YALE at VMI, 7:00 PM Eastern, CBS-Sports Network
We have reached April, and not only is the NCAA tournament down to its Final Four, but so is the CIT. The semifinals will be played tonight, nationally televised on CBS Sports Network. The late game (9:00 PM Eastern) will feature the Pacific Tigers traveling to Kentucky to take on the Murray State Racers. However, our game of the day comes from Cameron Hall in Lexington, Virginia as the VMI Keydets out of the Big South conference host the Ivy League’s Yale Bulldogs.
Yale was the second place finisher in the Ivy League this season, and following three wins in the CIT so far is now sitting at 18-13 overall on the season. The Bulldogs run to the CIT semifinals has been by far their best postseason showing ever. Prior to this year, Yale in fact only had one postseason win to its program’s credit, a first round win in the NIT back in 2002. After surviving a battle with Ivy League mate Columbia in the quarterfinals, the Bulldogs look tonight to advance to their first ever championship game in a national postseason tournament.
VMI is also looking to extend its season tonight. The Keydets three CIT wins have brought their overall record to 22-12. They play an exciting fast-paced brand of basketball that gives them a good chance to score in the triple digits every time out. VMI’s appearance in the CIT this season was the first postseason berth for the school since its last NCAA appearance in 1977. Of course, VMI had a couple of pretty good teams back in the mid-70s, including their 1976 team that lost to Rutgers in the East Regional final. Since 1977, however, this has clearly been the Keydets most successful season and, like Yale, they want nothing more than to keep winning and have a chance to hang that championship banner with wins both tonight and on Thursday night in the title game.