re: Is it better to go deep in the NIT or lose in first round of NCAA's

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It depends on the team and the situation.

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Nah. Not now. And I'm not even sure the date would suggest it ever really did. Maybe back in day when the tourney was only like 16 or 32 teams and the NIT wasn't looked like the red-headed step-child. I have watched college basketball since the late(ish)80s, and I am pretty confident I have never watched a non-LSU NIT game and could not name 1 team that won the tournament in 35 years. As a huge sports fan, I'm sure I've known who won it every year through reading about it in the paper or seeing it on Sportscenter, but it's in 1 ear and out the other.

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For LSU this year, I would take 2-3 games in the NIT over a first round bounce in the NCAA. Guving this team some playoff exposure would be a strong benefit.

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No. Just no. "This team" is not gonna next year's team. Nothing gained will carry over to next year when it's gonna mostly a completely different group of guys. And the NIT is not the "playoff," and there is basically zero exposure. The lowest rated NCAA tourney game will get more eyeballs than the NIT championship game. And there are literally zero players on LSU--or any team--that would trade getting the exposure of playing in the NCAA tourney--even if bounced by 50--over winning the NIT.

Now, can making the NIT be somewhat beneficial? Yes, but not in the way you're talking. Maybe in a coach's 1st or 2nd year in which they've shown marked improvement over the previous season, that might be able to be used as a sign of where the program could be growing and help recruiting. But not much. And literally less now than ever before.

That said, if you're gonna play in it, may as well try to win it. I'll be watching LSU if they're in and for however long they are. But as soon as the last second ticks off and the buzzer sounds to ends my team's season, I'm out. Like almost everyone else.