March Madness is about to officially ensue in earnest, perhaps in more ways than you even realize. In addition to the 2012 NCAA Tournament that kicks off on Tuesday, there is the NIT Tournament for teams that perhaps just missed the bubble for a trip to the dance. In addition to those tournaments, there is also the CBI and the CIT, affording more college teams a chance to experience the postseason beyond their conference tournaments.
There are no Northwest regional teams playing in the CIT, but in case you feel there is not enough basketball this week, we'd like to provide you will the full information on the tournament's opening round.
The College Insider.com Tournament begins on Tuesday. The teams have been announced and the bracket and schedule has been released. Here is your guide to the first-round matchups. The tournament utilizes the old NIT format where there is not a strict bracket, but the subsequent rounds are based on the result of the opening round. All games will be played at host campus sites. All times are Eastern.
TUESDAY MARCH 13
Robert Morris (24-10) @ Indiana State (18-14) 7:00
Tennessee State (20-12) @ Mercer (22-11) 7:00
Coastal Carolina (19-11) @ Old Dominion (20-13) 7:00
Tennessee Tech (19-13) @ Georgia State (21-11) 7:00
McNeese State (17-15) @ Toledo (18-16) 7:00
Utah Valley State (20-12) @ Weber State (24-6) 9:00
WEDNESDAY MARCH 14
Manhattan (20-12) @ Albany (19-14) 7:00
Yale (19-9) @ Fairfield (19-14) 7:00
Bowling Green (16-15) @ Oakland (17-15) 7:00
Buffalo (19-10) @ American (20-11) 7:30
North Dakota (17-14) @ Drake (17-15) 8:00
Rice (17-15) @ UL-Lafayette (16-15) 8:00
UC Santa Barbara (20-10) @ Idaho (18-13) 9:00
Cal State Bakersfield (16-14) @ Utah State (17-15) 10:00
Cal State Fullerton (21-9) @ Loyola Marymount (19-12) 10:00
THURSDAY MARCH 15
Kent State (21-11) @ USC Upstate (20-12) 7:00
You can visit the official tournament website for more information on the CIT.