After being ignored by the NCAA Tournament, three Washington state teams are headed to the NIT.
None from Utah did.The Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars of the Pacific-10 were invited Sunday to the National Invitation Tournament, which begins Wednesday night with 12 games. So were the Gonzaga Bulldogs of the West Coast Conference.
"This is a big step for us," said Huskies coach Bob Bender, whose team is at Michigan State (15-15) in the opener. "We told the players, and they were elated. We talked a little bit about the history. I want them to understand the tradition and rich history of NIT and take great pride in being part of it."
The invitation ended nine years without postseason play for the Huskies (16-11).
Gonzaga coach Dan Fitzgerald said he wasn't surprised by the NIT selection. "I thought we really deserved it," Fitzgerald said of his 20-8 team, which is at Washington State (16-11) on Thursday night. "It's a great honor to have three teams in the state in the NIT. It's a tremendous accomplishment for basketball in Washington."
Also chosen was Davidson, which has the most wins in the NIT at 25-4 and will play at South Carolina (17-11) on Wednesday. The College of Charleston, which went 24-3 this season, visits Tennessee, at 14-14 the other .500 team in the field.
Charleston, an NAIA school in 1990, went to the NCAA tournament in 1994 and the NIT last year.
"I thought it would be many moons before we would be a (NCAA) bubble team three years in a row," said Charleston coach John Kresse. "It has come much quicker than I expected."
Fresno State (20-10), coached by Jerry Tarkanian, will be at home to Miami of Ohio (21-7) Wednesday night. The Bulldogs won the tournament in 1983 and return in Tarkanian's first year at their helm.
"That should be enough motivation," Tarkanian said.
Other 20-win teams in the field are Arkansas-Little Rock (23-6), Marist (22-6), Iona (21-7), Fairfield (21-9), Mount St. Mary's (21-7) and Illinois State (20-11).
Also invited were Manhattan (17-11), St. Joseph's (15-12), Providence (17-11), Rhode Island (18-13), Alabama (16-11), Murray State (19-9), Illinois (18-12), Missouri (17-14), Nebraska (16-14), Colorado State (18-11), Tulane (18-9), Auburn (19-12), Saint Louis (16-13), Vanderbilt (16-13), Minnesota (18-12) and Wisconsin (16-14).
Also on Wednesday, it's Marist at Rhode Island, Alabama at Illinois, Murray State at Missouri, Mount St. Mary's at Illinois State, Arkansas-Little Rock at Vanderbilt, Tulane at Auburn, Saint Louis at Minnesota and Manhattan at Wisconsin.
On Thursday night, it's St. Joseph's at Iona and Nebraska at Colorado State. Providence is at Fairfield in New Haven, Conn., on Friday night.
Games will be played at campus sites until the semifinals on March 26 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The final is March 28.