 Photo: Deb Ruthenberg
Kent State (28-6, 13-3 MAC) drew the ninth seed in the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Regional and will face the eighth-seeded UNLV Running Rebels (26-7, 15-4) on Wednesday, March 19 in the opening round of NCAA Tournament Play.
 The Golden Flashes claimed the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after defeating Akron 74-55 in the MAC Tournament championship game this past Saturday. The Flashes feature the league's player of the year (guard Al Fisher); defensive player of the year, (Haminn Quaintance); and coach of the year (Jim Christian). In addition, both Fisher and Quaintance were named to the MAC All-Tournament team along with teammate, forward Mike Scott. Quaintance was also named Tournament MVP. Kent State set an all-time school record this past year for most wins in the regular season and was briefly ranked in the Top 25 following its win over 20th ranked St. Mary's.
The Running Rebels are two-time defending Mountain West Conference champions and are making their first back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament since winning the national championship in 1990. UNLV earned the Mountain West Conference's automatic bid by defeating 24th-ranked BYU 76-61 in the MWC championship game Saturday night.
The Golden Flashes and Running Rebels will be meeting for the first time when they tip off Wednesday at the Qwest Center in Omaha, NE. The winner will likely have a date with top-seed Kansas which faces Portland State in the opening round.
NCAA Bracket
 Akron (23-10, 11-5 MAC) accepted a bid to play in the postseason NIT, drawing the sixth seed in their regional, and will travel to face third-seeded Florida State (19-14, 7-9 SEC) in the opening round of the 32-team event. The Zips and Gators will tip off Tuesday night at 9:00 pm in a game that will be televised by ESPN Classic.
The Zips will be making their second appearance in three years in the NIT after finishing second in the MAC East and as runners-up in the MAC Tournament after falling to Kent State 74-55 in the MAC Tournament finale. The Gators meanwhile are making their third straight NIT appearance. The winner of Tuesday's clash will advance to face the winner of the matchup between second-seed Massachusetts and seventh-seed Stephen F. Austin.
NIT Bracket
The MAC will be well-represented with two squads among sixteen participants in the newly-formed College Basketball Invitational tournament. The CBI will be a single-elimination tournament with games being played at on-campus locations. The finals however will be a best two-out of-three affair with the games alternating between on-campus sites of the finals participants with the higher-seeded team playing at home in the first, and if necessary, third game of the finals series.
 Ohio (19-12, 9-7 MAC) will be making its first postseason appearance since dropping a 67-62 decision to fourth-seed Florida in the 2005 NCAA Tournament when the Bobcats host Brown (19-9, 11-3 Ivy League) in the opening round of the CBI. The Bears finished second in the Ivy League in 2007-2008 while establishing a new school record for most wins in a season.
The game is set for tip-off on Tuesday, March 18 from the Convocation Center in Athens at a time to be determined.
Joining Ohio in the inaugural CBI event will be Miami (17-15, 9-7 MAC). The RedHawks will be making their fourth straight postseason appearance when they travel to face the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (20-13, 8-8 Conference USA) in opening round CBI action. Tulsa is coming off a 77-51 loss to Memphis in the finals of the Conference USA Tournament.
Tip-off for the first-ever meeting between Tulsa and Miami is slated for Wednesday, March 19.
The CBI has a television contract with Fox College Sports. Check your listings for televised contests.
CBI Bracket
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