After invitations to the Big Dance were announced Sunday, about 100 eligible teams were left hoping for a phone call from the Big Apple.

One would think that the best 40 of those remaining would be chosen for the New York-based NIT, but a look at the Ratings Percentage Index rankings suggests otherwise.

Of the 100 teams, the top 29 (according to the RPI) were extended NIT invitations. No. 87 Virginia Commonwealth, which coincidentally lost to Northwestern 78-73 in the two teams’ season opener, was the first eligible team skipped. Ditto for Charleston at No. 88. Nine of the RPI’s next 12 eligible teams were chosen, leaving two spots to round out the 40-team field.

This is where the controversy begins. No. 107 Nevada, No. 108 Pacific and No. 113 East Tennessee State were all skipped over, while No. 114 Wagner was chosen.

Following Wagner, eight straight teams were snubbed – including No. 127 NU – before No. 129 Manhattan was chosen for the final spot. The Jaspers were even given a bye in the first round, although their second-round matchup is against No. 43 Villanova, the top-ranked team in the NIT.

It just so happens that the athletic directors of Wagner and Manhattan are both on the NIT selection committee. In addition, a former Manhattan AD is executive director of the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association, which runs the NIT.

I haven’t seen Manhattan or Wagner play. I had never even heard

of Wagner before Sunday. I do know their respective strength of schedule rankings: 288 and 240. The Jaspers may be 20-8, but they suffered three losses outside the RPI top 200 and another four to teams ranked between No. 100 and No. 200.

NU, in comparison, had a loss to No. 233 Fordham and two other losses outside the top 100.

Wagner, meanwhile, amassed a 19-9 mark picking on teams like No. 296 Long Island, No. 319 Fairleigh Dickinson and No. 321 Mount St. Mary’s while losing twice to No. 209 Quinnipiac.

Those losses to Quinni-whatever weren’t a blow to the Seahawks’ postseason hopes, however. It seems as if the NIT selection committee doesn’t intend to choose the best available teams.

It’s like a club, an in-group of New York schools. They base their non-New York selections on marketing and attendance, although it’s hard to know the exact criteria – John J. Powers, the former Manhattan athletic director who heads the committee, would not return phone calls Monday.

Just based on the statistics, Manhattan and Wagner didn’t deserve to make it ahead of teams like Virginia Commonwealth (20-11, strength of schedule No. 131) or New Mexico State (18-11, 134).

But there isn’t much of a case for NU, either

We assumed the Cats would be chosen based solely on history – no Big Ten team with a winning record has been snubbed since 1984. But this year’s team has little to support its campaign.

NU’s only victory over a top-50 opponent came Feb. 6 over a Michigan State team playing without Marcus Taylor. Fifteen teams that did not make either the NCAA Tournament or NIT this year are ranked ahead of NU in the RPI. The Cats had no momentum going into the postseason after losing their final three regular-season games and a humiliating first-round blowout to lowly Michigan in the Big Ten tournament.

And it’s not as if the Cats’ schedule was so much more difficult than Wagner’s or Manhattan’s. After all, NU beat No. 294 Florida A&M, No. 318 Chicago State and – the icing on the cake – dead-last, No. 324 Liberty.

NU beat Louisiana-Lafayette (19-10), an NIT team, by one point. But the Cats lost by 17 to Arizona State (14-14), another NIT team.

So Cats fans are left clinging to the historical argument. But with the Big Ten as weak as it is this year, it’s no surprise that the nepotistic New York club chose to exclude a fading Big Ten team.