(please note the canned excitement and begrudging smiles on the faces of the "champions" accompanying this post)

You're delusional or high on that "sweet" NIT nectar if you really believe that winning the NIT is at all noteworthy.
I'm glad you enjoyed this run, but winning the NIT is still unimportant. Cornley is a good player...and so are Battle, Pringle and others, but don't kid yourselves- outside of the PSU family, this "tournament" run was unimportant. In all honesty, I didn't even know the NIT was still going on until I saw some of the celebratory posts by the PSU faithful this evening...and I love college basketball (especially when it counts).

Even big sports fans don't care about the NIT because they understand how watered-down a championship (in name only) from this tournament is. I think it can be fairly argued that a pre-conference NIT championship is more important to a program than the post-season post-season variety.
There are teams that might benefit from such a run- young teams that are trying to get their legs under them might learn what it takes to be a champ from this tournament played in the gaps left by the NCAA tourney...in theory.

But, outside of Memphis and Wake Forest, no programs have gone on to "greatness" the next season because of the momentum, knowledge or team unity gained in this tournament. In fact, NIT championships for Michigan did little more than stunt the growth of their program and push them to set the bar ever-lower.
Penn State did belong in the real tournament more than many teams that got in, PSU was a good team in '08/'09. That said, the last few victories don't help this team's resume or their legacy to the world outside of State College, PA. In fact, they might even cheapen the quality wins versus MSU, Purdue and others that occurred when something was actually on the line and all parties were playing as if their lives depended on it.

I've even heard some of you say only two teams end their seasons "victorious" as champions...not true...there are two more unimportant tournaments below this one- the CBI and CIPT...and those two tourney "champs" whomever they are, have also "earned" banners for their schools that should never see the light of arena rafters.

But hooray for PSU, I guess! Their championship tonight goes in the same trophy case as Purdue's extremely-important Sun Bowl and Motor City Bowl trophies.

Yeh for mediocrity.

(By the way, if you're offended by this, you're precisely whom I'm talking to and about...if not, this post isn't directed at you.)