With the NCAA and NIT field set, the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) was next to partake in the Madness. The 16-tournament field includes two major conference programs -- Texas (16-17) and Purdue (15-17) -- and two of Boston College's 2012-13 opponents in Charleston (24-10) and Bryant (19-11). However, the tournament does not include the Eagles, which declined an invite.
Here is the complete 2013 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) bracket:
George Mason (18-14) at Charleston (24-10)
Texas (16-17) at Houston (19-12)
Western Illinois (22-8) at Purdue (15-17)
Vermont (21-11) at Santa Clara (21-11)
Tulsa (17-15) at Wright State (21-12)
Richmond (18-14) at Bryant (19-11)
Lehigh (21-9) at Wyoming (19-13)
North Dakota State (24-9) at Western Michigan (20-12)
The tournament is re-bracketed after the Quarterfinal Round.
Last week, Donahue talked to The Heights about his decision to pass on this year's pay-for-play CBI; a decision I happen to agree with. Emphasis mine.
"I think every situation is different, trust me. I respect everybody and their reasoning at the time. I think we all have to think about what's best for us. It's right for some places. I just don't know if it's right for us. Pitt won [the CBI] last year, but it's up and down whether it really helps you. For every one you say that it really helped I can give you ones that don't. It's all about your mentality in the locker room at this point and if it's right for you. And I don't do a lot of thinking about it. I did my research a couple of weeks ago when I knew it would be something we were going to have to think about. Now we're hoping on going down [to Greensboro] and playing on a neutral court against teams that we played very well against this year and winning the games."
With the only other college basketball postseason opportunity, the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT), having a .500 or better record as a requirement, the 16-17 Eagles season comes to an end. We'll have more on season-ending thoughts on the basketball team later this week.