The UCSB men’s basketball team failed to land a spot in the NIT or the College Basketball Invitational Tournament, but will be playing in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, or CIT.
The Gauchos begin play on Wednesday when they travel to the University of Idaho for a 6 p.m. clash.
“The opportunity to go to the postseason is special,” said UCSB head coach Bob Williams. “In 2008, we had a special group that included Al (Alex) Harris, Chris Devine and Ivan (Elliott), they won the regular season title and had to settle for the NIT. It was a great experience. That group wasn’t sure if they wanted to go, but we did, and they had one of the best times of their lives. I hope this experience is great for this group.”
The CIT has been around for four years and has expanded from 24 teams to 32 in 2012.
The Gauchos finished with a 20-10 record and as runner-up in the Big West Tournament. But their RPI was 118 and they didn’t beat a team with a RPI ranking between 1 and 100.
Idaho is 18-13 overall after a third-place finish in the Western Athletic Conference. The two schools haven’t played each other since 2005, when Idaho was a member of the Big West.
Four Pac-12 teams were picked to the 32-team NIT bracket: Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Stanford. Nevada was the other West Coast team to be selected.
In the CBI, Oregon State, Washington State and USF were the West Coast schools named to the 16-team field.
FIRST ROUND CIT MATCHUPS
First Round – Tuesday, March 13 (West Coast times)
Robert Morris at Indiana State, 4:00
Tennessee State at Mercer 4:00
Coastal Carolina at Old Dominion 4:00
Tennessee Tech at Georgia State 6:00
McNeese State at Toledo 6:00
Utah Valley at Weber State 6:00First Round – Wednesday, March 14
Manhattan at Albany 4:00
Yale at Fairfield 4:00
Bowling Green at Oakland 4:00
Buffalo at American 4:30
North Dakota at Drake 5:00
Rice at UL-Lafayette 5:00
UC Santa Barbara at Idaho 7:00
Cal State Bakersfield at Utah State 7:00
Cal State Fullerton at Loyola Marymount 7:00First Round – Thursday, March 15
Kent State at USC Upstate 4:00
