basketball ncaa schedule tournament

NORMAL — A week of suspense didn’t give Illinois State’s men’s basketball team the ending it wanted Sunday. The Redbirds (24-9) were not selected as an at-large team for the NCAA Tournament when pairings where unveiled on national television late Sunday afternoon. | Video | Fans react | Play Hoops Challenge
ISU was hoping to make its first NCAA tourney appearance in 10 years. Instead, the Redbirds will be playing in the National Invitation Tournament. ISU earned a No. 2 seed in the NIT and entertains No. 7 Utah State (24-10) at 9 p.m. Wednesday at Redbird Arena.
“It’s an honor. It’s a great postseason tournament,” said first-year ISU coach Tim Jankovich. “We have not been to the postseason in a long, long time (2001). If we were coming off a couple Final Fours, it would be a different perspective.”
Still, Jankovich said his players were “very disappointed” about not being selected for the NCAA tourney. ISU finished second in both the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament.
Drake handed the Redbirds a 79-49 setback in the Valley Tournament title game a week ago. That led to seven days in limbo for ISU, not knowing its postseason fate.
“We talked for a number of days that whatever happens we have to be positive and not be drug down in a sea of negativity so many people around the country try to drag us into,” said Jankovich. “We’re disappointed, but upbeat at the same time.
“This can be a celebration as well and not be all negative. I think we’ll see a group that bounces back pretty quickly.”
Missouri Valley commissioner Doug Elgin called the NCAA pairings “a very dark day” for teams outside the major conferences. The Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10 and Southeastern gobbled up 28 of the 34 at-large spots for the second straight year.
“The other 25 leagues got six berths. It’s alarming. I cannot square that with reality,” said Elgin. “Some very good teams got passed over, including Illinois State.”

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