BAKERSFIELD, Calif.- The best Division I season to date for the CSU Bakersfield men's basketball team won't end just yet as the Roadrunners have accepted a bid to be a part of the 32-team field for the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).
“This is a great day for our program and this team,” said CSUB head coach Rod Barnes. “This group has really come together in the last several weeks and we thought we finished strong enough to deserve a postseason opportunity and I'm just happy we'll get that chance.”
CSUB, which finished 16-14, will go on the road in the first round taking on Utah State out of the Western Athletic Conference. The Aggies finished the regular season 17-15 before falling in the first round of the WAC Tournament 72-70 to eventual finalist Louisiana Tech. The game is set to tip off at 6 p.m. (PDT), Wednesday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah.
“We are looking forward to playing in the postseason for the first time in our Division I history,” said CSUB Athletic Director Jeff Konya. “To be in this tournament is a fitting reward for the season we had under coach Barnes and a great opportunity for our program to be in a situation to be successful in the postseason in only our second year of postseason eligibility, that's a big statement on where we are as a Division I program.”
The Roadrunners, who finished the season on a three-game winning streak with victories over San Diego, New Jersey Tech and Nebraska-Omaha, posted the program's best ever record in it's short Division I history and their best record since the 2005-06 team finished 21-8 in their final season of NCAA Division II membership.
The CIT is a 32-team tournament that feature 16 first-round games. The fourth annual CIT will once again use the old NIT model in which matchups in future rounds are determined by the results of the previous round.
Santa Clara won the 2011 CIT with a record 11 road teams winning last season.
The game will be carried live on KERN Newstalk 1180 beginning at 5:30 p.m. (PDT) on Wednesday evening. Fans wishing to attend the game can purchase single game tickets through the official ticket provider of the CIT, TicketLeap.com
The 32 team field and schedule is as follows:
All Times EDT
TUESDAY MARCH 13
Robert Morris @ Indiana State 7:00
Tennessee State @ Mercer 7:00
Coastal Carolina @ Old Dominion 7:00
Tennessee Tech @ Georgia State 7:00
McNeese State @ Toledo 7:00
Utah Valley @ Weber State 9:00
WEDNESDAY MARCH 14
Manhattan @ Albany 7:00
Yale @ Fairfield 7:00
Bowling Green @ Oakland 7:00
Buffalo @ American 7:30
North Dakota @ Drake 8:00
Rice @ UL-Lafayette 8:00
UC Santa Barbara @ Idaho 9:00
Cal State Bakersfield @ Utah State 9:00 (7 p.m. MDT, 6 p.m. PDT)
Cal State Fullerton @ Loyola Marymount 10:00
THURSDAY MARCH 15
Kent State @ USC Upstate 7:00
