The UNCA Bulldogs, headed to the NIT basketball tournament, drew a doozy on Sunday. The Bulldogs, who had a great season, get to play Ohio State in their first-round match-up. Ohio State, as you’ll recall, was the runner-up in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
The Bulldogs will play at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a game aired on ESPN. Here’s the Scout.com story:
There will be dancing for Ohio State, but Michael Flatley, Michael Jackson and the like will not be invited.
Last season’s national runners-up, the Buckeyes did not hear their names called on Selection Sunday to take part in the Big Dance that is the NCAA Tournament. Instead, OSU had to wait an extra three hours until the brackets for the 2008 MasterCard NIT were announced.
Now the Buckeyes have a chance to take home a different title. OSU was announced as the No. 1 seed in the NIT and will face off against No. 8 seed UNC Asheville in a game televised by ESPN.
“In postseason play every team is a quality opponent,” OSU head coach Thad Matta said in a statement. “UNC Asheville will be another difficult test for our basketball team. We are fortunate to keep playing and have another chance to play on our home court at Value City Arena. Like always, we hope our fans support us like they have all season.”
As the top seed, the Buckeyes will have the chance to host the first three rounds of the tournament should they keep winning. Game one tips off Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Although they admitted to obvious disappointment at not making it to the NCAA Tournament, the Buckeyes are not turning their noses up at an NIT invitation.
“We’ve just got to be ready to go,” senior guard Jamar Butler said. “There’s still some tough teams in the NIT. We’ll try to make it a positive and try to win the NIT.”
Two other Ohio teams are in OSU’s bracket. Should the Buckeyes advance to the quarterfinals, they could square off against No. 3 seed Dayton or No. 6 seed Cleveland State. OSU defeated the Vikings 80-63 earlier this season in a neutral-site game.
1 Comment
We have room if you want to come to see the game. The arena is less than hour from our house.