Preview Roundups
March 14, 2017
New Orleans at Mount St. Mary's 6:40 PM ET
A guaranteed berth to the NCAA Tournament appeared to be the unlikeliest of endings for Mount St. Mary's after a woeful start, but an inspiring midseason turnaround has the Northeast Conference Champions in the Big Dance for the fifth time in school history. The Mountaineers attempt to continue their second-half surge Tuesday when they meet fellow East Region No. 16 seed New Orleans in a First Four game in Dayton, Ohio.
NC-Greensboro at Syracuse 7:00 PM ET
If Tuesday's NIT first-round matchup between Syracuse and UNC Greensboro was not intentionally scheduled, it certainly is an awfully big coincidence. One week after Orange coach Jim Boeheim jabbed the city of Greensboro, his top-seeded squad will host the eighth-seeded Spartans, who have all the motivation they need heading into this contest.
Mississippi at Monmouth-NJ 7:00 PM ET
For the second straight season, Monmouth finds itself in the NIT when all signs pointed to it going to the NCAA Tournament. The fourth-seeded Hawks dominated the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference during the regular season, but after another slip up in the conference tournament, they host fifth-seeded Ole Miss on Tuesday.
Valparaiso at Illinois 7:00 PM ET
Illinois kicks off the post-John Groce era Tuesday when it hosts Valparaiso in an opening-round NIT game. The Illini fired Groce over the weekend after he failed to get them to the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive season, while the Crusaders are 1-2 since losing leading scorer and rebounder Alec Peters for the season to injury.
Oakland at Clemson 8:00 PM ET
Clemson suffered through a regular season filled with near-misses that spoiled its NCAA Tournament dreams and hopes to salvage something out of a talented group in the NIT. The Tigers make their 16th appearance in the NIT - most by any ACC school - as the second seed in the Iowa Region and host seventh seed Oakland meet in the first round Tuesday night.
Indiana at Georgia Tech 9:00 PM ET
Seven losses in its last 10 games sent Indiana out of consideration for the NCAA tournament, but the NIT provides an opportunity to end the season on a positive note. The Hoosiers travel to Georgia Tech to open the NIT on Tuesday, the school citing students being on spring break this week as the reason third-seed Indiana hits the road for the matchup with the sixth-seeded Yellow Jackets.
Wake Forest at Kansas St. 9:10 PM ET
Danny Manning made his name as a college basketball player at Kansas, which he led past Kansas State nearly 30 years ago en route to a NCAA championship. The third-year Wake Forest coach will face his former in-state rival for the first time since that meeting in the 1988 Elite Eight on Tuesday when the Demon Deacons square off in an NCAA Tournament South Region matchup against the fellow-11th seeded Wildcats in a First Four game at Dayton, Ohio.
Richmond at Alabama 9:15 PM ET
With both teams coming off tough losses to higher seeds in their respective conference tournaments, Richmond and host Alabama look to quickly turn the page when they square off Tuesday night in the first round of the NIT. The Crimson Tide gave top-seeded Kentucky a fight to the finish before losing 79-74 in the SEC semifinals while the Spiders lost 87-77 to arch-rival and second-seeded VCU in the Atlantic10 semifinals.
Boise St. at Utah 10:00 PM ET
More than a few schools look down at a berth in the NIT after having their dreams of garnering an NCAA Tournament squashed. But Boise State, the No. 6 seed in the Illinois State bracket, is excited to make the five-hour bus trip to Salt Lake City for a Tuesday night game against No. 3 seed Utah.
Cal. State - Bakersfield at California 11:15 PM ET
Things are very much in a state of flux for California, which begins NIT play Tuesday as a No. 1 seed against visiting Cal State Bakersfield, which received an eighth seed after falling in the WAC tournament championship game. The NIT could mark the final college games for Bears sophomore forward Ivan Rabb, who is expected to declare for the NBA draft after the season.
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