some programs that are loaded with young players choose to play in the NIT in order to get more experience, but that isn’t exactly the case for the Gators who are loaded with 4th, 5th, and 6th year players.