Women's NIT

I had assumed Michigan was almost a lock for the Women's NIT - a winning record from a BCS conference, some wins against good teams (Purdue, Kentucky, Iowa, USC), no losses to (Penn State on the road is probably their "worst" loss), etc. When I visited the web site for the tournament however, I noticed their selection criteria is a bit different:

The selection of the 48 teams for the Postseason WNIT will be according to the following:

1. Thirty-one (31) spots will be filled with one team per conference. That team will be the highest-finishing team in the conference’s regular-season standings, that does not advance to the NCAA Tournament. As in the past, the teams’ record must be at or above .500.
For example, if the second-place team during the regular season does not win its conference tournament, and the top-seeded team does (and earns the NCAA berth), then the second-place team automatically will be invited to the WNIT.
If the top-seeded team after the regular season does not win its conference tournament and is not invited to the NCAA Tournament, then it will have a guaranteed spot in the WNIT.
No matter which team from a conference wins its conference tournament, the WNIT will take the next best team available. That team is determined by conference tournament seeding based on regular-season standings (or by a conference’s pre-determined by-law addressing its WNIT automatic berth).
2. The remaining seventeen (17) berths will be filled by the top teams available based on the selection criteria used in the past.

Michigan will be competing for one o f 17 slots - the Big Ten will have probably get 3 or 4 NCAA bids, plus one NIT bid (the highest seed not getting an NCAA bid). If the NCAA takes Purdue, Iowa, Ohio State and Minnesota, Michigan State would get the "automatic" NIT bid. That would leave Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin & Illinois competing for one of 17 bid. On the bright side, most of those bids will probably go to BCS conferences.