While the NCAA Tournament First Four begins tonight, we also see the NIT and CIT get underway as well – the CBI will begin on Saturday in Daytona Beach.
NIT (all times Eastern)
XAVIER AT GEORGIA – 7:00 PM (ESPN). Both teams were probably the biggest beneficiaries of teams passing up the NIT; Georgia finished their season 17-16 overall and Xavier finished 16-17. However, this game still has a place in the annals of ESPN’s Rivalry Week from back in 2011:
NORTH TEXAS AT LSU – 7:00 PM (SEC Network). North Texas begins the somewhat dubious task of looking to defend their 2023 NIT Championship that they won at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas against UAB last season. LSU comes into tonight off of a 1-1 performance in the SEC Tournament with a win against Missouri and a loss against Florida.
BOSTON COLLEGE AT PROVIDENCE – 7:00 PM (ESPNU). This is a renewal of a one-time Big East regional rivalry; Boston College is coming off of a win against Clemson in the ACC Tournament and a near-victory against Virginia in the quarterfinal round. Providence beat Creighton in the quarterfinal round before losing to Marquette to close out their regular season.
CORNELL AT OHIO STATE – 7:00 PM (ESPN2). Notable here is that Jake Diebler will become the permanent head coach for the Buckeyes after reviving what had been a floundering team during the regular season under Chris Holtmann’s direction. Cornell is coming off of a loss on Saturday in the Ivy League Tournament against Yale.
SOUTH FLORIDA AT CENTRAL FLORIDA – 9:00 PM (ESPN+). South Florida had been blazing hot since a win at Memphis back in mid-January, but the Bulls finally ran out of gas after a loss at Tulsa to end the regular season along with a loss to UAB in the American Conference semifinals. Central Florida scored an upset victory at home against Kansas and on the road at Texas in their inaugural Big 12 season.
RICHMOND AT VIRGINIA TECH – 9:00 PM (ESPN2). Richmond actually tied for the regular season crown in the Atlantic 10 above Dayton, but a loss to Saint Joseph’s in their A-10 tournament opener doomed the Spiders and eliminated them from NCAA Tournament contention. Virginia Tech was largely a homecourt hero in the ACC this year; their best performance this season was a 75-41 victory against in-state rival Virginia.
MINNESOTA AT BUTLER – 9:00 PM (ESPNU). Butler would love nothing more than to make the Final Four of the NIT this year as Hinkle Fieldhouse will be hosting both the semifinals and championship of the 2024 NIT. Minnesota comes in improved from last year’s finish in the Big 10 basement.
KANSAS STATE AT IOWA – 9:00 PM (ESPN). The Hawkeyes ended their regular season with wins against Wisconsin at home and Michigan State/Northwestern on the road, but losses to Illinois at home and against Ohio State in the Big 10 Tournament killed whatever remote chance they had of sneaking into the NCAA Tournament field.
UC-IRVINE AT UTAH – 11:00 PM (ESPN2). Even though there were no automatic bids awarded to UTR conferences, the Anteaters still managed to get selected to this year’s NIT and will travel to face a Utah team that badly floundered in the second half of Pac-12 play this season. As for Utah, their high-water mark in the regular season was a season sweep of UCLA that included a 90-44 drubbing of the Bruins at home back in January.
CIT (all times Eastern)
TEXAS SOUTHERN AT TARLETON STATE – 7:00 PM (ESPN+). Tarleton managed to finish in second place in the WAC behind Grand Canyon and ended up losing in the semifinals of their conference tournament against UT-Arlington. Texas Southern lost in the SWAC Championship against Grambling (a team that will appear in their first NCAA Tournament in the First Four).
ABILENE CHRISTIAN AT TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI – 9:00 PM ET (ESPN+). TAMU-CC was one of the few teams that managed to be competitive against McNeese in the Southland Conference this season; the Islanders blew a late lead and failed to capitalize on what would have been a huge upset against the Cowboys during the regular season. ACU’s highlight of their season was a victory against Grand Canyon during the WAC regular season.