CIT Game of the Day – March 22

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Chad

Wright State at Ohio University, 2:00 PM Eastern, watchcollegeinsider.com

On Thursday afternoon, the NCAA tournament got underway with Dayton’s one point win over Ohio State.  Today, another “Ohio” team, the Ohio University Bobcats, will be hosting another in-state rival from Dayton, the Wright State Raiders, in the second round of the CIT.

Wright State finished the regular season 20-14 following a loss on their home court to Milwaukee in the Horizon League championship game.  The Raiders were a bit of a disappointment this year, having been expected to contend for the regular season title, and then having their conference tournament run ended one game too soon as well.  They are trying yet again to redeem their year in the CIT, and have already defeated East Carolina to reach today’s game.

Ohio U at times this season looked like the best team in the MAC.  However, some late season stumbles dropped them all the way to fifth place overall, ending the year at 11-7 in league and 23-11 overall, including a MAC tournament quarterfinal loss.  The Bobcats are also trying to bounce back here in the CIT, and already have a two point victory over another in-state rival, Cleveland State, to show for their efforts.  Today’s winner will be the lone surviving team in the CIT from the state of Ohio and, should Dayton fall in the NCAAs today, will be the only team from the state of Ohio still playing.

Today’s other CIT action is:
IPFW at VMI, 1:00 PM
Yale at Holy Cross, 7:00 PM
Eastern Michigan at Columbia, 7:00 PM
San Diego at Sam Houston State, 7:00 PM
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Pacific, 9:00 PM

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CIT Game of the Day – March 21

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Chad

Towson at East Tennessee State, 7:00 PM Eastern, watchcollegeinsider.com

The CIT’s second round tips off tonight with a single game, the CAA’s Towson Tigers heading to Johnson City, Tennessee to take on the East Tennessee State Buccaneers, a team that is finishing its final campaign in the Atlantic Sun before returning to the Southern Conference next season.

Towson was 23-10 overall and 13-3 in conference this season, finishing in second place behind CAA tournament champion Delaware, though falling in the tournament semifinals to William & Mary.  Pat Skerry’s team has been one of the most amazing turnaround stories in athletics the past couple of years.  The Tigers, just two short years ago, went 1-31 on the season and won the HoopsHD Centenary Award for being the worst team in Division I.  Tonight they are looking for their second win in the CIT which would bring their total to 25 overall — a 24 game improvement over just two years ago.  While the NCAA tournament bid eluded the Tigers this year, the future continues to look amazingly bright for this program.

ETSU entered the CIT this season with an overall record of 18-15.  Their 10-8 conference mark was good enough for a fourth place tie in the A-Sun.  They also played in one of the most exciting conference tournament games this season, a double overtime quarterfinal win over Lipscomb, before losing to Florida Gulf Coast in the semifinals.  Continuing to win and advance through the CIT this season will certainly give this program momentum as it moves to the SoCon next year — and with a good number of their key players returning, there is no reason the Bucs will not be able to contend for an NCAA bid next year.

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CIT Games of the Day – March 19

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Chad

Akron at IPFW, 7:00 PM Eastern
North Dakota at Nebraska-Omaha, 8:00 PM Eastern
Pacific at Grand Canyon, 10:00 PM Eastern
All games streamed live at watchcollegeinsider.com

Tonight, instead of featuring a single game, the CIT Game of the Day actually features three of them.  In each case, the home team will be making its first ever Division I postseason appearance.  Akron (21-12, 12-6 in the MAC) will be traveling to IP-Fort Wayne.  The Mastodons went 24-10 on the season and advanced to their first ever Summit League championship game, falling there to North Dakota State.  As a reward for their season, they received a CIT bid and will try to pick up their first ever postseason win tonight.  This is Akron’s first trip to the CIT as well, though they have been in the postseason every season since 2008.

Nebraska-Omaha is a transitional team, ineligible for the NCAA tournament through next season.  However, they are eligible for the CIT and enter it tonight after putting up a 16-14 overall and 5-9 record in the Summit League.  They will be hosting the only team without a nickname, the University of North Dakota.  UND went 17-16 this season and is making its fourth consecutive CIT appearance, having lost in the first round each of the last three seasons.

Finally, the Grand Canyon Antelopes (‘Lopes Up!) are in their very first year of transition up to Division I.  The ‘Lopes went 15-14 overall and 10-6 in the WAC this season, one of the best performances ever by a first year transitional team.  The ‘Lopes will be at home tonight at their incredible GCU Arena hosting the West Coast Conference’s Pacific Tigers.  Pacific went 15-15 overall and 6-12 in conference in their first year back in the WCC.  This is the Tigers’ third appearance in the CIT.  While they do not have a CIT title to their names, the Tigers are 5-2 all time in CIT games and will look to continue their success in this event in Phoenix tonight.

The other action tonight is as follows:

Quinnipiac at Yale, 7:00 PM
Towson at USC-Upstate, 7:00 PM
Cleveland State at Ohio U., 7:00 PM
Murray State at Missouri State, 8:00 PM
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Northern Colorado, 9:00 PM

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CIT Game of the Day – March 18

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Chad

COLUMBIA AT VALPARAISO, 7:00 PM Eastern, Live streaming at watchcollegeinsider.com

The 1968 NCAA Tournament East Region Semifinals.  The Davidson Wildcats defeated the Columbia Lions 61-59 in overtime. 46 years ago.  46 years between that game and today — and 46 years since Columbia last played a postseason Division I Men’s Basketball game.  That streak ends tonight.

Columbia went 19-12 this season, posting an 8-6 record in the Ivy, good enough to tie Princeton for third place.  Their season included wins over Stony Brook and American, a one point loss to Manhattan, and a loss early in the year at Michigan State in a game they had a halftime lead.  This has clearly been one of the best seasons for the Lions in recent years, and the reward of a chance to play in the CIT has broken one of the longest postseason drought streaks in the NCAA (in fact, only conference-mate Dartmouth has a longer such streak).

Columbia’s opponent tonight is the Horizon League’s Valparaiso Crusaders.  Valpo was 18-15 this season, 9-7 in the Horizon which got them a fourth place finish.  Their season included at 75-60 home win over Green Bay, and given how close the Phoenix ended up being to receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, that game may have been the one that knocked them out.  This is the Crusaders’ second appearance in the CIT — in 2011 they suffered a first round loss.  They will try to improve on that tonight.

Tonight’s other CIT action is as follows:

VMI at Canisius, 7:00 PM
Wright State at East Carolina, 7:00 PM
Norfolk State at Eastern Michigan, 7:00 PM
Chattanooga at East Tennessee State, 7:00 PM
Alabama State at Sam Houston State, 8:00 PM
Portland State at San Diego, 10:00 PM

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Early Bracket Analysis – 03/17/14

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Johnny Basketball

On this audio-only podcast, Galen and Lee Delvecchio discuss some of the issues they had with the NCAA tournament selection committee’s decisions, including the inclusion of NC State, the seeding of BYU, and the inconsistency in using criteria evenly across teams.

Galen and Lee follow that up by discussing the bracket at some length, and giving early predictions for each of the four regions, as well as the Final Four.

Check in on HoopsHD all week, as we provide several podcasts and article analyses of the NCAA Tournament.

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CIT Game of the Day – Monday, March 17

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Chad

HOLY CROSS at BROWN, 7:00 PM Eastern, live streaming at collegeinsider.com

Don’t forget to check out our review of the NCAA field here:  https://hoopshd.com/2014/03/17/selection-sunday-review-and-recap/

The field has been set.  The first round matchups are out.  It is time to play the games.  Of course, here at the home of Under the Radar and the Small Conference Game of the Day, we are talking about the 2014 CollegeInsider.com Tournament, otherwise known at the CIT.  The CIT is unique in that the matchups for reach round are set after the round is played, allowing the tournament organizers to get the best matchups (and avoiding lengthy travel requirements) for each round.  Every day of the CIT we will be bringing you a Game of the Day feature, all the way through the April 3 championship.

Tonight, the CIT tips off with a single first round game, The Patriot League’s Holy Cross Crusaders heading to Rhode Island to take on the Ivy League’s Brown Bears.  Holy Cross was 19-13 on the season, finishing 12-6 in the Patriot, in third place.  They lost at eventual champion American in a tough, hard fought game in the Patriot League semifinals.  This is the Crusaders first ever appearance in the CIT, and their first postseason bid since the 2007 NCAA tournament.

The Brown Bears enter tonight’s game at 15-13 overall.  They finished 7-7 in the Ivy League, and should only be better next season.  The Bears did show some flashes of their potential this season, including taking Harvard to overtime (though losing) in the last game of the season.  As with Holy Cross, this is the Bears’ first appearance in the CIT.  Their last postseason bid came in 2008, when they lost in the first round of the CBI.

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