Complete CIT Field Announced as Pilots Prep for Hawaii‏

CIT Video Streaming: http://www.b2livetv.com/partner_members.asp?id=379

Complete CIT Field Announced; All Games to be Video Streamed

BOSTON, Mass. --- The field for the 2011 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was announced on Sunday evening. The 24-team field features schools from 15 different conferences, including Conference USA, Missouri Valley, Mountain West and the West Coast Conference. Portland opens the tournament at Hawaii on Tuesday at 10 p.m. (Pacific).

Every game will be broadcast live through Fox College Sports Broadband, with the championship being televised on Fox College Sports on Wednesday, March 30. The single-elimination format will be played entirely at on-campus sites, which will be determined by seeding.

“We are extremely pleased with the field we have assembled for the 2011 CIT,” said Riley Wallace who is the chairman of the selection committee. “I think the committee did an outstanding job of identifying teams early on, which made the process easier.”

The majority of the field was already in place on Friday, with programs like Air Force, Furman, East Tennessee State, Iona, Marshall, Northern Iowa, Portland, Rider, Santa Clara SMU and Valparaiso all committing well in advance of selection Sunday.

Some schools were still hopeful of a spot in the NIT, which is something that Wallace and the selection committee fully understood.

“We want programs to get into the NCAA or the NIT,” said Wallace. “When we started this tournament three years ago we did so with the idea that we can provide teams with a postseason opportunity. Our message to the schools was that if the NCAA or NIT didn’t happen the CIT was an option for them.”

Teams like East Tennessee State, Iona, Marshall, Northern Iowa, Portland, Rider and Valparaiso all had resumes worthy of NIT consideration.

Established in 2009 with 16 teams, the tournament expanded to 24 this season. The reasoning behind the expansion was based on the great number of deserving teams that were still left out of the postseason.

“We have looked at a 24-team field since the first tournament in 2009,” said Wallace. “Last season teams like Iona, Maine, Campbell, Radford and other s all had outstanding seasons, but didn’t receive an invitation for postseason. With so many bowl games in college football the idea of adding eight more teams to our tournament was the right move.”

All 24 teams will compete in the first round, with four teams then getting a bye into the quarterfinals. The eight remaining teams will play for the right to advance to the quarters. The entire field will be seeded, based on a number of factors including RPI, strength of schedule, conference ranking, and geographic location.


COMPLETE CIT SCHEDULE

FIRST ROUND
March 14-16

MONDAY
Buffalo (18-13) @ Quinnipiac (22-9) 7:00 pm

TUESDAY
Ohio (18-15) @ Marshall (22-11) 7:00 pm
Furman (22-10) @ East Tennessee State (22-11) 7:00 pm
Jacksonville (19-11) @ East Carolina (18-15) 8:00 pm
Rider (23-10) @ Northern Iowa (19-13) 8:00 pm
North Dakota (19-14) @ Air Force (15-15) 9:00 pm
Northern Arizona (19-12) @ Santa Clara (19-14) 10:00 pm
Portland (20-11) @ Hawaii (18-12) 12:00 am (midnight)

WEDNESDAY
Tennessee Tech (20-12) @ Western Michigan (20-12) 7:00 pm
Iona (22-11) @ Valparaiso (23-11) 8:00 pm
Oral Roberts (19-15) @ SMU (17-14) 8:00 pm
Idaho (18-13) @ San Francisco (17-14) 10:00 pm

SECOND ROUND: March 18-19

QUARTERFINALS : March 21-22

SEMIFINALS: March 25

2011 CIT CHAMPIONSHIP: March 30

DaTruRochin wrote:I'm gonna go ahead and assume all the times listed are EST...

GETTING INSIDE

With numerous teams scrapping to keep their season alive, upsets are a regular occurrence in March.

Hawaii head coach Gib Arnold just didn’t figure it would happen to his surprising squad.

The eighth-seeded San Jose Spartans bounced the fifth-seeded Rainbow Warriors, 75-74 in the first round of the WAC tournament on Wednesday afternoon.

Ironically, it was Hawaii (18-12) that was picked to finish last before the season started, a testament to the job Arnold did in his first season at the helm of the Rainbow Warriors.

“That’s not the way it’s supposed to end, not with this team,” Arnold said. “I thought we played well. They had one kid that just went off and beat us. (Adrian) Oliver did a nice job.”

Oliver’s game-high 29 points including the game-winner made the difference, but so did Hawaii’s horrendous free throw shooting. The ‘Bows made just 18 of 30 attempts forcing them to have a long wait to find out if they will be invited to the NIT or CBI.


NOTES, QUOTES
• Hawaii shot 50 percent from the field in the first-round loss to San Jose State in the WAC tournament, but wasn’t able to beat the Spartans for a third time this season. The ‘Bows couldn’t contain San Jose State’s Adrian Oliver and allowed him to make 5 of 8 3-pointers, one more than Hawaii’s entire team.

• Senior F Bill Amis had 23 points, six rebounds and three blocks in what might have been his final collegiate game. After returning from an injury, Amis has been the heart and soul of the team.

• Sophomore F Joston Thomas finished with 16 points while making 10 of 16 free throws and six rebounds in just 16 minutes. He has scored in double digits in 16 games this season.

• Junior SG Zane Johnson, in his first season at Hawaii after transferring from Arizona, averaged a team-high 15.8 points in the regular season. He lived up to his reputation as a shooter, hitting 44.3 percent from the field, 42.7 percent from 3-point range and 80.8 percent from the free throw line. Johnson topped 20 points in each of the final three regular-season games. He was chosen honorable mention all-conference by the coaches.

• In losing to Fresno State 85-70 on March 5, Hawaii committed 29 fouls. The Bulldogs shot 42 free throws; the Warriors attempted only 18.

• One of the key factors for Hawaii has been defense; the Warriors allowed teams to shoot only 39.2 percent in the regular season. Hawaii’s size up front—plus having a 6-6 shooting guard in Zane Johnson—can force teams away from the basket and into taking lower-percentage outside shots.

By The Numbers: 4.1—Blocked shots per game for Hawaii, which led the WAC through the regular season.

Quote To Note: “He’s got a great rhythm going on right now. Obviously, he’s a shooter and we want him to shoot it. I’ve got all the confidence in the world in him shooting it. We call his number and we expect him to hunt his shots. It’s our job to get him open as teammates.”—Hawaii coach Gib Arnold, in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, on junior G Zane Johnson.


STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

Postseason Outlook: Though Hawaii doesn’t get much exposure, the Rainbow Warriors are a balanced squad with a terrific shooter in Arizona transfer Zane Johnson and veteran forward Bill Amis inside. Given the fact that the Rainbow Warriors have won nine of its last 12 games heading into the WAC tournament and are above .500, they should be given consideration by the CBI selection committee and perhaps the NIT.

Futures Market: Freshman F Trevor Wiseman, who missed the game at San Jose State on March 3 because he was attending his classes at UH, joined the team for the Fresno State game on March 5 and made just his fifth start of the season. He has seven points and three rebounds in 23 minutes. The team needs Wiseman’s energetic play and his defensive ability; any scoring the Rainbow Warriors get is usually gravy.

Player Notes

• Junior G Zane Johnson has made 94 3-point baskets this season, three shy of Michael Kuebler’s school record, set during the 2003-04 season.

• Senior PG Hiram Thompson missed the final five regular-season games (except for a cameo on Senior Night) because of an elbow injury. His return for the WAC tournament was in doubt. Sophomore PG Miah Ostrowski, who walked in from the football team in late December, has been excellent as Thompson’s replacement.