Stanford Men's Basketball: The Cardinal miss out on the 2016 NIT

Update: Stanford has reportedly fired coach Johnny Dawkins after 8 seasons, per reports.

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The 2016 NIT bracket is set, and the defending NIT Champions are nowhere to be found. For those wondering or perhaps worrying, if Johnny Dawkins could rally the Stanford Men's basketball team to a tournament run that could impact his job status, the NIT will not be that tournament. No one expected Stanford to receive an invite to March Madness, but they were still a bubble team for the NIT. Tonight, that bubble officially burst.

Stanford finished 15-15 this season and 8-10 in a loaded Pac-12 Conference. Stanford was able to pull off wins against several teams selected for the 2016 NCAA Tournament including Conference champion and #1 seed Oregon, as well as Utah, Cal, and USC but the Cardinal was just too inconsistent and mediocre to overcome injuries, suspensions, and a tough schedule. Stanford really fell apart in their final three games. The Cardinal suffered a ten point loss to Arizona State, followed by a 32 point loss to Arizona in the final contest of the regular season before wrapping up with a 23 point loss to the Washington Huskies in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.

A large and growing contingent of Stanford basketball fans have been calling for a change at coach. Not even competing in the NIT may only serve to bolster those voices. Among those calling for a change is one of our own writers:

"This season, Stanford went 15-15 counting the conference tourney loss. Now I understand that Stanford was playing arguably the TOUGHEST schedule in the country. Stanford had played 10 games against teams currently ranked in the top-25 and had played others who were ranked at one point or another this season. Stanford had a rash of injuries as well so the depth of the team didn't help itself when needed against the better teams. That still isn't good enough even with all of the outs and excuses, this wasn't the first or second or even third bad year Dawkins has had on the Farm. Half of his time has been spent in mediocrity."

There are still opportunities for Stanford to continue their season if they receive an invite to either the CBI or the Vegas 16 tournaments.