Pitt snubbed by NIT, will host Wofford in CBI
Pitt’s men’s basketball team knew it wasn’t going to receive an invitation to the NCAA basketball tournament after a 17-16 regular season that saw the Panthers go a disappointing 5-13 in the Big East.
However, an NIT bid seemed a lock for what has been one of the country’s top programs for the past decade.
That secondary bid never came either, though, and Pitt has accepted an invitation to play in the fifth annual College Basketball Invitational. The Panthers will host Wofford (19-13 overall, 12-6 Southern Conference) in a CBI first-round game at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the Petersen Events Center.
The winner of that match-up will take on the survivor between Princeton and Evansville in a second-round game on Monday, March 19.
Pitt coach Jamie Dixon didn’t balk at having a chance to extend his team’s season, even in a third-tier tournament that teams reportedly have to pay a fee to play in.
“We are excited about the opportunity to play and excited to be a host school,” Dixon said. “We have a young team and we are looking forward to continue playing.”
The CBI sports a 16-team field that also includes last year’s NCAA runnerup, Butler, as well as Washington State, Oregon State, Milwaukee, TCU, Western Illinois, San Francisco, Wyoming, North Dakota State, Delaware, Quinnipiac and Penn.
All games are hosted by participating schools.
The CBI is unique in that the two teams that reach the final will play in the CBI Championship Series, which is a best-of-three format, to decide the tournament winner, starting on Monday, March 26 and continuing every other day.
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NOTES: Tickets for Wednesday’s game against Wofford go on sale at 10 a.m. today. Call the Panthers Ticket Office at 1-800-643-7488 or go online to www.pittsburghpanthers.com. The price for tickets is $20. For more information on the CBI go online to www.gazellegroup.com.